Aldine Westfield Road Improvements from Jensen to Gulfbank:  I am requesting 14,000,000 for this project. Aldine Westfield Road provides a major north-south corridor between the Hardy Toll Road and US 59. The proposed Aldine Westfield widening project will provide an improved north-south connection to Parker and Little York Roads enhancing local and regional mobility as well as promoting both commercial and residential development and redevelopment opportunities. These improvements will also allow the boulevard section to meet current standards including divided roadway, improved intersections and signalization, turning radii, and standard signage. Local drainage and flooding concerns with existing infrastructure will also be addressed with this project.

Rehabilitate the Bridge and Approaches at the I-10 Westbound Frontage Road and Carpenters: Bayou: I am requesting $642,400 for this project. This project will rehabilitate a functionally obsolete bridge and bring it up to current design standards, including the removal of any asbestos and lead paint.  The project will also create jobs and promote land development.

Replace Both the Eastbound and Westbound Market Street Bridges at Hunting Bayou:  I am requesting $1,398,400 for this project. This project will replace two functionally obsolete bridges bringing both up to current design standards, including the removal of any asbestos and lead paint.  The project will also create jobs and promote land development.

Construct a Flyover connecting HWY 146 and Spur 330 in Baytown:  I am requesting 9,000,000 for this project. Traffic management plans have been revised, updated and re-revised in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. One of the key elements of any traffic plan for a mass evacuation are “pinch points”, places where physical limitations of roadway size, configuration or signalization create a bottleneck. We need help in eliminating one such pinch point in Baytown. Our State-mandated evacuation plan calls for the 70,000 residents of Baytown to travel south on Highway 146 to Spur 330 and to turn north for travel to Interstate 10. There is a direct connector from Spur 330 to I-10 westbound. The pinch point is at the intersection of Highway 146 and Spur 330. All the evacuating residents must exit the main lanes and travel through three signalized intersections before reconnecting with a limited access highway as shown on the attached map. Not only do these intersections create a bottleneck for evacuees, they also make it difficult for local emergency personnel to cross while preparing for and responding to an approaching emergency. All areas south of Highway 146 are in the storm surge zone, making evacuation mandatory, not voluntary. 

Houston East Belt Vehicular Mobility and Safety Improvements Project – Market St/Lyons Ave.:  I am requesting $6,000,000 for this project for the following reasons.  Subsequent to the enlargement of the Panama Canal, the Port of Houston will be called on to provide an additional point of entry for goods that can now only be received from Asia through west coast ports. Consequently, the Houston area will play an even larger role in facilitating international trade involving producers and consumers throughout the U.S. than it does at this time.  In the absence of bolstering the Houston area’s already strained rail infrastructure system, the ramifications of additional system demands will be experienced by state, county, and city facilities. Additionally, at the regional and national level, freight traffic between Houston and major commercial centers throughout the U.S. is expected to grow by 200-300 percent by 2025.  A substantial share of this freight will be comprised of container traffic that more than doubles that of existing volumes. In the near term, the Houston East Belt Vehicular Mobility and Safety Improvements Project – Market St/Lyons Ave is designed to curtail the adverse effects caused by the country’s increased reliance on the Houston area as a facilitator of economic growth by increasing safety, reducing congestion, reducing pollution, and increasing transportation efficiency.  In the long term, additional improvements along the corridor will create the equivalent of a grade-separated corridor that will enable unimpeded rail travel through the central city, significantly increasing rail reliability.

Rehabilitate the Bridge and Approaches at the US 59 Southbound Frontage Road and Halls Bayou:  I am requesting 1,176,800 for this project. This project will rehabilitate a functionally obsolete bridge and bring it up to current design standards, including the removal of any asbestos and lead paint.  The project will also create jobs and promote land development.

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