What you need to know
During a Bay Area Houston Transportation Partnership luncheon Oct. 17, Martin spoke about the city’s priorities when it comes to road and infrastructure projects.
When considering transportation projects, Martin said city officials have three priorities:
- Making them safe
- Making them resilient to potential flooding
- Making them positively contribute to the overall transportation network
Martin used the widening of El Dorado Boulevard in Clear Lake as an example. That project included drainage infrastructure to make it resilient not only to today’s storms, but also potential future flooding, Martin said.
What else?
Martin also spoke about two propositions on Houston residents’ ballots.
Proposition A would allow Houston City Council members to put items on council agendas. Today, council members have to talk to the mayor to get items on agendas, Martin said.
Martin said he had “mixed feelings” about the proposition because he believes if a council member has a worthwhile project or item to add to an agenda and they’ve done their homework, the mayor will put it on an agenda.
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Martin felt more passionately about Proposition B, which would allow the city to get greater representation on the Houston-Galveston Area Council or possibly remove itself from the organization. The H-GAC comprises 134 cities and 13 counties working together on various projects, Martin said.
“Personally, I would hate to see that go away,” Martin said, urging voters to not go along with this plan.
The takeaway
Martin and Mayor Sylvester Turner have reached their term limit and will leave their respective offices Dec. 31. Martin said the city is in better shape than when they took office, and the city has a healthy fund balance of $450 million.
