The Houston-Galveston Area Council is collecting public feedback on proposed updates to its 2045 Regional Transportation Plan, a process that will include two public meetings April 8 on the plan.
The plan, which is updated annually by H-GAC, lays out a wide variety of transportation priorities through 2045, including road projects, public transit improvements, and hike and bike projects. A project sponsor is identified for each project in the plan; sponsors range from the Texas Department of Transportation to the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County to local cities and counties across the eight counties covered by H-GAC.
“Even in the face of the pandemic, the Houston-Galveston region continues to be one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country," H-GAC Transportation Manager Adam Beckom said in a statement. "The 2045 Regional Transportation Plan establishes the visions, goals and investment priorities that will ensure our transportation network can sustain that growth, strengthen economic competitiveness and serve our residents now and in the future.”
Proposed additions to the plan for this year include a restructuring and widening of the San Jacinto River bridge over I-10 and an adjustment of the scope of a Hempstead Highway project in northwest Houston. The latter project—certain elements of which are not scheduled to take place until 2040—has shifted from the construction of four managed lanes to a new plan that involves reconstructing Hempstead Road, adding one transit lane in each direction and building four elevated managed lanes from Loop 610 to Jones Road.
