To begin the reconstruction, the paralleling rail right of way was purchased in 1993. All of this contributes to I-10 being Houston’s most congested, unreliable and unsafe freeway artery.A single direction HOV lane with minimal capacity is shoehorned in as a transit component for buses, vanpools and carpools.as part of a national system of commerce connecting both coasts, 16,000 heavy duty trucks use this corridor daily making it one of the most heavily traveled truck arteries in the state.6 lanes designed and built as a rural freeway in 1960’s to carry 120,000 vehicles daily but currently carries 250,000 vehicles.The need for rebuilding is painfully obvious to anyone: One case in point to illustrate this attention to detail and responsiveness is the reconstruction of the Katy Freeway from the CBD to the Brazos River and in particular the first phase from Loop 610 to the City of Katy. We commend you for your attentiveness to the many and growing number of environmental issues resulting from implementing transportation projects in the region and your ability to adequately address these concerns. Your mindfulness of and attention to the impacts of these projects are equally as important. You balance the many competing demands for funding of individual projects and the Metropolitan Transportation Plan as a whole. Being familiar with groups similar to this around the country, I can say that your work here is of highest quality.įrom the vantage point of the West Houston Association, each of you undertakes this difficult task very well. In an area of 4 million people, transportation planning is a significant responsibility. Arcane conformity rules needlessly compound this challenge. I want to thank this committee for its supportive actions over the years which have been instrumental in getting this project in position to be constructed.Īs a rapidly growing urban area, there is no doubt Houston’s traffic and related congestion are significant challenges requiring each agency and this committee to continual refine plans and capital programs. My comments will be brief as much of the need for the project has already been discussed as has been the very lengthy and involved planning and public involvement process. Today, on behalf of these member companies, the hundreds of additional commercial interests and their tens of thousands of employees in west Houston who travel or avoid Interstate 10, I want to simply say Interstate 10 has a green light and its time to get started. I am President of the West Houston Association, a group formed in 1979 to promote improved infrastructure and quality of life in western Harris and north Fort Bend counties. Hord, President, West Houston Association Their efforts will bring congestion relieve much sooner to the traveling public and save millions of dollars in lost time and fuel.Ĭomments Supporting Reconstruction the Katy Freeway Presented to the Transportation Policy Council The West Houston Association congratulates the Texas Department of Transportation on this “fast-tracked” approach to one of the most complicated roadway construction projects in the State of Texas. The need for reconstructing this urban freeway first designed in the 1950’s and built in the 1960’s was so overwhelming that any delay would have cost tens of millions of dollars in congested and extremely unsafe driving conditions for the 300,000 plus daily cars and trucks traveling the most congested freeway in Houston. This unparalleled progress came at the conclusion of a decade long series of public hearings and environmental studies that addressed all impacts of the proposed reconstruction of the Interstate 10. The full reconstruction of Interstate 10 from Loop 610 to Katy will be completed by the end of 2008 and is certain to be a record for fast urban freeway construction. The balance of the project will go to contract in 20. Last year a total of $480 million in projects went to contract on I-10 West. Portions of that section west of State Highway 6 are already completed. The reconstruction of Interstate I-10 West, the Katy Freeway, began in June of 2003. He dismissed as flawed alternate proposals by the Coalition.The WHA is proud to have been a small part of the efforts of the overall community, engineers, contractors and elected officials at all levels that have led to the start of construction of Interstate 10 West. Interstate 10 West Gets a Green Light-Next Letting July 2004, Full Project Completion in 2008The West Houston Association (WHA) is pleased with the recent ruling of US District Judge Kenneth Hoyt that the Katy Corridor Coalition failed to prove in a suit brought against the Texas Department of Transportation and FHWA, that the Katy Freeway project environmental studies where flawed and that construction should be halted. Following are historical items leading up to the start of construction of the Katy Freeway.
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