Some random stories involving area local governments.
Lots on roads and sidewalks.
- Houston's plan to avoid orphan sidewalks would let developers opt out of building them.
Some homeowners and developers soon may be able to opt out of requirements to build sidewalks and instead pay a fee into a new fund the city would use to build sidewalks across Houston.
City Council on Wednesday is scheduled to consider a proposal to create a “sidewalk-in-lieu fee” to give developers another way to comply with the sidewalk ordinance.
Under current regulations, property owners and developers are required to build a sidewalk in front of a property unless the project meets certain exemptions. This approach, however, has led to disconnected segments, known as “sidewalks to nowhere,” that do not contribute to a network needed by pedestrians, according to David Fields, chief transportation planner at the Houston Planning and Development Department.
- Montgomery County Hospital District adds day off, paramedic training program to retain staff.
James Campbell, chief of emergency medical services for the Montgomery County Hospital District, said he is focusing on two things in 2023: employee retention and recruitment.
He has already adopted a schedule change for his employees.
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics for the hospital district will now get an additional day off in their rotation. The change, Campbell said, essentially amounts to five days off in a row after working two 24-hour on-and-off shifts. The schedule change will reduce annual employee hours by approximately 600 hours.
“We're hoping to give them more work-life balance,” he said. “We want our employees to have more time with their families and friends and allow them to rest and recover before they come back to work. Our call volume is higher than it's ever been, so we feel like this is the perfect time to focus on our employees and take care of them.”
Campbell said retention is more important than ever as well due to the nationwide paramedic shortage.
- HCTRA proposes to cut toll rates by 10%, offer EZ tags at no cost.
County officials outlined a proposal to reduce the cost of tolls by 10% at a news conference Jan. 24.
Pending approval by Commissioners Court, which next meets Jan. 31, the rate reduction would go into effect by Labor Day, according to Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis. The Harris County Toll Road Authority also proposed providing up to eight free EZ TAGS per household.
“There are people who live in every precinct in Harris County who many times have no choice but to take a toll road to get to where they’re going,” Ellis said at the news conference. “This will make it a little bit easier for all of them, and this change in policy will reduce barriers to access and make it easier for anyone who wants an EZ TAG to get one.”
HCTRA Director Roberto Treviño said the 10% discount would apply to those driving two-axle vehicles, which he said make up 95% of HCTRA’s transactions. He added that drivers can choose to apply the discount on each individual transaction, or after aggregating transactions on a monthly basis.
As part of the transition to all-electronic tollways, the county will also be phasing in several options for residents to obtain EZ TAGs at retail stores, open cash-backed accounts and pay at EZ TAG retail stores, according to Ellis.
- Planning continues for FM 518 project in Pearland.
A project to widen and reconstruct Broadway Street, also known as FM 518, from four to six lanes with a raised median, will seek additional right of way this year for the project’s proposed design, Texas Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Danny Perez said.- TxDOT seeks approval for new Hwy. 288 frontage road in Brazoria County.
TxDOT is projected to lead the project’s Phase 1 construction in 2025.
Phase 1 involves the west section of Broadway from Hwy. 288 to Cullen Parkway, and construction is projected to cost $54 million. Progress on design is dependent on when the funding is secured, Perez said.
Phase 2, which also does not have funding secured yet, includes Cullen Parkway to McLean Road and Walnut Street.
The Texas Department of Transportation is seeking public input on a proposed change to a Hwy. 288 improvement project that will add a southbound frontage road from north of Rodeo Palms Parkway to north of Hwy. 6.
TxDOT representative Ian McBride gave a virtual presentation March 1 on the proposed change. The project is a part of an ongoing bigger program to improve Hwy. 288 from Hwy. 59 near downtown Houston to CR 60 in Brazoria County, McBride said.
After more detailed engineering design and drainage studies, a change was proposed to construct a two-lane southbound frontage road north of Rodeo Palms Parkway to just north of Hwy. 6, McBride said.
Additionally, it would include the construction of one stormwater detention pond northwest of Hwy. 288 and Rodeo Palms Parkway and three detention swales between the southbound frontage road and main lanes, according to McBride’s presentation. The frontage road would be within the right of way TxDOT already owns for the project, McBride added.
The proposed project is consistent with the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s long-range 2045 Regional Transportation plan, McBride said. If approved, the $38 million frontage road project would be funded by federal and state sources, McBride said.
- State Highway 288 Corridor Master Plan Improvements.
A key initiative in both the Pearland 20/20 and Pearland Prosperity community strategic plans is the beautification of key Pearland corridors and gateways. Utilizing the City Gateways Beautification Strategy and the SH 288 Master Improvements Plan, PEDC, along with the City of Pearland, Pearland Management District No.2, and other community partners, is making progress on the implementation of the proposed improvements, ensuring a quality corridor that will increase our community’s competitiveness for talent, jobs & investment.
In 2013, PEDC, the City and local commercial property owners worked with legislators to have the State create a Municipal Management District to improve aesthetics of the 288 corridor and the surrounding commercial areas. The Pearland Municipal Management District No. 2 (PMMD#2), which runs along the 288 corridor between Beltway 8 and County Road 59, will reinforce a positive image of the City and supplement public services by funding infrastructure, beautification, mobility/transportation, security and economic development projects along the corridor.
