HGAC Update: Funding, Freight, and Waller County

One of the major, recent achievements of the West Houston Association was helping to organize the Greater West Houston Mobility Study, which was led by HGAC. The good news for Greater West Houston is that HGAC has a number of initiatives that will likely bring benefits to Greater West Houston.

Alan Clark, HGAC’s director of transportation planning, says that the Houston region does not get its share of funding because TxDoT is not accurately accounting for vehicle miles traveled. HGAC is working with TxDoT to come up with a more accurate count, which could result in an increase in state transportation funding of hundreds of millions of dollars over the next five to ten years. WHA has discussed this issue with HGAC and TxDoT’s Houston Office; we look forward to seeing progress that turn into dollars and then roads.

HGAC has also organized a stakeholder group that aims to enhance freight corridors throughout Houston to accommodate increasing cargo coming from Houston’s ports. Most of these corridors are outside of Greater West Houston, but some critical projects, like Highway 36A, will be part of the discussion.

Waller County, the City of Waller, and Prairie View A&M have initiated a process led by HGAC to generate a strategic plan that will include mobility, parks, and land use studies. WHA has attended steering committee meetings and will continue to engage on this project to help make sure that quality growth occurs in Waller County.

HGAC has many moving parts and initiatives—we look forward to seeing some benefits for our area from HGAC’s good efforts.