713-627-3200
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Who is Completing the Application?
Please provide contact information for the person who will complete the online application for this project. The email address and password entered here will be used to complete and submit both Pre-Applications and Applications.
Megan Campbell
Planner
713-802-5325
Primary Agency Information
Please provide contact information for the agency official who is representing the project sponsor. This individual will be considered the official applicant and must be authorized by their agency to submit this request for funding and make necessary assertations and representations on the agency’s behalf.
Texas Department of Transportation - Houston
Quincy Allen
District Engineer
713-802-5000
7600 Washington Avenue
Houston
TX
77007
Additional Agency Information
Project Information
MKT - White Oak Bayou Bicycle Pedestrian Connection
Harris County
Rutland St/White Oak Bayou/ I 10 WB Frontage Rd / I 10 WB mainlanes
MKT Trail to White Oak Bayou trail connection
There is no high comfort off-street pedestrian/bike facility to access the White Oak Bayou Trail from the north between TC Jester and Studewood St. White Oak Bayou is a major east/west shared use path (15 miles) in Harris County that connects to Downtown. The need for the proposed project is demonstrated by the following conditions: • Many cyclists currently ride and walk along the Rutland Detention Pond, without any designated bicycle and pedestrian route • There is no pedestrian/bicycle access for residents living north of White Oak Bayou, midway between existing trail heads located at Yale St/I 10 and TC Jester/White Oak Bayou Trail. Distance between trail heads is almost 2 miles. • The Rutland Detention Ponds and White Oak Bayou are two water-barriers; there is no north-south bicycle and pedestrian route that connects Heights/MKT trail to White Oak Bayou. Currently, users on the Heights/MKT trail travel 1.83 miles between White Oak Bayou trail access points.
The project proposes a 10' shared use path. At the northernmost portion, the shared use path will connect to the MKT Trail (near W. 7th Street) via a culvert with no expected adverse hydrological impacts since there is no water body or constant water presence that could be construed as a wetland. The northern part of this trail would run through TxDOT owned property adjacent to the Rutland detention pond. The trail would utilize the east berm of the detention pond, which is approximately 15 to 20 ft wide. After the trail navigates around the detention pond berms, just south of W. 5th St, the trail would then traverse across a portion of detention pond as well as White Oak Bayou via a proposed steel truss bridge where it would then tie into the White Oak Trail that runs along the southern side of White Oak Bayou. The project includes a 10 feet shared use path, striping, bridge railing, pavement markings, signage, landscape/hardscape as well as associated intersection improvements. This project does not require additional acquisition of right-of-way.
The purpose of the proposed project is to provide first-and-last mile convenient access for residents (midway between existing trail heads located at Yale St/I 10 and TC Jester/White Oak Bayou Trail) from increasing high density development in the Heights Neighborhood improving connectivity and access for alternative modes of transportation (bicycle) to retail and commercial destinations along Yale St and Heights Blvd south of I-10 and to downtown via White Oak Bayou Trail, and encourage mode shifts from driving to cycling in both person work and non-work trips. Currently, White Oak Bayou trail users have a 2.33 mile gap between access points to the Heights/MKT trail. This project would provide a safe off-street high comfort connector 0.87 miles west of the Studewood St access and 1.46 miles east of the TC Jester access point.
No
No
Less than $100 million
Active Transportation
2042804
Project Development/Readiness
Schematic
Categorical Exclusion (CE)
12/01/2021
(c)(3) Construction of bicycle and pedestrian lanes, paths, and facilities
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
90%
Yes
11/01/2020
HOU_85_MKT - Utility Coordination.docx
Yes
HOU_85 - Interagency Consultation.docx
HOU_85_MKT - Timeline Final.pdf
MKT Trail to White Oak Bayou Connector via Rutland Detention Basin Summary of Project Scoping This project does not require additional acquisition of right-of-way. The majority of the project is on TxDOT’s ROW, with a few locations extending into City of Houston and Harris County Flood Control ROW in order to connect to existing facilities. ROW maps are provided as part of the application package. The northernmost portion of the proposed trail would connect to the MKT Trail (near W. 7th Street) via a culvert with no expected adverse hydrological impacts since there is no water body or constant water presence that could be construed as a wetland. The northern part of this trail would run through TxDOT owned property adjacent to the Rutland detention pond. The trail would utilize the east berms of the detention pond, which is approximately 15 to 20 ft wide. After the trail navigates around the detention pond east berms, just south of W. 5th St, the trail would then traverse across a portion of detention pond as well as White Oak Bayou via a proposed steel truss bridge where it would then tie into the existing White Oak Trail that runs along the southern side of White Oak Bayou. The steel truss bridge to connect to White Oak Bayou is Alternative A. Alternatives to the trail alignment and bridge were considered. Alternative B, this included taking the path around a White Oak Bayou outfall area just south of W. 5th St and then continuing the path along the eastern side of White Oak Bayou, traveling under the IH-10 Westbound Frontage Rd Bridge, then up the embankment between the frontage road and the mainlane bridge to the street level at Yale St. The path would then run alongside Yale St crossing the intersection with the eastbound frontage road, then crossing Yale St in order to access the connection to the White Oak Trail located on the east side of Yale St south of IH-10. To determine the feasibility of this Alternative B, higher resolution topographical maps or a request for Vegetative Clearing along HCFCD ROW. Additional information would be needed to determine the width of the flat berm area there along the ROW of Flood Control’s property (between the property line and the drop-off down to the outfall. If the berm area around the outfall was too narrow and included a drop-off area, it would require a bridge. The route would also require a new path constructed on the east side of White Oak Bayou (south of the outfall) which in turn would require retaining walls due to the steepness of the existing slope. The route would also require users to cross intersections in 2 movements to get to the White Oak Trail. In conclusion, Alternative A is chosen, the trail alignment with the steel truss bridge to connect to White Oak Bayou, since it is a much shorter path and direct connection to the White Oak Trail, that leverages existing ped/bike infrastructure on the south bank of White Oak Bayou and reduces ped/bike exposure to vehicular movements by eliminating street level crossings at I 10/Yale intersections. In addition to the proposed trail connection from the MKT Trail to the White Oak Trail, existing trail gaps along I-10 EB frontage road would be addressed to ensure connectivity in the ped/bike network from Yale to Heights Blvd. Project Readiness A preliminary schematic that shows available ROW and improvements is provided as part of the application package. The TxDOT West Harris Area Office Design Section provided the preliminary schematic as well as the detailed construction budget which is also included in the application package. No Advanced Funding Agreement (AFA) will be needed for this project since TxDOT will provide the 20% match, which reduces the project timeline by 6-12 months for the AFA process. No documentation is needed from the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). TxDOT’s Houston District Environmental Section has reviewed the project and indicated that the criteria for FHWA Categorical Exclusion Action (c)(3) Construction of bicycle and pedestrian lanes, paths, and facilities would be appropriate for this project, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Permit will be needed as the ped/bike bridge will cross White Oak Bayou. Due to extensive environmental clearance documentation provided by TxDOT for “IH 10 at White Oak Bayou Flood Mitigation Ponds” (CSJ: 0271-07-292), which included the Rutland’s Detention Pond and nearby Basins (see A7, A9, A10 polygons below), TxDOT’s Houston District Environmental Section indicated that the environmental process may be shorter due to the availability of data and previous thorough analysis. Scoping meeting conducted by TxDOT TxDOT held several internal meeting to discuss the project. • 8/30/2018 - Meeting with TxDOT Directors: Director of Consultant Contracts, Director TP&D, Senior Planner on behalf of Dir. of Adv. Transportation Planning, Dir. of Project Development, Director of Design. o Directors meeting to discuss improvements with TxDOT Management and get feedback on any preliminary design concerns. • 8/30/2018 - Field Visit o Field visit to gauge feasibility of proposed improvements, utility conflicts, and as input for the development of a detailed construction estimate and preliminary schematic. • 9/4/18 - Meeting with key community stakeholder representatives o Community stakeholders meeting to discuss improvements get preliminary feedback on community concerns and tap into local knowledge, as well as request letters of support. • 7/25/208 - TxDOT – City of Houston meeting o Meeting to discuss improvements, get preliminary feedback, and discuss possibility of City of Houston Public Works and Engineering Department willingness to serve as a project sponsor, if needed. Previous public involvement activities related to the proposed project. • The Heights Land Use Committee, Feb. 5, 2018. Representing The Heights Super-neighborhood (SN 15). The Heights super-neighborhood council, Oct. 9, 2018. • Lazybrook/Timbergrove Super-neighborhood (SN 14) on July 13, 2018. • There was a site visit by Washington Ave./Memorial Park SN representative today, Oct. 22, 2018.
Map/Location
Benefit/Cost Analysis
Bike Ped Safety Benefits - MKT White Oak Bayou Connection.zip
Bike Ped Emissions Benefits - MKT White Oak Bayou Connection.zip
HOU_85_MKT_Additional Information.zip
MKT-White Oak Bayou Connection Daily User Methodology Generation Methodology A Bicycle and Pedestrian Demand Sketch methodology (Greg Griffin) was utilized to generate daily bicycle and pedestrian volumes for the MKT-White Oak Bayou Connection Facility. This methodology utilizes American Community Survey commuting mode share data (Subject Table “S0801 Commuting Characteristics by Sex”) to estimate mode shares along the facility for both bicycle and pedestrians. A multiplier was generated to account for additional bike and pedestrian travel outside of the commuting periods. To develop the most accurate estimate of mode share for each project, buffers were utilized to account for surrounding land uses and area types. A 1.5-mile buffer was utilized for pedestrian projects and a 5-mile buffer for bike projects. ACS data within these buffers was averaged to generate a likely mode share for both bike and pedestrian modes. This data was then applied to traffic volumes generated from the regional travel demand model to estimate daily user bike and pedestrian trips. The specific process utilized to develop daily user estimates is outlined below: Assemble mode share and roadway network data • ACS data collection for city/county/MPO bike and pedestrian commute share • Pull ADT information from regional model for appropriate network links parallel or nearby project facilities • Load data into GIS • Identify ACS Block Groups within buffer range to generate ACS mode share estimates Estimate total trips by mode (multiplier) • Calculate total bike mode share using the following formula: total bike mode share = 0.3% + (1.5 x bicycle commute share) • Calculate total mode pedestrian mode share using the following formula: total pedestrian mode share = 2.2 x pedestrian commute share Apply bicycle and pedestrian rates to roadway segments • Apply bike/ped rates as proportion of current and/or projected vehicular volumes along specific roadway segment to develop estimated daily users Interpolate to Estimate Build Year Daily Users • The HGAC Model Years are 2018, 2025, and 2045. To estimate the “build year” daily users, an interpolation was applied to develop estimates for 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Reasonableness Check • A reasonable check was conducted by reviewing local information to assess the reasonableness of user estimates generated in the previous steps. This methodology resulted in reasonable estimates of potential bicycle and pedestrian users in the year open to traffic.
Planning Factors - Barrier Elimination (Active Transportation)
Yes
Yes
Planning Factors - Emissions Reductions
Total NOX Reduction: 4.11 tons/year For Bike: Estimated Daily Volume Reduced in Year Open to Traffic 385 Estimated Daily VMT Reduced in Year Open to traffic 3,849 Estimated NOx Reductions In Year Open to Traffic (in gms/day) 275.9179837 For Ped: Estimated Daily Volume Reduced in Year Open to Traffic 753 Estimated Daily VMT Reduced in Year Open to traffic 2,260 Estimated NOx Reductions In Year Open to Traffic (in gms/day) 161.9922219
Total VOCs Reduction: 1.00 tons/year For Bike: Estimated Daily Volume Reduced in Year Open to Traffic 385 Estimated Daily VMT Reduced in Year Open to traffic 3,849 Estimated VOC Reductions In Year Open to Traffic (in Gms/day) 67.53085684 For Ped: Estimated Daily Volume Reduced in Year Open to Traffic 753 Estimated Daily VMT Reduced in Year Open to traffic 2,260 Estimated VOC Reductions In Year Open to Traffic (in Gms/day) 39.64755539
Planning Factors - Environmental Justice
No
Planning Factors - Expands or Improves Bicycle & Pedestrian Connectivity to Employment/Schools/Medical Facilities/Transit Stops/Other Points of Interest
Yes
901 - 1000
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Planning Factors - Planning Coordination
Yes
H-GAC’s Heights Northside Sub-Regional Mobility Study and Houston Bike Plan
http://www.houstontx.gov/planning/transportation/CMP/Heights_Northside/Heights_Northside.html & http://houstonbikeplan.org/documents/