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
NASA Rd 1 Bicycle Pedestrian Route to Johnson Space Center
Harris County
NASA Rd 1
Space City Blvd to Kirby Blvd
E NASA Rd 1 is a major east/west minor arterial roadway in Harris County including a bridge over Pasadena/Mud Lake. The lake this bridge goes over is technically called Pasadena or Mud Lake, which is part of Clear Lake. It currently has a designated 5 foot bike lane in places along the road, but the bike lane is not continuous and is completely absent over the bridge. The need for the proposed project is demonstrated by the following conditions: Many cyclists currently ride along East NASA Rd 1 from Kirby to Space Center, without any designated bicycle route across the bridge, to connect commuters with the NASA Employment Center. The cyclists ride alongside vehicular traffic, with an average daily traffic count of 40,636 vehicles and a posted speed limit ranging from 45 to 55 miles per hour. Clear Lake is a major waterway barrier; there is no bicycle route that connects the east and west side Pasadena/Mud Lake. There are gaps in the existing E NASA Rd 1 bicycle lane facility.
The proposed bike facility is located on E NASA Rd 1 from Kirby to Space Center Blvd. and along Space Center Blvd from Linkage Rd to NASA 1. The project includes construct ADA ramps and sidewalks, shared-use path, widen Mud Lake Bridge, restriping, installing concrete barriers, 42” bridge railing, pavement markings, striping, signage, landscape/hardscape as well as associated intersection improvements. This project does not require additional acquisition of right-of-way. East NASA Rd 1 is a regionally significant bikeway facility as indicated in H-GAC’s Regional Bikeway Concept Map. This concept map is part of H-GAC’s Regional Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan. In addition, the Clear Lake Pedestrian and Bicyclist Study identified the East NASA Rd 1 bike lane along with intersection improvements as important projects. East NASA Rd 1 bike facility will connect: the City of Webster, Nassau Bay, Taylor Lake Village, El Cary, El Lago, Seabrook, Kemah and other areas of the Clear Lake Super-neighborhood with residents looking to commute to work NASA Employment Center and nearby recreational facilities like Clear Lake Parks.
The purpose of the proposed project is to provide a continuous pedestrian and bicycle facilities. On E NASA Rd 1, along the bridge over Pasadena/Mud Lake, the facility will be separate from vehicular traffic by a physical concrete crash-worthy barrier creating a safe and hospitable high comfort route, improving connectivity for alternative modes of transportation to NASA employment centers (bicycle), and encourage mode shifts from driving to cycling for both work and non-work trips. Along Space Center Blvd, the proposed facility will have at least a 5 ft buffer from the vehicular lane. The project will address gaps along the E NASA Rd 1 with striping where possible.
No
No
Less than $100 million
Active Transportation
3950028
Project Development/Readiness
Schematic
Categorical Exclusion (CE)
12/18/2022
(c)(3) Construction of bicycle and pedestrian lanes, paths, and facilities
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
HOU_86_NASA - Interagency Consultation.docx
HOU_86_NASA - Timeline Final v2.pdf
NASA RD 1 Commuter Route to JSC Summary of Project Scoping This project does not require additional acquisition of right-of-way. The project is on TxDOT and Harris County ROW. ROW maps are provided as part of the application package. The project proposes to construct improvements to both pedestrian and bicycle facilities along NASA 1 from Space Center Blvd to Kirby Rd. A proposed shared use path will be constructed along Space Center Blvd from Linkage Rd to NASA 1 within Harris County ROW. From NASA 1 at Space Center Blvd the proposed path will continue as a shared use path northeast along westbound NASA 1 in TxDOT ROW until the ROW narrows just before the southwestern end of the Mud Lake Bridge. The shared use path will then exit onto the roadway as a dedicated on-street bike lane until the available ROW begins to widen out. Once the available ROW widens out the existing Mud Lake Bridge, as part of this project, will be widened enough to provide a 10 ft wide shared use path. At that point, the bike lane will exit the roadway and join with the sidewalk as a shared use path across the bridge where pedestrian and cyclists will be behind a crash-worthy concrete barrier. Near the northeastern end of the Mud Lake Bridge, the ROW begins to narrow again and so the bike path will again exit onto the roadway as a dedicated bike lane for the remainder of the project to connect to the existing bike lane that continues past Kirby Rd. In addition to the proposed main shared use path, an additional shared use path will be installed within Precinct 2 Clear Lake Park which will tie into TxDOT’s NASA 1 facility at the northeastern end of the Mud Lake Bridge and also near the southwestern corner of Forest Lake Dr. In addition to these proposed shared use path improvements, this project also proposes to reconfigure the vehicular lanes and relocate the barrier on the eastbound side of NASA 1 as a vehicular calming measure and in order to widen the existing sidewalk on the south portion of the bridge from 6 ft to 9 ft. The proposed 9 ft sidewalk will also be separated from vehicular traffic by a crash-worthy concrete barrier. Finally, the project also proposes to remove the existing 4 ft sidewalk located behind the curb along NASA 1 (non-bridge locations) from Space Center Blvd to Kirby Rd and replace it with an ADA compliant 6 ft sidewalk and ADA ramps on both sides of NASA 1. Project Readiness Based on extensive coordination with TxDOT’S Bridge Section, the TxDOT West Harris Area Office Design Section provided the detailed construction budget which is also included in the application package. West Harris Area Office Design Section has included in the application package as-built plans with mark-ups and included a couple of bridge cross-sections to help illustrate proposed improvements with TxDOT’s ROW. A preliminary schematic for the portion of the proposed path within Harris County ROW has also been provided by the Harris County Engineering Department and is included in this application package. Advanced Funding Agreement (AFA) will be needed for this project since TxDOT and Precinct 2 will jointly provide the 20% match required. 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 United States Coast Guard (USCG) Permit will be needed as the ped/bike bridge will cross Mud Lake. Scoping meeting 5/14/2018 – Scoping Meeting with Pct 2 and TxDOT. Site Visit Pct 2 and TxDOT. 5/17/18 – Scoping Meeting with Pct 2 and TxDOT. Discussed STRAVA data around NASA, Discussed TIP Call for Projects and possible improvements and design concerns. 6/8/18 – Scoping Meeting with Pct 2, TxDOT and NASA employees. Discussed ped/bike needs around NASA, Discussed TIP Call for Projects and Pct 2 Bay Area Hike and Bike Master Plan. 9/06/18 – Scoping Meeting with NASA, Pct 2, HCED, RPS at NASA. Discussed efforts on and around NASA property, NASA wants and needs, and how to tie into NASA facilities on E Linkage Rd. 9/11/18 – Scoping Meeting with Pct 2, HCED, RPS at Clear Lake Park. Discussed efforts on Clear Lake Park property, how to tie into existing sidewalk along NASA Rd 1, and general path through the park. 9/25/18 – Scoping Meeting with TxDOT, Pct 2, HCED, RPS at TxDOT Houston District Office. Discussed TIP Application coordination, TxDOT plans for NASA Rd 1 improvements, and some preliminary design concerns.
Map/Location
Benefit/Cost Analysis
TxDOT - Bike Ped Roadway Safety Benefits - NASA 1.zip
TxDOT - Bike Ped Emissions Benefits - NASA 1.zip
HOU_86_NASA_Additional Information.zip
NASA 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 NASA 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. These initial bike and pedestrian daily user trips were checked for reasonableness and found to be unreasonable. To better contextualize the methodology, local counts specific to the project area were used to adapt the methodology. 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 Reasonableness Check • A reasonable check was conducted by reviewing local information, counts, and available transit ridership information to assess the reasonableness of user estimates generated in the previous steps. During the reasonableness check, this method was deemed inaccurate based on local knowledge of the study area, thus an additional step was used to apply local count information. Local Count Ratio Development • It was determined that total bike/pedestrian volumes generated from the sketch methodology developed a reasonable estimate of total trips in the NASA area, however, the split between bikes and pedestrians appeared to be inaccurate. Utilizing recently conducted counts available from Cycle Clear Lake , a ratio was developed for bicycle and pedestrian share of the total active transportation trips. It was determined that this provided a more accurate estimate of potential trips given the local area characteristics and recently collected counts. This ratio was applied to the calculated daily users to provide a more accurate estimate. 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. • 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: 3.08 tons/year For Bike: Estimated Daily Volume Reduced in Year Open to Traffic 490 Estimated Daily VMT Reduced in Year Open to traffic 4,899 Estimated NOx Reductions In Year Open to Traffic (in gms/day) 329.195907 For Ped: Estimated Daily Volume Reduced in Year Open to Traffic 264 Estimated Daily VMT Reduced in Year Open to traffic 792 Estimated NOx Reductions In Year Open to Traffic (in gms/day) 53.22242197
Total VOCs Reduction: 0.7 tons/year For Bike: Estimated Daily Volume Reduced in Year Open to Traffic 490 Estimated Daily VMT Reduced in Year Open to traffic 4,899 Estimated VOC Reductions In Year Open to Traffic (in Gms/day) 74.5170759 For Ped: Estimated Daily Volume Reduced in Year Open to Traffic 264 Estimated Daily VMT Reduced in Year Open to traffic 792 Estimated VOC Reductions In Year Open to Traffic (in Gms/day) 12.04747439
Planning Factors - Environmental Justice
Yes
Yes
Planning Factors - Expands or Improves Bicycle & Pedestrian Connectivity to Employment/Schools/Medical Facilities/Transit Stops/Other Points of Interest
Yes
901 - 1000
Yes
No
No
Yes
Planning Factors - Planning Coordination
Yes
NASA Area Management District Livable Center Study and the Clear Lake Pedestrian and BIcycle Study
http://www.h-gac.com/community/livablecenters/planning-studies/nasa-area.aspx http://videos.h-gac.com/ce/pedbike/clear_lake_study.pdf