Freight Planning

On April 26, 2024, the Transportation Policy Council approved the updated regional goods movement plan.

The Regional Goods Movement Plan report presents a long-range plan for the goods movement system in the Houston-Galveston region. The plan is designed to ensure that the region can continue to play a critical role in national and international supply chains while meeting regional economic goals, addressing critical mobility challenges, mitigating impacts on the environment, and contributing to community livability and quality of life.

The plan is the final product of the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) Regional Goods Movement Study, a multi-year effort to collect data, conduct analysis, and engage with regional stakeholders covering multiple aspects of the region’s goods movement system.

The HGAC region faces significant safety and efficiency challenges with approximately 1,200 at-grade public crossings clustered around key freight corridors, ports, and historic urban neighborhoods. These crossings not only pose safety risks but also cause traffic delays. Past initiatives, such as the Houston-Beaumont Freight Rail Study, have highlighted the urgent need for infrastructure improvements, specifically recommending grade separation solutions that can significantly enhance safety and streamline movement.

The Railroad Grade Crossing Separation Pilot Program will establish a structured approach, ensuring that projects can continue through the development pipeline by conducting planning-level feasibility studies that will assess necessary improvements at rail crossings throughout the H-GAC region.

The pilot will run for two years under the 2026-2028 Unified Planning Work Plan (UPWP), where up to 10 crossing locations and/or a small corridor will be studied. An evaluation criterion has been developed to aid in the selection of locations for the pilot program and is linked below. Once the crossing locations have been selected, this page will be updated with the list of pilot program projects.

The Regional Goods Movement Plan, completed in 2012, recommended a follow-up study to analyze supply chain connections between the region’s four deepwater ports and emerging markets without having to traverse the dense urban core. This need was also cited in previous TxDOT IH 69 corridor studies, the I-69 Advisory Committee report, and the TxDOT Texas Freight Mobility Plan.

After significant outreach with stakeholders and further coordination with port representatives, H-GAC issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in May 2016 for the Ports Area Mobility Study. The purpose of the study is to better understand the supply chains linking the four deepwater ports in the area and identify some locally approved improvement alternatives.

The Ports Area Mobility Study will establish a stronger future for the region’s freight economy by recommending improvements that will better connect the four deepwater ports with emerging population and employment centers.