713-627-3200
Regional Goods Movement Questionnaire
Project Information
| Agency Name | East End District in Coordination with Buffalo Bayou Partnership and Harris County Precinct 2 |
| Project Title | Navigation Boulevard Reconfiguration |
| Facility/Street/Highway | Navigation Boulevard |
| Limits | Lockwood Drive to Mack Street |
| Description | Reconfigure multimodal mobility corridor by converting unused lane capacity into a new dedicated commuter bike route, pedestrian amenities and additional greenspace. Project scope includes necessary work on public utilities. Project is a major component of the Buffalo Bayou East Master Plan. |
| Timeframe | Short Term (0-5 Years) |
| Estimated Cost | $17,250,000.00 |
Investment Category-Focused Criteria
Yes
H-GAC Region Critical Regional Freight Corridors and Ports Area Mobility Study
https://www.h-gac.com/getmedia/469d9440-d20c-43ff-bb84-cb4e2a34fdb3/Houston-Galveston-Area-Critical-Regional-Freight-Corridors and https://www.h-gac.com/getmedia/a3794fc2-b397-4033-84f8-d11c701d6642/Ports-Area-Mobility-Study-Report
High
Yes
6.9%
6.9%
Yes
Yes
197,527 sqft
The planned and ongoing Buffalo Bayou East project, through the introduction of trails, parks, and economic generators will introduce new activity along the corridor, much of it transit, bicycle, and pedestrian oriented. However, Navigation Boulevard is directly adjacent to the Houston Ship Channel and serves a variety of land uses: residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial. Many of the industrial uses along and adjacent to the corridor have goods movement needs which utilize Navigation Boulevard; these users are both inter and intra-regional transporters. These entities include WATCO Companies, Farmer Brothers Food Service, ELG Metals, CEMEX, Derichebourg Recycling, as well as Port of Houston Authority wharves. The District recognizes that the corridor will continue to serve a variety of users and sees the Navigation Boulevard Realignment project as an opportunity to serve all users safely and efficiently. The regional goods movement related objectives of the project include reducing congestion and delay, improving pavement conditions for freight users, safely separating alternative modes from freight transportation, and improving travel time reliability by improving safety conditions. Analysis completed during preliminary engineering and design validate that this project will accomplish these objectives.
Yes
The District has staff dedicated to Public Infrastructure, Economic Development, and Freight Safety and Mobility. This interdisciplinary team works together with the private sector to ensure that the District's planned improvements work to provide maximum community benefit. The District, in partnership with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, has coordinated extensively with private partners, including freight generators such as the Port of Houston, to discuss ways that the Navigation Realignment project and its related Buffalo Bayou East Master Plan Initiatives can work in partnership with the industrial community. A component of these discussions has been focused on off-peak and overnight freight delivery to avoid traffic congestion, minimize multimodal conflicts, and to de-conflict rail and truck borne freight movement in the area.
No
No
No
Other Investment Category Focused Criteria
Traffic modeling demonstrates that the proposed improvements will reduce delay and improve level of service as compared to a no-build alternative. Most notably, the project will improve a level of service (LOS) of "F" at the intersections of Engel and McFarland to a LOS of C in the AM Peak and LOS of E and B (respectively) in the PM peak. The project will also provide a new signalized intersection at McFarland and Navigation. This intersection is particularly problematic due to a high prevalence of freight users generated from both the north and the south. These users include US Zinc Corporation, Essential Safety PPE, Flexbrite, MachineStation, HB Fuller, ELG Metals, and CEMEX. The intersection has the highest traffic volumes of any of the unsignalized intersections on the corridor and operates at a LOS of E (AM) and F (PM). The intersection also has a high prevalence of crashes relative to other unsignalized intersections along the corridor. Analysis indicates a cumulative delay reduction of 9 minutes per vehicle in the AM peak period and 7 minutes per vehicle in the PM peak period.
The project area is rapidly experiencing new development in all sectors, stimulated by the Buffalo Bayou East Master Plan, and led by the adaptive re-use of industrial structures. The project will improve multimodal access (through bicycle and pedestrian facilities), improve safety, and reduce congestion for all users and for the benefit of this new infill development. A list of recent existing and in-progress new developments along and impacting the project area includes: - The Mill: 6.23 acre mixed-use project to include office, multifamily, restaurant, and retail - East End Maker Hub: 300,000 square foot industrial makerspace and manufacturing center - New Hope Housing Avenue J Project: Affordable multifamily housing - Buffalo Bayou Partnership Marron Parkway Project: Affordable multifamily housing - Farmer Brothers Coffee Plant Redevelopment: 6 acre redevelopment by Lovett Commercial focused on a mixed-use concept - Turkey Bend Wharf: event center with retail and public gathering spaces - East River: 150 acre master-planned development spanning 6,000 feet along Buffalo Bayou (from Jensen Drive to Hirsch Road) Note that none of these developments appear to be included in the H-GAC 2045 TAZ forecast model.
The project corridor has a high need for improved walking and biking infrastructure. This is evidenced by the following: - The corridor's designation on the City of Houston Bike Plan - Designation as part of the High Injury Network, with historic pedestrian and bicycle crashes and a pedestrian crash in 2021 that was caused by speeding - Existing and planned connections to a broader multimodal system to include METRO's University Line BRT (Lockwood) and the broader Buffalo Bayou East system The project's preferred alternative includes a 6-ft wide sidewalk back of curb as well as a 12-ft wide median trail, made possible by generally repurposing one travel lane in each direction (from three in each direction to two). The project 30% design includes enhanced safety features for multimodal users such as rectangular rapid flashing beacons, raised crosswalks, and high contrast pavement markings/colored concrete.
The project's western terminus intersects with Lockwood, a corridor for METRO's University Line BRT. The University Line will connect the East End to Westchase via a direct route and via the entirety of the METRO system through overall connectivity. The pedestrian and bicycle improvements provided by the project will reduce barriers to ridership and encourage transit utilization. These trends will be further supported by the densification of the area and the high prevalence of planned multifamily housing (much of it affordable). From a traffic operations perspective, the planned improvements are projected to reduce corridor delay significantly. Though there is no dedicated transit service along Navigation, the 20 Canal/Memorial METRO bus line operates parallel to the corridor to the south along Canal Street. Canal Street has an at-grade crossing at the UPRR line that is frequently blocked by trains. When this occurs, the 20 Canal/Memorial often detours to Navigation to make use of the overpass on Mack Street.
The Navigation corridor is grade separated at Mack Street and provides a valuable grade-separated alternative from Canal Street to the south. A Navigation Boulevard corridor that has good pavement condition and that is safe and efficient reduces the potential for crash incidence at Canal Street and other area east-west corridors, improving systemic travel-time reliability and reducing infrastructure damage due to intermodal crashes.
The current asphalt pavement condition along the corridor is rated as 'satisfactory.' However the pavement is experiencing significant longitudinal cracking along the entirety of the corridor with longitudinal cracking approximately every 500-feet. Several areas along the corridor have recently had additional overlay work completed to improve the condition (Engel is one example). Other areas have experienced rapid degradation due to truck traffic and have failing sections at median openings and destroyed curbs. The reconstruction of this overall corridor, inclusive of concrete travel lanes, will renew the service life of the corridor and provide a 50-year design life for a highly trafficked corridor.
Planning Factors Criteria
10.97
0
From 2017 to 2021, Navigation Boulevard from Lockwood Drive to Mack Street has experienced a concerning number of crashes, with a total of 59 reported incidents between 2017 and 2021. Two of these crashes resulted in fatalities, including a pedestrian crash in 2021 that was caused by speeding. The project corridor is a component of the City of Houston's High Injury Network. To address the safety concerns of this roadway, the following improvements are proposed: • Implementing a road diet that involves removing one travel lane to create a dedicated on-street bike lane • Widening the concrete median to create a bike boulevard to provide a safer and protected route for cyclists • Installing a new traffic signal at the intersection of Navigation Blvd and McFarland St • Installing raised crosswalks to improve visibility for both cyclists and pedestrians • Upgrading existing sidewalks to be 6 feet wide • Upgrading crosswalks to high-visibility crosswalks and pavement markings The proposed improvements correspond to various work codes, each with its own associated crash reduction rate: •Work Code 107, 407: Install Traffic Signal, Install Sidewalks with 59% crash reduction rate •Work Code 304, 407: Safety Lighting, Install Sidewalks with 46% crash reduction rate •Work Code 107, 305: Install Traffic Signal, Safety Lighting at Intersection with 42% crash reduction rate •Work Code 101, 401 Install Warning/Guide Signs, Install Pavement Markings with 24% crash reduction rate
Resiliency
High
Low
The project will mitigate storm events through the following: - Relocating and upgrading inlets along the corridor to improve conveyance and reduce roadway ponding - Meeting City of Houston detention requirements - Providing additional greenspace / pervious coverage through an expanded natural median
Access/Connectivity
5340
6812
No
Yes
No
Environmental Justice
5340
6812
2063
703
289
2111
74.5
The project area is defined by the USDOT as both an area of persistent poverty and a historically disadvantaged community tract. The project improves multimodal safety conditions on a High Injury Network corridor, constructs bicycle and pedestrian facilities, supports adjacent existing and planned affordable housing, and significantly improves connectivity to adjacent planned high capacity transit (University Line). The project provides additional greenspace through a walkable/bikeable median and connects to a historic intergovernmental investment (City of Houston, Harris County) in the planned Buffalo Bayou East improvements.
The project does not create any adverse effects to vulnerable populations: - The project protects against bodily impairment, infirmity, illness, or death through its transportation safety countermeasures. - Air, noise, or water pollution; soil contamination: Will not be created as a component of the project; air and noise concerns will be reduced over present; water and soil impacts will not occur. - Disruption or diminution of man-made or natural resources: will not occur; Both are being supported through improved connections (enhanced connections to Buffalo Bayou and any structures of local significance). - The project will improve upon current aesthetic values. - The project will improve the cohesion and economic vitality of the East End through improved safety, connectivity, and greenspace. The community supports this project as demonstrated through historic master planning activities. - Impact to public or private facilities and services will be improved. - Short and long term job generation will be a result of the project. - Displacement of persons, businesses, farms, or non-profit organizations will not occur. - The project will decrease traffic congestion and reduce any sense of Navigation Boulevard serving as a roadway barrier (via reducing it). - The project, if funded, will advance the receipt of benefits of the regional transportation program.
Impacts on Natural and Cultural Resources
The project design, by reducing impervious coverage (removing a travel lane; installing landscaped / trail median) and improving drainage flow, will help to mitigate stormwater impacts in the area. The central portion of the project alignment is in the 500-year flood zone. The project is within ¼ mile of the 100-year floodplain in the vicinity of Buffalo Bayou. The flood plain area is largely developed with industrial uses. The proposed project is not anticipated to adversely impact flooding. Buffalo Bayou is a designated wetland and within ¼ mile of the proposed project (approximately 330 feet away). Project work is not anticipated to impact the bayou or fill or dredge any wetland areas; adverse impacts are not expected. There are no historic resources within ¼ mile of the proposed project. The entire project alignment is in an area designated as “No Survey Needed.” A very small portion ¼ mile to the northwest recommends a survey only if severe deep impacts are anticipated. The project does not extend into this area and will not involve severe deep impacts. No adverse impacts are anticipated.
H-GAC to calculate
Innovation
Yes
The project is utilizing the current state of transportation practice through its design objectives of improving safety, multimodal access, and making the best use of limited public right-of-way by removing a vehicular travel lanes for multimodal improvements. The project also proposes to utilize recent best practices in transportation such as raised crosswalks and rectangular rapid flashing beacons.
No