Transportation Project Questionnaire

Operational Improvements and Congestion Management Questionnaire

Project Information

Agency Name	Fort Bend County
Project Title	FM 762 Extension to 10th St (Grade separation over Railroad)
Facility/Street/Highway	FM 762 (10th St)
Limits	Morton to Preston St.
Description	Engineering and construction of a bridge over the railroad crossing between Morton St. and Preston St.
Timeframe	Short Term (0-5 Years)
Estimated Cost	$7,500,000.00

Investment Category-Focused Criteria

1. Is the project located on a facility listed on Texas 100 most congested roads list?

1b. If no, please provide the existing peak period travel time index (TTI) of the facility where proposed project is located.

1.0 – 1.25

1b-i. Provide a narrative describing the existing congestion where proposed project is located and describe narrative to explain methodology to calculate existing TTI.

Existing Congestion: The proposed project is an extension project. The FM 762 at US 90 A experiences congestion in weekdays. The bottleneck across the US 90 A fuels the congestion during peak hours which also affects Preston St and Mortan St. Travel Time Index: The travel time index on existing previous section is 1.17, was obtained from COMPAT tool by TTI.

2. What is the estimated TTI after project is implemented?

1.0 – 1.25

2a. Provide a narrative describing the existing congestion where proposed project is located. Within the narrative explain the methodology and data used to calculate existing Travel Time Index (TTI).

Travel Time Index: Distance, free flow speed and travel time during peak period from H-GAC Travel Demand Model are used to calculate Travel Time Index for after improvements conditions.

3. Please provide a narrative to describe congestion management strategies and improvements (work types) proposed to reduce congestion on facility where the proposed project is located.

Grade separation: The proposed project is a grade separation project over a at-grade railroad crossing between Morton St and Preston St. Added capacity: The proposed project would add capacity to the system by adding 4 new lanes. Bottleneck removal: By providing 4-lane divided overpass, the proposed project would remove bottleneck from US 90A to Morton St by continuing 4-lane roadway from FM 762.

4. Is the proposed project located on a facility identified as a hurricane evacuation route in any regional or local plans?

4a. If no, is the proposed project located on a facility that functions as an alternative to an evacuation route?

Other Investment Category Focused Criteria

1. Was the project scored under Regional Goods Movement Category?

1a. If no, please provide a narrative explaining how the proposed project improves regional goods movement. Within the narrative, please include if the proposed project is designated as a critical freight corridor or a local/regional/state truck route.

The proposed project would affect positively to the state designated freight corridor US 90A by alleviating congestion on 10th St which provides first-to-last mile connectivity in the area. The proposed project would remove bottleneck which would alleviate the congestion on FM 762 and would reduce road blockage on US 90A caused by merging traffic to FM 762 and 10th St.

2. Please provide a narrative explaining how the proposed project benefits high growth areas. Within the narrative, please explain if the proposed project improves or provides access to new residential developments, retail stores, other land uses, or if the proposed project alleviates future congestion due to potential economic development activity such as expansion of warehouses or other freight generators.

The proposed project is located in the city of Richmond. The surrounding area of the project is anticipating high growth by 2045. The residential area is expecting around 43% growth, commercial area is expecting 3% growth and multiple use area is expecting more 100% growth within three miles of the project. The traffic on FM 762 at US 90A is expected to grow by approximately 34% and on US 90A at FM 762 is expected to grow by approximately 69% (Source: H-GAC Travel Demand Model). By providing grade separation, the future traffic congestion on the project segment and nearby roadways would be relieved by providing grade separation.

3. Please provide a narrative explaining how the proposed project improves walking and biking conditions. Within the narrative, please explain if the proposed project scope includes construction of a new or improved existing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure on a project facility or in the vicinity of the project.

The proposed project would provide a new 8-foot-wide side paths in each direction. The proposed improvement would provide safety from railroad crossing for pedestrians and bicyclists.

4. Please provide a narrative explaining how the proposed project improves traffic conditions for transit services (local, express, signature, or commuter).

The proposed project would help to improve Fort Bend County's Demand Response Transit Service by providing faster and safer connectivity to the users.

5. Please provide a narrative explaining how the proposed project will reduce inoperability for significant periods due to infrastructure damaged by a collision with vehicles such as trucks, ships, and barges.

The proposed project would construct a new 4-lane divided overpass over an at-grade railroad crossing. Due to the new infrastructure, the chance of the structure damage would be minimal. Although, if the facility would be damaged, the facility could possibly run at 50% capacity while repairing the damages. So, the would not completely inoperable.

6. Please provide a narrative explaining how the proposed project will improve state of good repair and extend the service life of the project facility.

The proposed project would construct grade separation at existing at-grade railroad crossing. The new facility will serve the system for next 50 years.

Planning Factors Criteria

1. What is the existing fatality crash rate at the project location? Regional crash data is available online on the crash data viewer. H-GAC staff will provide assistance in calculating the crash rates upon request.

0 Crashes/100 Million VMT

2. What is the existing serious injury crash rate at the project location? Regional crash data is available online on the crash data viewer. H-GAC staff will provide assistance in calculating the crash rates upon request.

0 Crashes/100 Million VMT

3. Please provide a narrative explaining how the proposed project reduces expected fatality and serious injury crashes. Narrative must include specific improvements (work types) included in the project scope. Crash reduction factors associated with specific work types can be found in the safety benefits calculation template. H-GAC staff can provide assistance in gathering the crash reduction factors upon request.

Design: The proposed project is 4-lane divided grade separation over railroad between Morton St to Preston St. Divided roadway would reduce the crashes caused by left-turn movements. The new roadway will be designed with current highway safety standards which will reduce the expected crashes. Work types: The Proposed improvements would improve safety by including following work types (work code, CRF): Install raised median (203, 25%) Safety treat fixed objects (209, 50%) Install pavement markings (401, 20%) Install edge markings (402, 25%) Install sidewalks (407, 65%) Garde separation (514, 80%) Add through lane (517, 28%) The proposed improvements together would reduce potential crashes by 99%.

Resiliency

1. Please select the vulnerability to flooding score at the project location based on the Regional Resiliency tool. H-GAC staff can provide assistance with the regional resiliency tool upon request.

Low

2. Please select the criticality score at the project location based on the Regional Resiliency tool. H-GAC staff can provide assistance with the regional resiliency tool up on request.

Medium

3. Please provide a narrative explaining how the proposed project reduces vulnerability to flooding. The narrative must include specific improvements such as drainage improvements that are included in the scope.

The proposed project would meet to the minimum federal standard. The proposed project would provide curb and gutter storm sewer system and would meet the federal standard drainage requirements.

Access/Connectivity

Please enter the household population located within a quarter mile buffer of the project location: 1a. Low-Income

701

1b. Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Minorities

3324

2. Does the proposed project improve or provide new connectivity to a medical facility within a quarter mile buffer of the project location?

Yes

3. Does the proposed project improve or provide new connectivity to a school/college/university within a quarter mile buffer of the project location?

Yes

4. Does the proposed project improve or provide new connectivity to a social services facility within a quarter buffer of the project location?

Yes

Environmental Justice

Please enter household population located within quarter mile buffer of the project location. H-GAC staff can assist in gathering the data. 1a. Low-Income

701

1b. Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Minorities

3324

1c. Household Population Under Poverty

780

1d. Disabled Persons

393

1e. Elderly Persons

421

1f. Limited English Proficiency

299

2. What is the average Livable Center Need Index within quarter mile buffer of the project location? H-GAC staff can assist in gathering the data.

76.8

3. Please provide a narrative explaining how the proposed project provides benefits to vulnerable populations. Benefits include safety improvements, construction of or improvements to ped/bike facilities, or improvements to transit stops.

Ped/bike facility: The proposed project would provide 8-foot-wide side path on curbs in each direction. Safety improvements: A 4-lane divided road with raised median would reduce the head-on crashes and the grade difference would minimize the active transportation user crashes related to railroad crossing and related to motor vehicle as the side path would be allocated on the curb. The grade separation would improve safety for users of all transportation modes as well as people located near the road.

4. Please provide a narrative explaining how the proposed project avoids or mitigates adverse effects to vulnerable populations. A list of adverse effects was provided in detailed criteria document.

Safety: The proposed improvements include focus on safety improvements and mobility enhancement, hence lowering the adverse effect to nearest neighborhood. Congestion, air pollution, travel time, economy: Reduced congestion will improve air quality by lowering the emmisions, minimize the congestion related crashes, and improved travel time can benefit in lowering the delivery cost and bringing business. Mental health and community cohesion: Apart from that, congestion reduction can diminish the stress, fatigue, irritability and rage. Proposed shared use path in each direction improve community cohesion and quality of public realm. Aesthetic value: The new facility with improved landscape will enhance the aesthetic value of the surrounding areas.

Impacts on Natural and Cultural Resources

1. Please provide a narrative explaining how the proposed project avoids or mitigates impacts to natural (flood plains, wetlands) and cultural (historic and archeological sites) resources. H-GAC staff can provide assistance in identifying natural and cultural resources located within a quarter mile buffer of the project location.

Natural resources: The proposed project is located outside of FEMA 100-year floodplain and does not affect any wetlands. Cultural resources: The proposed project does not impact any historical resources but it would mitigate the congestion caused by railroad crossing near the historical marker (The Darst-Yoder House) and can help attracting more visitors.

2. Please provide Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) reductions provided by the project. H-GAC staff can provide assistance in calculating NOx and VOC reductions.
(Optional)

Not applicable (New alignment)

Innovation

1. Does the project propose to implement new infrastructure technologies to enhance accessibility, mobility, multimodalism, resiliency, reliability, or traffic operations?

2. Does the project propose to implement new autonomous/connected vehicle technology?