Residents and stakeholders have another opportunity to share their thoughts on how to make getting around the Houston-Galveston region safer and better for years to come.
The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) will host a second round of public meetings mid-October through early December to decide the top transportation priorities and strategies for its 2045 Regional Transportation Plan – which is being updated this year – and how they will drive the plan’s vision moving forward.
Earlier this year, H-GAC held a series of public visioning meetings and put out a survey to gauge residents’ and stakeholders’ thoughts on what they like and don’t like about traveling around the region. H-GAC also sought to understand the key factors that should steer the way investments are made to the region’s transportation network.
“The first round of public meetings and the visioning survey were meant to collect as much feedback as possible. We wanted to understand the concerns people have about the current transportation system and each community’s unique transportation needs,” said Mike Burns, principal transportation planner at H-GAC. “At this next round of public meetings, we’ll work to build a consensus around priorities and strategies included in the updated 2045 plan.”
In the second round of public meetings, H-GAC representatives will present the visioning survey results and a summary of feedback received during the visioning outreach period. They will then share a preliminary vision developed based on this feedback and how this vision will help guide the strategies and investment priorities to create a safer, more reliable, more equitable, and multimodal transportation system.
“We received a lot of great feedback from communities across the region. What we have heard so far is that when it comes to transportation, our residents want safety, resiliency, reliability, equity, accessibility, and livability. These will be the key strategies to realizing the preliminary vision we will present at the public meetings. We need everyone’s engagement to make sure this is the right vision,” said Burns. The second round of public meetings will take place at the following dates, times, and locations:
- Liberty County, Thursday, Oct. 20 | 7-8:30 p.m., Dayton Community Center, 801 S. Cleveland St., Suite B, Dayton, TX 77535
- Waller County, Thursday, Oct. 27 | 6-7:30 p.m., The Pattison House, 3602 North St., Pattison, TX 77423
- Brazoria and Galveston County, Thursday, Nov. 3 | 6-7:30 p.m., Friendswood Public Library, 416 S. Friendswood Dr., Friendswood, TX 77546
- Fort Bend County, Monday, Nov. 14 | 6-7:30 p.m., Sugar Land City Hall, 2700 Town Center Blvd. N., Sugar Land, TX 77479
- Harris County, Thursday, Nov. 17 | 6-7:30 p.m., Houston-Galveston Area Council, 3555 Timmons Ln., 2nd floor, Houston, TX 77027
- Montgomery County, Thursday, Dec. 1 | 6-7:30 p.m., Magnolia Event Center, 11659 FM 1488, Magnolia, TX 77354
All the public meetings will have Spanish language interpreters and American Sign Language interpreters for the deaf community. The Fort Bend County and Harris County public meetings will also have Mandarin and Vietnamese language interpreters. Residents and stakeholders can learn more information about the meetings and how to get involved at http://www.h-gac.com/RTP.
The Regional Transportation Plan is the region’s long-range plan prioritizing transportation projects in the eight-county Houston-Galveston metropolitan planning area. The plan is updated every four years and is a framework for what the region’s transportation system will need to look like to sustain the population and its socioeconomic needs. The plan also identifies the strategies and investments necessary to get there.
H-GAC serves as the metropolitan planning organization for the region. Decisions are guided by a broad group of planners and engineers, elected officials, transportation agencies, community stakeholders, and members of the public.
To learn more about the 2045 Regional Transportation Plan update, visit http://www.h-gac.com/RTP.