Hidalgo: 'Community input' key to Harris County highway project

A Harris County judge announced that the North Houston Highway Improvement Project may have hit a speed bump after the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) received a request from the federal government to block the project. 

Harris County officials filed a lawsuit earlier this year that would require the Texas Department of Transportation to consider local concerns about the project amid claims it adversely impacts low-income communities and the environment. 

“The message from the Biden administration to TxDOT is clear: You can’t bulldoze your way to a massive infrastructure project without community input, without considering smarter transportation options, and you can’t bulldoze your way through the Civil Rights Act,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said on Twitter.  

However, even after the lawsuit was filed and the federal government intervened, the Texas Department of Transportation continued with the project, according to Click2Houston. Hidalgo told the news website that Harris County has urged the state to adjust the project, claiming it doesn’t adequately adjust traffic problems while adversely impacting the environment and communities in its path. 

“Our community deserves an I-45 project,” Hidalgo told Click2Houston. “The current highway is not adequate. But we also need a project that respects the wishes of the community, that is forward-thinking in terms of transportation policy so we can keep the region competitive.”

Hidalgo released a June 14 letter from the U.S. Department of Transportation to Marc Williams, executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation, requesting a pause that includes right-of-way acquisition. The judge also told the website that by law, the state Department of Transportation must consider community and environmental concerns in their design. 

“Unfortunately, after many meetings and conversations and community output and information, those concerns have fallen on deaf ears,” she told Click2Houston.

Click2Houston also reported that Texas Department of Transportation Chief Communications Officer Bob Kaufman issued a statement regarding the project and the letter it received from the FHWA, noting the state is reviewing the requests.

According to Kaufman’s statement, the Texas Department of Transportation “remains fully committed to working with FHWA and local officials on an appropriate path forward.”

“We know that many in the community are anxious to see this project advance," he said. “This FHWA action indefinitely suspends key steps for this project.”