'A good first step': Menefee asks for public to provide input on I-45 project

Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee is asking for the public's opinion on if the I-45 North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP) should continue to be funded or if it should be eliminated from the 10-year TxDOT’s Unified Transportation Project plan.

Office of the Harris County Attorney reported that in late June, TxDOT returned the North Houston Highway Improvement Project back to public comment. 

"I support County Attorney @CDMenefee and @HoustonTX's request that @TxDOTHouston meet key priorities for the I-45 project, including meaningful community outreach and public engagement. We encourage residents to give feedback about the project here: http://surveymonkey.com/r/2022UTP," Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis said in an Aug. 3 Tweet. 

Menefee urges residents to weigh in on whether the NHHIP should continue to be funded or removed from the decade-long UTP and said in a statement obtained by CW39 that TxDOT's survey is a "sham" in that residents have only two choices.

“My hope is TxDOT will use this newly announced public comment period to engage residents, and reconsider its plans for I-45," Menefee said, told by the Office of the Harris County Attorney. "While this is a good first step, we’ve also seen this show before—TxDOT had several public comment periods leading up to its adoption of the current, flawed design, which disproportionately harms black and brown communities."

Residents are being asked to give their input by Aug. 9, CW39 reported.