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Red Bluff Road Alternate Evacuation Route Harris County Precinct 2 1/12/2015 3:56:27 PMProject Narrative
The referenced portion of Red Bluff Road represents a two-lane bottleneck section of an otherwise finished multi-lane median divided corridor between SH 146 in the City of Seabrook and Fairmont Parkway in Pasadena. It is a principal arterial and a National Highway System route providing a vital regional transportation link for the growing communities west of Galveston Bay, as well as rapidly expanding port facilities and related industries near the Bayport Ship Channel. The reduced capacity of the bottleneck section creates spot congested conditions of increasing severity during peak periods. The served areas are also part of Hurricane Evacuation Zone A which is effectively isolated by water boundaries (i.e., Clear Lake, Taylor Lake and the Bayport Channel). The bottleneck on Red Bluff Road represents an impediment to using this corridor as a viable evacuation route alternative for SH 146. Built in 1981, the existing Red Bluff Road bridge and pavement are approaching the point where they will need extensive work to extend their service lives and meet current design standards. Lack of a nearby detour route complicates these heavy maintenance activities and has the potential to be very disruptive to general mobility in the area. Providing the additional eastbound lanes addresses the capacity deficiency associated with the existing bottleneck relative to both the increasing traffic volume and the higher capacity of Red Bluff Road west of Kirby Boulevard. It reduces the number and types of movement conflicts, thereby making more effective use of all the travel lanes, while gaining an inherent safety benefit. This will be an increasingly important aspect of the improvement with continued growth in port related and other truck traffic. It also allows for additional queuing at the Lakeside Drive traffic signal and rail grade crossing, improving the efficiency of these traffic control features. Providing the additional eastbound lanes addresses the capacity deficiency associated with the existing bottleneck relative to both the increasing traffic volume and the higher capacity of Red Bluff Road west of Kirby Boulevard. It reduces the number and types of movement conflicts, thereby making more effective use of all the travel lanes, while gaining an inherent safety benefit. This will be an increasingly important aspect of the improvement with continued growth in port related and other truck traffic. It also allows for additional queuing at the Lakeside Drive traffic signal and rail grade crossing, improving the efficiency of these traffic control features. The added capacity of the parallel lanes and bridge span will enable the overall Red Bluff Road corridor to be effectively used and managed as an evacuation route serving areas east of the bridge. Moreover, the existing road is three lanes wide, providing left turn storage in various locations. Conversion of the existing road to one way operation makes the additional pavement width available for use during evacuations to accommodate emergency vehicles, breakdowns, or additional westbound traffic. Adding the parallel eastbound lanes also addresses the heavy maintenance needs of the existing bridge and roadway in comprehensive fashion. Two way traffic can be carried by the new lanes for periods, allowing for complete closure of the existing lanes, enabling construction vehicles to be fully segregated from general traffic. Full movement access can also be maintained from all driveways and side streets. Reconstruction efforts will thereby become more straightforward and less disruptive. The project involves construction of two new eastbound travel lanes to complete the planned median divided boulevard south of Fairmont Parkway. It extends from Kirby Boulevard to SH 146, a distance of approximately 8,000 ft. Portions of the project lie within the Cities of Seabrook and Pasadena, as well as unincorporated Harris County. The planned bridge also abuts the northern tip of the City of Taylor Lake Village. The alignment will conform to available roadway right-of-way and related reservations wherever possible. Median breaks will preserve full movement access and egress at public road intersections, as applicable. The project will require construction of a new bridge across Taylor Lake approximately 1,300 ft long. The existing traffic signal at Lakeside Drive, as well as the existing industrial lead track rail grade crossing located approximately 300 ft west of SH 146, will need to be modified to accommodate the new lanes. The project as envisioned addresses multiple needs, previously identified in this application. Although no Major Investment Study was conducted for the project, it can be documented that various alternative improvement strategies will not adequately address these needs. Specifically, with respect to… …addressing evacuation needs by means of: improving alternate corridors in lieu of the project (No Build) - Geography in the area, specifically Galveston Bay, Clear Lake, Taylor Lake and the Bayport Ship Channel severely limit evacuation corridor options in this portion of the region. The SH 146 corridor in this vicinity has already been upgraded to a fully limited access highway; and that road's role within the regional transportation and evacuation networks will be expanded with the completion of adjoining segments of the Grand Parkway. It should also be pointed out that forcing traffic from zones onto specific evacuation routes, referred to as “directed evacuation” in DPS’ 2005 traffic management plan was identified as a plan weakness by the Houston-Galveston Area Evacuation and Response Task Force (HGAERTF). Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, HGAERTF noted that this strategy “…frustrated efforts of evacuees seeking nearer destinations not along their pre-selected evacuation route and inadvertently forced some evacuating traffic into the hurricane strike area” (Recommendations Report, April 2006, p. 7). providing transit services - High capacity transit services that could potentially serve as evacuation alternative modes are not practical in this instance, given existing and projected development patterns. Although the cities of Taylor Lake Village and El Lago are in the Houston METRO service area, no fixed route services are identified in or near Red Bluff Road within its draft System Reimagining Plan. introducing contraflow operations during evacuations - With regard to providing contraflow during evacuations, the HGAERTF recommended such conversions be limited to “choke points on the north and west side of Houston”. The Task Force identified multiple issues with wider use that are relevant to the Red Bluff Road corridor, such as hindering movements of emergency vehicles and supplies, and intensive demands for personnel to set up and manage the transition and access points (Recommendations Report, April 2006, p. 7). …addressing Overall Corridor Capacity by means of: constructing a toll road - As reported in the Houston Chronicle on September 18, 2009, the 2035 RTP’s toll road alignment following Red Bluff Road and Fairmont Parkway between Beltway 8 and SH 146 was evaluated by HCTRA in response to Senate Bill 792 becoming law on June 11, 2007. SB 792 pertained to establishing comprehensive development agreements for various toll road projects by the state and regional mobility authorities. HCTRA’s spokesman was quoted in the Chronicle article as saying that the Red Bluff Road alignment was considered by engineers as “not feasible”. The article also noted opposition to development of a toll road corridor from the City of Pasadena, with particular concern expressed regarding impacts to local businesses. other TSM/TDM Strategies, per H-GAC’s Congestion Management Process - Demand management efforts along the Red Bluff Road corridor will not address the port related industry and other truck traffic concerns. Carpool and vanpool services should continue to be promoted within the context of general regional marketing efforts, since the origins and destinations served by the corridor are well dispersed. Traffic signal synchronization is not applicable, since signal spacing along the corridor will not support coordination. Harris County intends to pursue the project in one phase. Both eastbound lanes should be constructed simultaneously. Longer lead and costly work elements, such as the rail spur/pipeline crossing, stormwater management features and new Taylor Lake Bridge should be constructed in their ultimate configurations to avoid incurring duplicative time and expense. It also creates an unbalanced lane configuration, with pavement available for one eastbound and three westbound lanes. If staged construction is imposed on the project, Lakeside Drive is a potential segment boundary, connecting with Red Bluff Road at a signalized intersection east of Taylor Lake. It is possible to advance the construction west of this intersection first, if necessary, since Lakeside Drive affords an alternative means of access to SH 146 and the eastern portion of Seabrook via Repsdorph Road. However, this is not a desirable scenario. The objective of removing the corridor bottleneck will not be fully addressed in the interim condition. Lakeside Drive and Repsdorph Road are collector roads with low posted speeds. Lakeside Drive, in particular, serves as a residential spine road, with four-way stop signs and crosswalks.Project Narrative
No Environmental Assessment (EA) Please Select Yes A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Section 10 RHA and Section 404 CWA permits will be required for impacts to jurisdictional waters of the U.S. including Navigable waters and abutting and adjacent wetlands. This project has two potential permitting avenues, first if the impacts are minimal (tidal impacts less than 0.50 acres, non-tidal impacts less than 1.0 acres) the project could be permitted under Harris County’s Regional General Permit SWG-2011-00629, specifically RGP-14 for linear transportation projects with an anticipated timeline of completion of 90 days after submittal of the pre-construction notification. Second, If project impacts greater than those allowed under our RGP then an Section 10/404 Individual permit will be required with an anticipated timeline of 12-18 months to complete. It is not anticipated that the project will required a separate Section 401 (CWA) water quality certification from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. A section 9 Bridge Permit from the U.S. Coast Guard will be required since the project will be constructed in Navigable in fact waters. It is anticipated to require 12-18 months to complete this process. A miscellaneous easement (ME) from the Texas General Land Office (TXGLO) will be required to construct the bridge on state owned submerged lands. It is anticipated that the easement agreement will take 12 months to complete. All permit and agreement actions can be done concurrently. 13/05/2015 Yes 3 31/08/2015 Yes A utility survey of the corridor has been accomplished, which indicated a number of pipeline crossings of the corridor in the vicinity of the rail grade crossing. All of these pipelines are believed to be deep enough to be unaffected by the project. Harris County will confer with each pipeline owner during project development in order to obtain No Objection letters. Overhead and underground utility lines within the corridor appear in the progress design drawings in order to identify and minimize conflicts with the project. Utility owners have been identified; and coordination with owner representatives to relocate utilities when required is ongoing in comprehensive fashion. No As a part of the NEPA process for Environmental Assessments to be completed, it is anticipated that at least one public meeting will be held to introduce the project and solicit public comments regarding the project as a whole. It is not anticipated that this project will be controversial or place undue stress on the community or the environment. The Public involvement process will be conducted as a part of the project study phase to ascertain public comments regarding the project and be able to incorporate meaningful comments into the plan designs. Public involvement process will involve direct and indirect contact to landowners in the vicinity of the project through mailings, signs and public notices in at least one major newspaper, regional newspaper and alternative language newspaper such as La Voz or similar depending on the area's demographics. Texas Department of Transportation has stringent guidelines for conducting public meeting; and those will be followed to satisfy the NEPA process. The initial public meeting will take approximately six months to complete; and comments will be incorporated into the NEPA documents as required by TXDOT. A public hearing after the NEPA document has been approved for further processing will not be anticipated. A “Notice affording the opportunity for a public hearing” will be published and action taken based on any request received from the public. The Notice usually takes about 60 days to complete; and, if a public hearing is required, an additional six months will be required to complete this task. Additional public involvement: If the project requires a U.S. Army Corps of Engineering individual permit there is a public comment period built into the permit process. This is a 45-day published notification with 30 days to respond to public comments. This public involvement is considered within the anticipated 12-18 months to complete individual permit process. Pre-design work has been initiated for the entire length of the project. Staff level coordination is also ongoing between Harris County Precinct 2 and the City of Seabrook. Project is being advanced in keeping with applicable TxDOT Design Criteria. The vast majority of the required right-of-way for the project has already been acquired by Harris County. Of the two remaining parcels, one is governed by an agreement between Harris County and the property owner (attached), which recognizes the County’s right to acquire the land needed for the project. This agreement also acknowledges that platted building lines were developed to be compatible with the expanded roadway. The property owner is further required to remove conflicting fencing and landscaping within 60 days of notification by the County at no cost to the County. Both of the parcels to be acquired are undeveloped, and are not planned to be developed.Map/Location
Evalutation Questions - Major Investments
Benefit/Cost Methodology
Please attach the completed BCA Excel worksheet and narrative explanation of analyses used
Narrative Benefits
The project provides a multi-lane boulevard in place of the existing two-lane, undivided roadway. Safety benefits inherent to the project include greatly reduced potential for head on collisions, as well as improved driver fields of vision and room for crash avoidance. Creating a boulevard section also eliminates a number of conflicting types of vehicle maneuvers. Further, providing a third westbound lane east of Taylor Lake allows for segregated speed transitions for vehicles entering and leaving Red Bluff Road at Neal Drive and the existing commercial driveways (see attached Google Street View image). All of these factors reduce the overall vehicle crash probability for the corridor, which lowers the risk of all types of crashes. The new Taylor Lake Bridge includes a raised seven-foot wide sidewalk with bridge railing in keeping with County standards. This sidewalk is wider than the sidewalk on the existing bridge, better accommodating non-motorized traffic across Taylor Lake in advance of the City of Seabrook’s planned trail system extension serving the Red Bluff Road corridor.Red Bluff Road_Google Street View Crash Picture.pdf
The primary goal of the project is to alleviate the capacity limitations and operational inefficiencies of the present two-lane bottleneck section. These benefits were detailed in recounting Project Purpose in the application and in the Benefit/Cost Analysis. However, it should also be emphasized that traffic movements internal to the SH 146 interchange with Red Bluff Road will also be improved with the project, resulting in improved operations along the SH 146 frontage roads in this location. Presently, westbound Red Bluff Road traffic proceeding through the signalized intersection with the southbound SH 146 frontage road has only one receiving lane. This is a design limitation due to location and size of the existing railroad grade crossing just west of the intersection. Construction of the project and its associated modification of the grade crossing eliminates this design constraint. With three westbound lanes carried across the railroad tracks, the planned configuration is two westbound through lanes and an additional southbound free flowing right turn lane onto westbound Red Bluff Road. Widening the grade crossing also affords the ability to widen the throat of the eastbound approach further west, increasing the queuing capacity of this approach and avoiding starving access for one type of movement by another. Considering that the northbound left turn from SH 146 unto Red Bluff Road and reciprocal eastbound to southbound right turn movement are pronounced and growing, these improvements will provide significant congestion benefit to overall interchange operations long term.Red Bluff Congestion Narrative Exhibit.pdf
The existing Taylor Lake Bridge is 45 years old. Constructing a second span for the eastbound lanes will facilitate inspection, rehabilitation, and eventual reconstruction of the existing span efficiently, and with minimal disruption. Similarly, providing multiple eastbound and westbound lanes will facilitate maintaining traffic throughout periods of roadway maintenance, minimizing the need for detour routes and/or temporary pavement. Eliminating the bottleneck section of Red Bluff Road will greatly improve its use as a hurricane evacuation route. Seabrook and communities south of Clear Lake, which are all within Evacuation Zone A, will benefit from the development of an alternative evacuation corridor to SH 146 and IH 45 via Red Bluff Road, Fairmont Parkway and Beltway 8.Hurricane_Zip_Zone_Map_Red Bluff Highlighted.pdf
In conjunction with improvements to Old SH 146, the Red Bluff Road Project will improve access to the Bayport Container and Cruise Terminal Complex and related developments, in keeping with the Port of Houston Authority's master plan. Improving this corridor enables port oriented traffic coming from, or heading to, the west to circumvent the expanding Celanese Plant/other Bayport Industrial District properties on Bay Area Boulevard and the Odfjell Terminal on Port Road (reference map attached). In this manner, it will also improve connectivity between the container terminal and related uses, such as the Bay Area Business Park and Republic Distribution Center (located on Red Bluff Road north of the Bay Area Boulevard intersection). Lastly, it will support planned commercial and industrial development in the City of Seabrook (see attached Seabrook thoroughfare and zoning map) and points south of Clear Lake, including at the Port of Texas City. Growth in the adjoining portion of Seabrook will be very timely, considering the acknowledged disruption associated with the SH 146 Expansion Project (http://seabrooktx.gov/index.aspx?nid=369) within that project's construction limits. The Red Bluff Road Project is proximate to the Armand Bayou Nature Center, a 2,500 acre urban wildlife refuge. The project will benefit the ABNC through addressing potential noxious impacts (i.e., localized noise and air quality pollution) associated with growing levels of corridor congestion. It also lessens the potential for chemical spills and other non-recurring environmental incidents due to the increased safety inherent with the segregation of movements. The City of Seabrook intends to extend the city’s trail network to connect with nearby regional trails, inclusive of the trail abutting the eastbound lanes of Red Bluff Road through the ABNC, west of Kirby Boulevard. This objective appears in both the City’s 2010 Hike and Bike Trails Master Plan and their 2012 Open Space & Parks Master Plan (excerpt with map attached). The project is compatible with this objective in a number of ways. First, the new Taylor Lake Bridge will include ADA compliant pedestrian accommodations. It will also be higher than the current bridge, enabling bicycle and pedestrian traffic to cross under the eastbound lanes beyond the abutments. In addition, the Lakeside Drive traffic signal and rail grade crossing modifications required for the project will be designed to accommodate pedestrian traffic.