Regional Boards > Mid-South
Houston: Hardy Toll Road extension status
rte66man:
I could not find anything on their site about Cavalcade. Will the toll road cross over it?
MaxConcrete:
Work on the Lorraine underpass is proceeding very quickly. Just a few months ago it looked like little or nothing was happening, and now the railroad overpass is done, and excavation is nearly done! The railroad overpass has four tracks, and space for a fifth.
According to the official schedule the project is slated to be done in June 2020, and I think they can complete the job well before June if they want to. Or, they may coast for the remaining work to pave Lorraine.
This photo also shows an abutment on the left side, which must be for the Toll Road main lanes.
jlwm:
This is project is being shelved according to Dug Begley on Twitter.
Nope, but also not happening in the current environment. County shelved it.— Dug Begley (@DugBegley) September 16, 2020
--- End quote ---
?s=20
MaxConcrete:
--- Quote from: jlwm on September 16, 2020, 10:46:55 PM ---This is project is being shelved according to Dug Begley on Twitter.
Nope, but also not happening in the current environment. County shelved it.— Dug Begley (@DugBegley) September 16, 2020
--- End quote ---
?s=20
--- End quote ---
Yes, I'm afraid this is correct.
The new county judge (Lina Hidalgo) is generally anti-car and anti-road. Several months ago there was a Harris County Commissioners Court agenda item to study shelving or canceling the project. That's probably a necessary formality since they've already spent a lot on this project, I'm thinking at least $100 million.
With HCTRA's revenue expected to drop significantly this year, Hidalgo has a good excuse to drop the project. To add insult to injury, this week Commissioners Court voted to divert $300 million out of HCTRA immediately and then $90 million per year to non-transportation budgets. It's the new reality with a democrat-controlled Commissioner's court. While a few previous commitments like the 225/8 interchange will be honored, I think we're seeing the end of expansion of the Harris County Toll Road system. HCTRA was managed financially conservatively for a long time, and the new majority is looking to harvest that money for non-HCTRA purposes.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Harris-County-may-create-corporation-to-free-up-15569039.php
Is it permanently dead? It's hard to say. If republicans regain control it would likely be revived, but that seems unlikely given demographic trends.
Plutonic Panda:
Well that just sucks ass. I thought judges weren’t supposed to be biased. :spin:
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version