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- The H-GAC meetings are informal open houses where participants can view exhibits and ask questions of staff members. (Photo Credit: Gail Delaughter )
- There's a covered bus stop on Lockwood at Rand Street but you can't use a sidewalk to get there. (Photo Credit: Gail Delaughter )
- On the northeast corner of Lockwood at Rand Street there's a landing pad for pedestrians but it doesn't connect to a sidewalk. (Photo Credit: Gail Delaughter )
- Participants in H-GAC's public meetings are asked about their top priorities for the Regional Transportation Plan. (Photo Credit: Gail Delaughter )
- Participants are asked what they'd like to see in new bike facilities. (Photo Credit: Gail Delaughter )
- Participants at H-GAC's public meetings are asked to give written comments the proposed 2045 Regional Transportation Plan. (Photo Credit: Gail Delaughter )
- Participants in H-GAC's public meetings are asked to outline their long-range priorities. (Photo Credit: Gail Delaughter )
The Kashmere Gardens neighborhood was hit hard by Harvey's floods, especially high water from nearby Hunting Bayou. Several months later many low-income people are still struggling to recover.
Keith Downey with the Kashmere Gardens Super-Neighborhood Association was one of the people commenting on H-GAC's 2045 Regional Transportation Plan, an outline for mobility improvements in the eight-county region. A public meeting was held Thursday night at the Kashmere Gardens Multi-Service Center.
Downey said the neighborhood was facing a lot of challenges even before Harvey.
Many households in Kashmere Gardens have an income between $21,000 and $23,000 a year. A lot of people don't have internet access. And getting to bus stops can be a problem because of a lack of sidewalks.
"And they're challenged in getting to where they can connect to services," added Downey. "And they say, though I need to get back in my home, how do I get information that will help me?"
Downey says the neighborhood also needs more transit and H-GAC says that's something it's also hearing in other communities, both in Houston and in the suburbs.
H-GAC Transportation Planner Vishu Lingala said people in Fort Bend and Brazoria Counties are asking for more express buses to get to places like downtown Houston and the Med Center. There's also increased interest in commuter rail.
Another big issue people are talking about is cycling.
"By and large, in all the public meetings that we've had so far, people have shown more interest in expansion of alternative modes of transportation," said Lingala.
H-GAC has scheduled public meetings through the end of April and Lingala said they may add an additional meeting in Baytown.
"Once all the meetings are done we will gather all the information together and do some analysis with the data we already have," explained Lingala. He's expecting they'll issue a report later this year and start work on the actual plan in 2019.
The next step after that would be to secure billions of dollars in funding for proposed projects.
