Township nixes plans for transit center
$132.3 million budget also cuts funding for new bus circulator
The Woodlands Township Board of Directors has approved a budget of $132.3 million for 2016, but removed items for a Town Center transit garage and bus system as well as funding for new traffic signals that the board had previously voted to include.
During the budget workshops in early August, the board considered three transportation budget initiatives that were controversial among board members and barely made it into the budget with a 4-3 vote. At the board’s Aug. 26 meeting, when it was set to give final approval to the budget, board members Mike Bass and Jeff Long, both of whom voted in favor of the initiatives at the budget workshops, were absent. Without their votes, board member Gordy Bunch’s proposal to adopt the budget with the exception of the three transportation initiatives passed 4-1, with chairman Bruce Tough accounting for the sole nay vote.
In spite of the change, the Township still anticipates a $7.6 million increase in operating revenue over 2015, with growth in sales, hotel and property tax revenue, and plans to spend about $2.4 million more on parks, $713,000 more on the fire department and $788,000 more
on law enforcement. Transit center garage
The board chose to pull the $2 million earmark to go toward funding for a $7 million parking garage — $3.4 million of which would come from the Township and $3.6 million from grants. The garage, which would be built at the corner of Six Pines Drive and Lake Robbins Drive, would serve as the central hub for The Woodlands transit system and any bus routes to be developed in the future.
Board members John McMullan, Bunch and Peggy Hausman did not think this was an appropriate use of Township funds. “We are in a new economic climate here,” McMullan said. “We should not spend that money in that manner.”
Bunch said that the concept of creating parking in the Town Center is agreeable, but wanted to further consider the possibility of also building a cultural or performing arts center on that land that would provide a venue for local performing arts groups and help attract tourism and larger conventions.
He also added that The Woodlands Mall plans to build two additional parking garages next year and said the Convention Center garage, which is located near the planned transit garage, is under-used as it is — making the transit center garage unnecessary. Town Center bus route
McMullan, Bunch and Hausman also opposed the implementation of a bus route that would circulate within Town Center — a route that was recommended by the HoustonGalveston Area Council’s Woodlands Transit Plan. The bus system would be based on the extended services of The Woodlands Holiday Express, which was launched last holiday season. It would stop throughout Town Center, including the mall, Waterway Square, Market Street and Hughes Landing, every six-to-seven minutes and would be free.
Bass, transportation committee member, said the Holiday Express model was successful and that the Town Center bus system would encourage people to park only once when visiting the Town Center and would therefore reduce congestion and be more efficient.
McMullan objected to the use of taxpayer money for a bus system that he believes would disproportionately benefit residents and businesses within Town Center, as opposed to those in the villages. Furthermore, he thought the Township should be more focused on improving its Park & Ride operation, the fares of which are set to go up next year. Traffic signal projects
McMullan, Bunch and Hausman also opposed the initiative to contribute $975,000 to fund two new traffic signal projects and infrastructure hardware for radar-based vehicle detection and traffic signal synchronization because they believe funding these projects should be the county’s responsibility.
“We don’t own the roads, why are we doing signalizations and why isn’t our county commissioner doing it?” Hausman asked.
The $975,000 is leftover money from an interlocal agreement between the Township and the county, where the Township agreed to contribute $1.4 million to intersection improvements, including a smart signal pilot project which turned out to be technologically unfeasible. The budget initiative for 2016 was to take the leftover funds to build two traffic signals on Research Forest Drive at W. Alden Bridge Drive and at Crownridge Drive, as well as to implement new radar-based vehicle detection for traffic signal synchronization.
Bass explained that the purpose of allocating the money was to fulfill the interlocal agreement made in 2014 and to improve mobility in The Woodlands.
“I talked to the county and asked them how in the world with a $30 million increase in their budget in one year that they couldn’t cover these expenses,” Bunch said. “The first response I got is, ‘nobody asked.’ The second response is, ‘We could probably cover it ourselves, but we’re going to take your money as long as you’re willing to give it to us’ ... that bothers me.”
The money that was pulled from these specific initiatives went back into the budget and can still be allocated to these, or other, budget initiatives at any time with a vote from the board.