Mobility, transportation focus of May 28 forum

The Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce will host a transportation and mobility forum at the Kingwood Country Club on May 28.

Experts from Harris County, the city of Houston and private industry will take part in the event which will address pending transportation and mobility needs, as well as future plans for parts of the Lake Houston region.

“Our area is really growing,” said Jenna Armstrong, president of the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce.

The far northeast areas of Harris County are in three precincts, with portions of the area in Montgomery County. It also includes Harris County communities such as Humble, Kingwood, Atascocita and Summerwood in Generation Park.

“With Generation Park and FMC Technologies moving in, and everything happening north on U.S. 59, transportation is a big issue in our area,” Armstrong said.

Because the area is so diverse, the chamber chose four panel representatives to provide a focus on the transportation needs within the Lake Houston region.

Those representatives include Houston district engineer Quincy Allen, Humble City Manager Darrell Boeske, North Harris area engineer John A. Elam, District E Houston City Councilman Dave Martin and Precinct 2 Senior Director of Infrastructure Jer-

emy Phillips.

Since 2012, the city of Humble has been working toward significant transportation and infrastructure upgrades, and it has been paying cash for these projects.

The city began making drainage improvements to Willow Street and Jordan’s Gully costing $1.7 million.

It is in the final phase of completion and others were launched earlier this year.

In January, the city began a $6 million improvement project that involves Main Street and Higgins Street from the Interstate 69 feeder road up to the rail road tracks in the center of downtown.

The project also includes Bender Avenue, from Main to First streets, portions of Anne Avenue, as well as on Windswept Drive between Carolyn to McDugald roads.

“We had to get those done as soon as we had the money,” Boeske said.

“Now we need to get this next section — this eastwest section, completed. We are putting sidewalks, new street lighting, and new intersections. It’s very extensive.”

The project is expected to be completed by early 2016, Boeske said.

Another part of the discussion is expected to focus on the completion of the Kingwood Area Mobility Plan.

Martin, who has helped spearhead the plan, is part of the panel and will likely share his views as it relates to the city’s Capital Improvement Plan and the mobility plan, as well as the work the steering committee has done with other entities.

In February 2014, Martin launched the mobility study to identify feasible alternatives to the increasing traffic congestion, and identify short-, mediumand long-range projects intended to address growth, promote better mobility and improve the quality of life for residents.

The study was completed in December and presented at a public meeting at the Kingwood Community Center in March.

With the plan now completed, the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority and the city of Houston are in negotiations for funding with Harris and Montgomery counties.

If the funding can be obtained, Martin said Northpark Drive could be expanded from four to six lanes and be completed before improving Kingwood Drive starting in 2019 through the CIP.

“It would be more palatable,” he said.

“I want to show the skeptics that we (in Kingwood) put together a process, it worked, and we did it the right way.”

On a wider scale, Phillips said he plans to focus on some key project plans for the Lake Houston region, which are under consideration.

“We will be sharing what we’ve done up to this point, and give an overview of projects we are looking at, specifically in the Atascocita area,” Phillips said.

“We will share what we’ve got planned.

“Some of those are on the CIP.”

Details

Registration deadline is May 22.

Attendance is $30 for members or $35 for guests.

Reservations made after the deadline are subject to availability and will be at the rate of $35 for members or $40 for guests.

To learn more information on this event, or to register for the event, go to http://web.lakehoustonareachamber.org/events