Hillcroft project subtracting car lane to add pedestrian space
Long-awaited changes to Hillcroft through Gulfton will mean less room for cars and much more for pedestrians, city officials said Tuesday as they announced work has begun on a redo of the one city’s most crash-prone boulevards.
“Our goal is to make the city’s streets safe,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said, noting the Hillcroft work could become a model for street redesigns citywide.
Split into three phases, the $3.5 million project will remake Hillcroft from High Star and Westward south to Bellaire Boulevard, a redesign that officials said would make the street the dense and diverse community’s main thoroughfare. Hillcroft curves from Interstate 69 outside Loop 610 before heading south, west of Bellaire toward Meyerland.
In many respects, officials said the neighborhood and street exemplify what Houston is becoming: More international and more dense with growing demand for biking and walking options. Houston District J Councilman Edward Pollard, who represents the area, said while Houston averages about 3,600 people per square mile, there are about 10,000 residents per square mile in Gulfton. The area is popular with recent immigrants and has thriving Latino, South Asian and Middle Eastern communities.
“With this work, we are thinking about the people here,” Pollard said, noting the high number of residents who rely on walkable
access to nearby bus stops, shops, schools and parks.
Based on an analysis conducted by the national partnership Together for Safer Roads, Houston Public Works and Connect Community, a nonprofit active in Gulfton, 22 percent of the area’s residents rely solely on walking.
Crews are expected to spend the rest of the year completing the work. Portions of the project are funded by TIRZ 20, which covers a large swath of the area outside Loop 610 between the Westpark Tollway
and I-69. The district set aside $4 million for various street improvements, which could cover part of Hillcroft not included in the current work, north to I-69 and south of Bellaire Boulevard.
Though city officials say the project will be transformative, the Hillcroft work is not as significant as other recent street rebuilding projects because it does not include the replacement of pipes below the road or a total resurfacing of the street.
Instead, many of the improvements involve changing signals and signs at key intersections, building new sidewalks or adding
paint and concrete to create more space for bicyclists and pedestrians. Specific changes include:
• Widening sidewalks to eight feet on each side, as opposed to the existing four- or five-foot paths.
• Adding a traffic signal at Dashwood Drive to reduce how far some people have to walk for a safe crossing.
• Upgrading bus stops along Hillcroft to make them more accessible for elderly and disabled users.
• Creation of a 10-footwide shared use path for bicycles and pedestrians separated from traffic along Westward Street, ending at a small plaza at Hillcroft
and High Star that serves as a gateway to Gulfton.
• Consolidating entrances and exits to commercial properties to reduce conflicts with people walking along the street.
In many spots, the street will get a fresh coat of paint, making crosswalks more colorful and easier for drivers to see, officials said.
The additions, however, come with a subtraction of one vehicle lane in each direction, reducing Hillcroft to six lanes. Though officials said the loss of a lane was warranted based on traffic counts, drivers on Tuesday remained skeptical.
“You have a lot of cars turning,” said Barry Samuels, 40, who uses Hillcroft frequently for business as a commercial painter. “There’s going to be a lot of people backed up if someone is waiting to turn.”
The changes are a marked difference from previous street redesigns that focused predominantly on moving cars more efficiently, Houston Public Works Director Carol Haddock said.
“We are shifting that focus to recognize that everyone deserves a safe trip,” Haddock said.
Officials said upcoming projects must reflect Houston’s goal of eliminating roadway deaths by 2030.
Lately, Hillcroft has been among the most dangerous places to walk or drive, according to city data. According to a city study, the area experienced more than 300 crashes, two of them fatal, from 2016 to 2018. It was one of those nearby crashes, a 2016 fatal wreck involving a young boy on his way to the first day of school, that spurred study of what became the announced changes.
“We are trading off vehicle speed for human life,” said David Fields, the city’s chief transportation planner.