State poised to lower Houston's speed limit to clean up air

Houston Chronicle ^ | Dec. 12, 2001 | By RAD SALLEE

[Buffalo Bob]

When President Clinton lifted the 55-mph nationwide speed limit in 1995, the legal speed on some Houston area highways soared to 70 mph. Get ready to put on the brakes.

If the Texas Transportation Commission votes Thursday in Austin to implement its part of a new air quality plan for Harris County and seven adjoining counties, maximum posted speeds throughout the area will return to 55 mph early next year.

With commission approval, the reduced speed limits would become law on a given stretch of road as soon as the signs are changed to reflect them, said Janelle Gbur, local spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Transportation.

With commission approval, Gbur said, sign replacement will probably begin in late January and be completed by May 1 -- a deadline in Texas' clean air plan to address the Houston area's smog problem, one of the most severe in the nation.

In October, the federal Environmental Protection Agency approved the plan, which also calls for cutting some industrial emissions 90 percent by 2007, among other measures.

Gbur said sign replacement would be coordinated in an effort to prevent frequent changes in the posted limit along a route.

The eight affected counties where ozone levels exceed federal air quality standards are Harris, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Montgomery, Waller, Chambers and Liberty. The last two lie in the transportation department's Beaumont district.

The commission today will also consider:

• Authorizing state transportation officials to talk with those of Galveston County and the Harris County Toll Road Authority about a proposed bridge between Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula.

  Gbur said studies indicate that tolls would be necessary to finance such a bridge, estimated to cost about $200 million and generate too little initial traffic to qualify for priority funding. It would replace the state-operated Bolivar ferries, but not necessarily at the same site, she said.

• Authorizing a series of public hearings in January, including one in Houston Jan. 18, to develop rules for implementing the commission's new policy to cut back sharply on building freeway frontage roads.

  The idea is to reduce the number of ramps where traffic entering or leaving the freeway causes weaving and congestion in the main freeway lanes.

  The three-member panel voted in June to build most future freeways without the usual frontage roads, an institution in Texas but few other states. Instead, the state would help local governments improve nearby streets.

  Existing frontage roads, and those now planned -- in the Katy Freeway widening project, for instance -- would not be affected.

[weegee]

Houston is dead set on:
1. Making my commute longer.
2. Forcing lawn crews out of business
3. Writing more traffic tickets

Yep, there have been proposals to block lawn mowing (even among residential citizens) between the hours of 8-noon.

There have been proposals to force companies to limit the number of employees driving in to the office.

There have been proposals to kick drivers out of their cars on alternating days (based on their plates).

There IS funding for downtown construction that comes from rental cars; as this $$$ will be needed for years to come. Don't expect to see ANY public transportation plans designed to keep out-of-towners off the road.

There have not been proposals to synchronize the traffic lights.

There have not been proposals to limit the time that large vehicles can idle their engines (I noticed this strategy in NYC).

Lowering the highway speeds will just add $$$ to the city coffers (which are running dry) and increase the traffic burden.

Jon Matthews suggested going for a jury trial for any future speeding tickets and recommended that jurors consider their ability to refuse to convict.