HOUSTON – The City of Houston has approved the sale of land along White Oak Bayou to the Texas Department of Transportation.
The amount of land is 126,627 square feet and is being sold to TxDOT so the agency can use it as part of the project to reconstruct a portion of Interstate 45.
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Houston City Council voted 11-4 to approve the sale.
In exchange for the land, TxDOT will pay the city $261,051.
The acquisition is for constructing a portion of the IH-45 Highway Construction Project, known as The North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP) at IH 69 North and IH-10. The North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP) is a reconstruction of I-45N, between Houston’s downtown and North Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8).
Save White Oak Bayou community members have fought against the sale along with the group Stop TxDOT I-45, even traveling to Austin last year to bend the ears of lawmakers.
“You can’t bulldoze your way to a massive infrastructure project,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said last Spring when the county sued TxDOT, arguing the project would force primarily minority families out of their homes, schools and negatively impact the environment.
In 2021 the feds also stepped in to investigate whether the project would violate Civil Rights laws because of its impact on communities like Northside Village, Independence Heights, Acres Homes and parts of the Fifth Ward.
“The Federal Highway Administration has asked TxDOT to stand down on essentially all activities of the project, as the federal government investigates,” said Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee.
Last year, that was resolved when the two government agencies signed a Voluntary Resolution Agreement that promised to take significant steps to address the highway expansion’s impact on the community.
The actions in the Voluntary Resolution Agreement will be performed in compliance with the mitigation actions already committed to by TxDOT, as contained within the Record of Decision, including:
- Twice Annual Public Meetings through Design and Construction;
- Mitigating Displacements, Relocations, Housing, and Other Community Impacts;
- Drainage Improvements to Reduce Flooding;
- Parks, Open Space, Trails, Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities;
- Community Access During Construction;
- Highway “Footprint” Reduction;
- Structural Highway Caps;
- Air Quality Mitigation
- Meaningful Access for Persons with Limited English Proficiency (LEP).
“This agreement moves forward an important project, responds to community concerns, and improves the North Houston Highway Improvement Project in ways that will make a real difference in people’s lives. Through this agreement the community will have a greater voice in the design and throughout the project’s life cycle,” said Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt when the agreement was formally announced last March. “We have lifted the pause, and with FHWA oversight, TXDOT may proceed with design and construction.”
The $9 billion North Houston Highway Improvement Project is designed from IH 45 North Corridor from Beltway 8 North to and around Downtown Houston.
“This portion of I-45 was built in stages in the 1950s and 1960s and the design remained essentially the same while the area population has doubled,”Marc Williams, TxDOT executive director said last year. “The reconstruction of I-45 will address mobility needs for people and freight, while also improving safety and a number of environmental mitigations that include critical measures to improve storm water drainage. Considering the recently executed agreements with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Harris County, and now the FHWA, we are excited to get this critical infrastructure project moving with our partnering agencies.”
Thursday, the Stop TxDOT I-45 group posted this “Thank you” to their followers on Instagram: