TRANSPORTATION UPDATES METRO makes weekend use of high-occupancy vehicle, toll lanes permanent
COMPILED BY RENEE FARMER & HANNAH ZEDAKER
UPCOMING PROJECTS
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Following a pilot program this summer that opened the Metro- politan Transit Authority of Harris County’s high-occupancy vehicle, or HOV, and high-occupancy toll, or HOT, lanes for use on weekends, the board voted Aug. 25 to make the program permanent. Under the program, the lanes will be operational seven days a week on a permanent basis. The addition will cost the agency up to $3.3 million, according to Nader Mirjamali, METRO HOV/HOT lane project manager, adding $644,500 to the agency’s contract with TransCore ITS to operate the lanes. “This is part of an eort to say that, yes, our job is to connect people to jobs, but it is also to connect people to recreational opportunities, weekend trips, leisure trips, trips to schools, universities, you name it,” METRO board Chair Sanjay Ramabhadran said at the Aug. 25 meeting. The plan includes METRO’s ve HOV and HOT lanes along I-45 North, I-45 South, I-69 North/Hwy. 59 North,
1314
High-occupancy vehicle and high-occupancy toll lanes are now permanently open seven days a week to Harris County commuters. EASING THE DAILY COMMUTE
LOWE RD.
SORTERS MCCLELLAN RD.
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N O R T H P A R K D R .
HOV and HOT lanes
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59
45
ALL INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE WAS UPDATED AS OF AUG. 26. NEWS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE OR OTHER LOCAL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS? EMAIL US AT LHKNEWSCOMMUNITYIMPACT.COM. once utility conicts are resolved. Timeline: January 2023-August 2023 Cost: $6.8 million (Segment 1), $7.4 million (Segment 2) Funding source: Montgomery County Precinct 4 road bonds Sorters McClellan Road expansion A project to expand Sorters McClellan Road to four lanes with a center turn lane between FM 1314 and Northpark Drive is on hold due to utility conicts. According to Hugo Sanchez, the projects and logistics coordinator for Montgomery County Precinct 4, construction will begin on A Segment 1—FM 1314 to south of Lowe Road—once utility relocations are completed in October, while B Segment 2—south of Lowe Road to Northpark Drive—will go out for bid
INBOUND LANES Open Mon.-Sun. from: • 6:30-8 a.m. to vehicles with at least two people • 5-6:30 a.m. and 8-11 a.m. to all vehicles OUTBOUND LANES Open Mon.-Sun. from: • 4:30-6 p.m. to vehicles with at least two people • 1-4:30 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. to all vehicles
99 TOLL
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1960
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SOURCE: METROPOLITAN TRANSIT AUTHORITY OF HARRIS COUNTYCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
I-69 South/Hwy. 59 South and Hwy. 290. The summer pilot ended Sept. 5 with the permanent program commencing Sept. 10. By seven weeks into the pilot period Aug. 13-14, the use of the lanes had increased 82% to 6,379 vehicles on
Saturdays and 70% to 3,419 vehicles on Sundays, according to Mirjamali. The lanes see 70%-80% more use on Saturdays than Sundays. Mirjamali identied I-69 South/Hwy. 59 South and I-45 North as the corridors that saw the most weekend use.
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LAKE HOUSTON HUMBLE KINGWOOD EDITION • SEPTEMBER 2022
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