Planning Commission hears broad MTFP amendment proposals; Chimney Rock residents press safety fixes

The Houston Planning Commission held a public hearing July 24 on multiple proposed amendments to the city's Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan (MTFP), considering deletions, realignments and reclassifications across parts of the city and Harris County. Commissioners did not take final votes at the session; staff said recommendations will be returned at later meetings, with formal planning commission action scheduled for Sept. 18 and a prior application update on Aug. 21.

The hearing covered nine amendment applications submitted by Harris County, private consultants and neighborhood representatives. Staff presenters described requests that would remove planned segments where construction is constrained by floodways, pipelines or existing uses, or would reclassify some streets to lessen right-of-way impacts on adjacent property owners.

Maria Tovar, presenting Amendment A for Harris County, said the county proposed to realign Northpointe Boulevard "to minimize the impact of the Fauqui Gully Floodway" and to reduce costly design and fill mitigation. Other county-sponsored requests included deletion of several planned segments of Cypress North Houston Road and Mushki Road because those alignments cross floodplains, active parks or property where right-of-way acquisition would be impracticable, staff said.

Several privately submitted amendments proposed reclassifying planned major thoroughfares to collectors to avoid taking more right-of-way from existing businesses and residences. Akila Bidgee, presenting Amendment E for an application by Meta Planning and Design, summarized the Humble Parkway request to delete the proposed major thoroughfare from Rankin Road to Greens Road, citing constraints including Reinhardt Bayou, pipelines and TxDOT ownership of portions of the property.

The most extended public comment focused on Amendment F, a request from the Briarcroft Homeowners Association to downgrade Chimney Rock Road (between San Felipe and Westheimer) from a major thoroughfare to a minor collector. The applicant, Mark Gardner, and multiple residents described high vehicle speeds, difficulty crossing the street and impacts on pedestrian safety and property values.

Sol Rincon, a Chimney Rock resident, told the commission: "Chimney Rock Road is unsafe to even walk along the sidewalk with speeding traffic." Lee Gerard, who said he lives at 2420 Chimney Rock, said the posted 30 mph speed limit is frequently ignored: "Most of the cars go by at 50 to 60 miles an hour." Beth Koblenz, who identified herself as "the president of the association," said residents are concerned about children and elderly people who walk or bike in the area and that many rely on long walks to find crossable intersections.

Applicant Mark Gardner said he supplied data comparing Chimney Rock's characteristics to minor-collector standards and urged the commission to consider a classification change to make traffic-calming tools available. Gardner said the neighborhood had submitted 19 public comments on the item, 15 in support and 4 opposed, and that some documented vehicle speeds exceeded the posted limit.

City staff said the Infrastructure Design Manual (IDM) and existing programs limit certain traffic-calming treatments on major thoroughfares and major collectors. Wilson Calvert, presenting several items, said speed cushions and similar treatments are not allowed on major thoroughfares and that "we typically want the classifications to be consistent across" extensive corridors, which complicates partial downgrades. Staff advised that a two-step process is often required to change a classification and that public works would evaluate context-appropriate options.

Commissioners and staff discussed options short of downgrading the entire corridor, including coordinating with Houston Public Works on traffic-calming studies, seeking discretionary funding from the council member, and engaging existing area improvement financing tools. Commissioner discussion referenced the neighborhood's prior outreach to the council member and suggested exploring midblock pedestrian signals, sidewalk widening programs, targeted traffic-calming pilot projects and coordination with local transportation reinvestment zones.

Other notable amendments presented at the hearing included: (1) deletion of several planned East-West thoroughfares and road segments near the Blue Ridge landfill and radio/television towers in Fort Bend County (Amendment I); (2) deletion or reclassification of portions of Cypress North Houston Road to avoid costly overpasses and to preserve neighborhood soccer fields (Amendments B and C); and (3) a request to extend East Tidwell Road to set an alignment for planned industrial/warehouse access near Beltway 8 so the applicant's 66.82-acre site can take direct access, which staff said would improve access to Sheldon Park and address block-length issues on Pylin Road (Amendment G).

Staff warned that several deletions were proposed because the planned right-of-way would cross floodways, parks or other constrained lands and that those constraints reduce the likelihood of feasible future construction. Commissioner questions prompted staff to say they would coordinate traffic projections with the Houston-Galveston Area Council and consult Harris County, TxDOT and utility providers as part of the analysis.

No final actions were taken during the July 24 hearing. Robert Williamson, acting secretary of the commission and deputy director of the Houston Planning and Development Department, reminded attendees that the next application update meeting will be Thursday, Aug. 21 at 1 p.m. and the recommendation action meeting will be Thursday, Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. Staff said the commission would bring recommendations back to the commission and then to city council for final action.

Commissioners and staff said they will pursue additional outreach with Houston Public Works, the council member's office and relevant infrastructure partners to identify near-term safety measures for Chimney Rock while the MTFP amendment process continues.