Published: Thu, 11/30/23
Houston City Council voted Wednesday to move forward with creating a designated route for commercial trucks to cut down on safety hazards, road damage and poor air quality in residential areas.
The Houston-Galveston Area Council estimated truck traffic will grow by 60% between 2015 and 2040, and truck traffic has increasingly become an issue for neighborhoods close to major industry areas. Under the plan, certain roadways in the city will be designated as truck roadways. The goal is not only to address truck movement on the city’s roads and improve quality of life in the affected neighborhoods, but improve safety and help maintain the city’s roads, agenda documents read.
Delivery drivers will be able to deliver packages in their truck, but other truck drivers won’t end up in residential neighborhoods.
“A lot of neighborhoods, especially those closest to the port, there are a lot of truck drivers who end up on the streets they shouldn't be on, they generally don't want to be on, but they don't have good information about it,” David Fields, the city’s chief transportation planner, said. “This is going to help those drivers stay out of the residential neighborhoods and those residents have streets without bigger trucks on it.”
The council's move allows the city’s planning and development department to begin creating a plan for what will be designated truck roads.
The specific roads to receive a designation will be named when the plan is finalized in 2024, planning and development spokesperson Elise Marrion wrote in an email. Fields said his staff would be looking citywide at which roads would be best.
Part of the city’s plan will include adopting the statewide truck route plan. Fields said the city also has a separate plan that designates major thoroughfares that will also be examined.
The city held three public meetings, a stakeholder meeting and conducted surveys as a part of a larger truck plan study. In that study, residents complained about trucks speeding through neighborhood streets and requested signage that indicates where trucks can and cannot drive. They also expressed concerns about truck parking and storing in residential neighborhoods.
Fields said the plan started with the city’s Vision Zero Action plan, which had the goal of eliminating fatalities and serious injuries on the road. Part of the plan was to create a route for trucks after data showed they were involved in crashes at higher rates.
“The big thing that we saw was that truck drivers don't really have a clear definition of what streets they should or should not be on,” Fields said. “We have individuals assigned to different places, but we don't even know work for them to follow. And we have no way to tell Google or Waze how to upload a whole map so that they can get directions based on it.”
Council members Abbie Kamin, Tarsha Jackson and Robert Gallegos supported the ordinance change.
Kamin said this plan was something her residents in her district had been asking for.
“We will keep a close eye on this,” she said.
Jackson said she was looking forward to collaborating with the community on the plan.
Gallegos took the agenda item discussion as an opportunity to try to enact change in his district as he heads out the door. The veteran council member will wrap up his time representing the city this month after an unsuccessful run for mayor.
Gallegos told the council that his district, which mostly represents downtown, has 18-wheelers full of hazardous materials that come too close to rail lines. Gallegos wants to reroute them.
“I mentioned it, I mentioned it, I mentioned it,” Gallegos said. “I just don't feel like they're listening. So I'm going on record, so when this moves forward, trust me, I will be out there, and I will be bringing that to everyone's attention once again.”