From: Aron Kulhavy To: Doug Marino Cc: Y. S. Ramachandra ...
8
From: Aron Kulhavy To: Doug Marino Cc: Y. S. Ramachandra ; Andy Brauninger Subject: Bryan District TIP Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2020 3:04:44 PM This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Doug, We are in receipt of your letter requesting comments on the FY 21-24 Rural TIP for the Bryan District. We have reviewed the graphic depicting projects in Huntsville and have no comment other than to thank you and TXDoT for all your work in our community. You have been responsive to meeting our transportation needs. The City Council and I will not be able to attend your public meeting on these projects as we have a Council meeting scheduled for that night, but we do plan on having a staff representative listen in on the meeting. Thank you and if you need anything else from Huntsville, please let me know. AK Aron Kulhavy, AICP City Manager 1212 Avenue M 936-291-5401 The material in this e-mail is intended only for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is confidential, privileged, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that the unauthorized review, use, disclosure, duplication, distribution, or the taking of any action in reliance on this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by return email and destroy all electronic and paper copies of the original message and any attachments immediately. Please note that neither City of Huntsville nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan attachments (if any). Thank you.
Transcript of From: Aron Kulhavy To: Doug Marino Cc: Y. S. Ramachandra ...
From: Aron Kulhavy To: Doug Marino Cc: Y. S. Ramachandra; Andy
Brauninger Subject: Bryan District TIP Date: Wednesday, June 3,
2020 3:04:44 PM
This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Doug,
We are in receipt of your letter requesting comments on the FY 21-24 Rural TIP for the Bryan District. We have reviewed the graphic depicting projects in Huntsville and have no comment other than to thank you and TXDoT for all your work in our community. You have been responsive to meeting our transportation needs.
The City Council and I will not be able to attend your public meeting on these projects as we have a Council meeting scheduled for that night, but we do plan on having a staff representative listen in on the meeting.
Thank you and if you need anything else from Huntsville, please let me know.
AK Aron Kulhavy, AICP City Manager 1212 Avenue M 936-291-5401
The material in this e-mail is intended only for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is confidential, privileged, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that the unauthorized review, use, disclosure, duplication, distribution, or the taking of any action in reliance on this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by return email and destroy all electronic and paper copies of the original message and any attachments immediately. Please note that neither City of Huntsville nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan attachments (if any). Thank you.
FYI…
From: Richard Burns [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2020 9:49 PM To: Bobby Colwell <[email protected]> Subject: Re: TxDOT Internet E-Mail
This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Thanks so much Bobby for the reply and the fantastic information that the Rockdale traffic signals will be upgraded. I have been working on this traffic issue since probably 2007 I’m going to be forwarding you an email to show some of the discussions that was in 2009 but I’ve been working on it well before that. My main observation and concern is that Rockdale has 1 US Highway through town East to west. Hwy 77 running north and south bypasses town. No issues there. The project loop around Rockdale failed 20 years ago Due to the fact the then county judge would not give up tax paying property to incorporate a loop. But that’s another story. The issue that I’ve had is is that as you were coming through Rockdale at 10 o’clock at night (No traffic) you come to one or more traffic signals where you come to a stop with no cross traffic. They were simply on timers that turned out to be basically an issue with the magnetic loop system that’s in place here. Over the course of time I was able to get some attention And I believe a couple of ultrasonic meters have been in place. But the functionality is still bad by that I mean they’re just not timed right. What needs to happen is traffic needs to flow continuously through Rockdale on Green lights. The only time the light should turn red is when cross traffic appears and if that time the cross traffic should wait possibly no more than 15 seconds to change and enter the traffic flow and then the signals go back to normal schedule. I believe recently there has been some adjustments to the magnetic coils where this actually is happening. But I’ve also come up on a signal it changes and there’s no one at the intersection. That’s just not the way it should work. One major issue has to do with the ingress and egress at Brookeshire brothers supermarket area. It is often impossible to get on at that place during high traffic area so many people just pull out as soon as They can and drive down the turn only lane till they can interflow with the traffic it’s really dangerous and needs to be corrected. I’m looking forward to the design and upgrade it’s sorely needed here because Highway 79 is one of the three major connections to East Texas Not Counting Highway 290 which actually goes to Houston. I have done a lot of studying on this and I’m happy that you have finally addressed the problem. The people Rockdale will definitely be thankful. Thanks for listening to me and I look forward to the upcoming upgrades. On Thu, Jun 11, 2020 at 4:29 PM Bobby Colwell <[email protected]> wrote:
Mr. Burns,
Thank you for inquiring about the upcoming virtual public meeting that will cover projects across the ten-county Bryan District slated for fiscal years 2021 to 2024. Attached is the meeting information and map of projects for Milam County. What is not shown on the map is a project for traffic signal upgrades that was recently awarded for construction along US 79 from Rockdale to Buffalo. The project will modernize the traffic signals with improved vehicle detection and allow for remote communication to the signals from our offices where we can adjust signal timing programs to better suit observed traffic patterns. If you would like to make comments or suggestions for projects within the 2021 to 2024 timeframe, please see the information on the attached meeting notice and visit the meeting website after the noted date and time.
Sincerely, Bob Colwell TxDOT-Bryan District
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, June 08, 2020 1:23 PM To: AskTxDOT <[email protected]> Subject: TxDOT Internet E-Mail
Name: Mr. Richard Burns<[email protected]> Address: 1503 Skyles
Rockdale, TX 76567
Phone: (979) 777-8847
Requested Contact Method:
Nearest Major City: Rockdale, TX
Comment: Could you provide more information to me on the upcoming public comment on the Rockdale project. My interest for the past 10 years has been improving the traffic flow through Rockdale with the replacement of existing demand traffic system to the newest intelligent Traffic demand signals. Rockdale is a major highway from Central to East Texas.
[A Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) message]<https://www.txdot.gov/inside-
From: Stephanie Doland To: Doug Marino Cc: Eric Bennett Subject: Re: 2020 TIP Part 1 of 2 Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2020 11:13:41 AM Attachments: RE 2020 TIP City of Brenham Part 1 of 2.pdf
This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Good morning, Doug, Thank you for providing a project list for the upcoming four years via the Bryan District Transportation Improvement Program. Attached please find the City’s response concerning the upcoming projects. We are please to see the project list for the Brenham/Washington County community and request an additional project be considered within the same timeframe. Please see attached letter with additional details. Please note I am sending two emails due to the large file size. Please let me know if you have any additional questions or if I can be of further assistance. Thank you,
Stephanie Doland Development Services Director City of Brenham O (979) 337-7269 M (817) 676-7540
Click here to take our online Customer Service Survey.
Mayor Milton Y. Tate, Jr.
Council Members Andrew Ebel, Mayor Pro Tem Susan Cantey Keith Herring Clint Kolby Adonna Saunders Albert Wright
City Manager James Fisher
Doug J. Marino, P.E. Director of Transportation, Planning & Development TXDOT Bryan District
Re: Bryan District Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
Dear Mr. Marino,
Thank you for providing a copy of the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for our region. Many of the projects included in the upcoming four years are necessary to helping improve traffic flow and connectivity in and around the Brenham community. In addition to the planned projects I am asking for consideration of an additional area in Brenham.
As you may know, on September 19, 2019 the Brenham City Council adopted a new Comprehensive Plan titled, Historic Past, Bold Future: Plan 2040 (Plan 2040). Plan 2040 was written by Kendig Keast Collaborative and included a large public input component. During our kickoff Town Hall on January 1, 2019 over 150 citizens packed the Brenham NCR Memorial Library to provide feedback on various plan components. During that meeting citizens were asked to review an aerial map of Brenham and identity with stickers the following:
Citizens gathered in ten groups and ten maps were marked up with the above referenced input. Enclosed please find the ten maps produced during the engagement activity. As predicted the clover leaf (US 290/SH 36) interchange was the most referenced point of congestion and in need of improved traffic flow. A close second with eight of ten groups commenting, was the congestion along South Day (B 36) and SH 36 at its junction with US 290. This is the area nearby HEB, Lowe’s, Home Depot and the Bluebonnet Shopping Center (see map below).
P.O. Box 1059 200 W. Vulcan Street Brenham, Texas 77834 979.337.7200 www.cityofbrenham.org An Equal Opportunity Employer
This section is known as being a “free-for-all.” With the number of driveways and possible turning movements associated with the retail development on both sides of the roadways it truly is a point of congestion and concern. I have also included the crash data from TxDOT’s Crash Records Information System (CRIS) for 2016-2018. Based on the CRIS data this area is one of the highest areas of vehicle crashes in Brenham.
Please consider this letter as a request for TXDOT to evaluate this identified congestion area and consider access management at this location. While no formal engineering study has been conducted, it is City Staff’s opinion that installing medians in this vicinity would improve the traffic congestion and reduce overall traffic accidents in the area. I understand that the TIP may not be the appropriate funds to allocate towards the project. No matter the funding mechanism, identifying funds to help alleviate this congestion as quickly as possible is essential.
Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,
Stephanie Doland Development Services Director
Map 15: Annual Average Daily Traffic, 2016.
Source: TxDOT, 2016.
Brenham has few traffic flow issues compared to larger cities. For the most part throughout the daytime hours (6 AM to 6 PM) typical weekday traffic is good, or experiences light congestion. TxDOT’s peak hour congestion map for 2016 does not show any TxDOT roadways experiencing severe congestion and only one segment (SH36 north of US 290) experiencing
“moderate congestion”. The cloverleaf interchange of US 290 and SH 36 was frequently cited during early engagement activities as a point of congestion bottleneck. There is particular concern for how the cloverleaf functions during extreme congestion events such as hurricane evacuations.
The Existing City ADOPTED September 19, 2019 A.59
Peak Hour Congestion 2016 and 2036 TxDOT’s Peak Hour Congestion 2036 (TxDOT, 2017), forecasts peak hour congestion levels for the year 2036. The map suggests that SH 36, north of US 290, will experience the most peak hour congestion in the Brenham area in future years.
Safety
Vehicle Crashes Crash history was obtained from TxDOT’s Crash Records Information System (CRIS) for all of Brenham from 2016-2018. There was a total of 1,547 crashes involving 3,074 vehicle units during this period, with one fatal crash. This translates to an average of 1.5 crashes per day over the past three years. In 2017 there were 530 vehicle crashes. In the heat map, which represents crashes in 2017, the darker color indicates higher frequency of crashes. Although crashes are spread throughout the city, they are concentrated at the following intersections: US 290 and SH36, US 290/SH 36 cloverleaf interchange, and the entire downtown area (see inset map).
Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety While pedestrian and bicycle specific crash data is not readily available, safety for pedestrian and bicyclists has been a focus of recent city initiatives. This includes installations of bollards in downtown that allow for the temporary closure of the Main Street and Alamo Street during downtown events to deter vehicles from entering during these events.
Peak Hour Congestion 2016
Forcasted Peak Hour Congestion 2036
Crashes in Downtown Brenham, 2017
A.60 City of Brenham, Texas Comprehensive Plan
P.O. Box 1059 200 W. Vulcan Street Brenham, Texas 77834 979.337.7200 www.cityofbrenham.org An Equal Opportunity Employer
Mayor Milton Y. Tate, Jr.
Council Members Andrew Ebel, Mayor Pro Tem Susan Cantey Keith Herring Clint Kolby Adonna Saunders Albert Wright
City Manager James Fisher
Doug J. Marino, P.E. Director of Transportation, Planning & Development TXDOT Bryan District
Re: Bryan District Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
Dear Mr. Marino,
Thank you for providing a copy of the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for our region. Many of the projects included in the upcoming four years are necessary to helping improve traffic flow and connectivity in and around the Brenham community. In addition to the planned projects I am asking for consideration of an additional area in Brenham.
As you may know, on September 19, 2019 the Brenham City Council adopted a new Comprehensive Plan titled, Historic Past, Bold Future: Plan 2040 (Plan 2040). Plan 2040 was written by Kendig Keast Collaborative and included a large public input component. During our kickoff Town Hall on January 1, 2019 over 150 citizens packed the Brenham NCR Memorial Library to provide feedback on various plan components. During that meeting citizens were asked to review an aerial map of Brenham and identity with stickers the following:
Citizens gathered in ten groups and ten maps were marked up with the above referenced input. Enclosed please find the ten maps produced during the engagement activity. As predicted the clover leaf (US 290/SH 36) interchange was the most referenced point of congestion and in need of improved traffic flow. A close second with eight of ten groups commenting, was the congestion along South Day (B 36) and SH 36 at its junction with US 290. This is the area nearby HEB, Lowe’s, Home Depot and the Bluebonnet Shopping Center (see map below).
P.O. Box 1059 200 W. Vulcan Street Brenham, Texas 77834 979.337.7200 www.cityofbrenham.org An Equal Opportunity Employer
This section is known as being a “free-for-all.” With the number of driveways and possible turning movements associated with the retail development on both sides of the roadways it truly is a point of congestion and concern. I have also included the crash data from TxDOT’s Crash Records Information System (CRIS) for 2016-2018. Based on the CRIS data this area is one of the highest areas of vehicle crashes in Brenham.
Please consider this letter as a request for TXDOT to evaluate this identified congestion area and consider access management at this location. While no formal engineering study has been conducted, it is City Staff’s opinion that installing medians in this vicinity would improve the traffic congestion and reduce overall traffic accidents in the area. I understand that the TIP may not be the appropriate funds to allocate towards the project. No matter the funding mechanism, identifying funds to help alleviate this congestion as quickly as possible is essential.
Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,
Stephanie Doland Development Services Director
Map 15: Annual Average Daily Traffic, 2016.
Source: TxDOT, 2016.
Brenham has few traffic flow issues compared to larger cities. For the most part throughout the daytime hours (6 AM to 6 PM) typical weekday traffic is good, or experiences light congestion. TxDOT’s peak hour congestion map for 2016 does not show any TxDOT roadways experiencing severe congestion and only one segment (SH36 north of US 290) experiencing
“moderate congestion”. The cloverleaf interchange of US 290 and SH 36 was frequently cited during early engagement activities as a point of congestion bottleneck. There is particular concern for how the cloverleaf functions during extreme congestion events such as hurricane evacuations.
The Existing City ADOPTED September 19, 2019 A.59
Peak Hour Congestion 2016 and 2036 TxDOT’s Peak Hour Congestion 2036 (TxDOT, 2017), forecasts peak hour congestion levels for the year 2036. The map suggests that SH 36, north of US 290, will experience the most peak hour congestion in the Brenham area in future years.
Safety
Vehicle Crashes Crash history was obtained from TxDOT’s Crash Records Information System (CRIS) for all of Brenham from 2016-2018. There was a total of 1,547 crashes involving 3,074 vehicle units during this period, with one fatal crash. This translates to an average of 1.5 crashes per day over the past three years. In 2017 there were 530 vehicle crashes. In the heat map, which represents crashes in 2017, the darker color indicates higher frequency of crashes. Although crashes are spread throughout the city, they are concentrated at the following intersections: US 290 and SH36, US 290/SH 36 cloverleaf interchange, and the entire downtown area (see inset map).
Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety While pedestrian and bicycle specific crash data is not readily available, safety for pedestrian and bicyclists has been a focus of recent city initiatives. This includes installations of bollards in downtown that allow for the temporary closure of the Main Street and Alamo Street during downtown events to deter vehicles from entering during these events.
Peak Hour Congestion 2016
Forcasted Peak Hour Congestion 2036
Crashes in Downtown Brenham, 2017
A.60 City of Brenham, Texas Comprehensive Plan
This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Doug,
We are in receipt of your letter requesting comments on the FY 21-24 Rural TIP for the Bryan District. We have reviewed the graphic depicting projects in Huntsville and have no comment other than to thank you and TXDoT for all your work in our community. You have been responsive to meeting our transportation needs.
The City Council and I will not be able to attend your public meeting on these projects as we have a Council meeting scheduled for that night, but we do plan on having a staff representative listen in on the meeting.
Thank you and if you need anything else from Huntsville, please let me know.
AK Aron Kulhavy, AICP City Manager 1212 Avenue M 936-291-5401
The material in this e-mail is intended only for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is confidential, privileged, and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that the unauthorized review, use, disclosure, duplication, distribution, or the taking of any action in reliance on this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by return email and destroy all electronic and paper copies of the original message and any attachments immediately. Please note that neither City of Huntsville nor the sender accepts any responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan attachments (if any). Thank you.
FYI…
From: Richard Burns [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2020 9:49 PM To: Bobby Colwell <[email protected]> Subject: Re: TxDOT Internet E-Mail
This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Thanks so much Bobby for the reply and the fantastic information that the Rockdale traffic signals will be upgraded. I have been working on this traffic issue since probably 2007 I’m going to be forwarding you an email to show some of the discussions that was in 2009 but I’ve been working on it well before that. My main observation and concern is that Rockdale has 1 US Highway through town East to west. Hwy 77 running north and south bypasses town. No issues there. The project loop around Rockdale failed 20 years ago Due to the fact the then county judge would not give up tax paying property to incorporate a loop. But that’s another story. The issue that I’ve had is is that as you were coming through Rockdale at 10 o’clock at night (No traffic) you come to one or more traffic signals where you come to a stop with no cross traffic. They were simply on timers that turned out to be basically an issue with the magnetic loop system that’s in place here. Over the course of time I was able to get some attention And I believe a couple of ultrasonic meters have been in place. But the functionality is still bad by that I mean they’re just not timed right. What needs to happen is traffic needs to flow continuously through Rockdale on Green lights. The only time the light should turn red is when cross traffic appears and if that time the cross traffic should wait possibly no more than 15 seconds to change and enter the traffic flow and then the signals go back to normal schedule. I believe recently there has been some adjustments to the magnetic coils where this actually is happening. But I’ve also come up on a signal it changes and there’s no one at the intersection. That’s just not the way it should work. One major issue has to do with the ingress and egress at Brookeshire brothers supermarket area. It is often impossible to get on at that place during high traffic area so many people just pull out as soon as They can and drive down the turn only lane till they can interflow with the traffic it’s really dangerous and needs to be corrected. I’m looking forward to the design and upgrade it’s sorely needed here because Highway 79 is one of the three major connections to East Texas Not Counting Highway 290 which actually goes to Houston. I have done a lot of studying on this and I’m happy that you have finally addressed the problem. The people Rockdale will definitely be thankful. Thanks for listening to me and I look forward to the upcoming upgrades. On Thu, Jun 11, 2020 at 4:29 PM Bobby Colwell <[email protected]> wrote:
Mr. Burns,
Thank you for inquiring about the upcoming virtual public meeting that will cover projects across the ten-county Bryan District slated for fiscal years 2021 to 2024. Attached is the meeting information and map of projects for Milam County. What is not shown on the map is a project for traffic signal upgrades that was recently awarded for construction along US 79 from Rockdale to Buffalo. The project will modernize the traffic signals with improved vehicle detection and allow for remote communication to the signals from our offices where we can adjust signal timing programs to better suit observed traffic patterns. If you would like to make comments or suggestions for projects within the 2021 to 2024 timeframe, please see the information on the attached meeting notice and visit the meeting website after the noted date and time.
Sincerely, Bob Colwell TxDOT-Bryan District
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, June 08, 2020 1:23 PM To: AskTxDOT <[email protected]> Subject: TxDOT Internet E-Mail
Name: Mr. Richard Burns<[email protected]> Address: 1503 Skyles
Rockdale, TX 76567
Phone: (979) 777-8847
Requested Contact Method:
Nearest Major City: Rockdale, TX
Comment: Could you provide more information to me on the upcoming public comment on the Rockdale project. My interest for the past 10 years has been improving the traffic flow through Rockdale with the replacement of existing demand traffic system to the newest intelligent Traffic demand signals. Rockdale is a major highway from Central to East Texas.
[A Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) message]<https://www.txdot.gov/inside-
From: Stephanie Doland To: Doug Marino Cc: Eric Bennett Subject: Re: 2020 TIP Part 1 of 2 Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2020 11:13:41 AM Attachments: RE 2020 TIP City of Brenham Part 1 of 2.pdf
This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Good morning, Doug, Thank you for providing a project list for the upcoming four years via the Bryan District Transportation Improvement Program. Attached please find the City’s response concerning the upcoming projects. We are please to see the project list for the Brenham/Washington County community and request an additional project be considered within the same timeframe. Please see attached letter with additional details. Please note I am sending two emails due to the large file size. Please let me know if you have any additional questions or if I can be of further assistance. Thank you,
Stephanie Doland Development Services Director City of Brenham O (979) 337-7269 M (817) 676-7540
Click here to take our online Customer Service Survey.
Mayor Milton Y. Tate, Jr.
Council Members Andrew Ebel, Mayor Pro Tem Susan Cantey Keith Herring Clint Kolby Adonna Saunders Albert Wright
City Manager James Fisher
Doug J. Marino, P.E. Director of Transportation, Planning & Development TXDOT Bryan District
Re: Bryan District Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
Dear Mr. Marino,
Thank you for providing a copy of the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for our region. Many of the projects included in the upcoming four years are necessary to helping improve traffic flow and connectivity in and around the Brenham community. In addition to the planned projects I am asking for consideration of an additional area in Brenham.
As you may know, on September 19, 2019 the Brenham City Council adopted a new Comprehensive Plan titled, Historic Past, Bold Future: Plan 2040 (Plan 2040). Plan 2040 was written by Kendig Keast Collaborative and included a large public input component. During our kickoff Town Hall on January 1, 2019 over 150 citizens packed the Brenham NCR Memorial Library to provide feedback on various plan components. During that meeting citizens were asked to review an aerial map of Brenham and identity with stickers the following:
Citizens gathered in ten groups and ten maps were marked up with the above referenced input. Enclosed please find the ten maps produced during the engagement activity. As predicted the clover leaf (US 290/SH 36) interchange was the most referenced point of congestion and in need of improved traffic flow. A close second with eight of ten groups commenting, was the congestion along South Day (B 36) and SH 36 at its junction with US 290. This is the area nearby HEB, Lowe’s, Home Depot and the Bluebonnet Shopping Center (see map below).
P.O. Box 1059 200 W. Vulcan Street Brenham, Texas 77834 979.337.7200 www.cityofbrenham.org An Equal Opportunity Employer
This section is known as being a “free-for-all.” With the number of driveways and possible turning movements associated with the retail development on both sides of the roadways it truly is a point of congestion and concern. I have also included the crash data from TxDOT’s Crash Records Information System (CRIS) for 2016-2018. Based on the CRIS data this area is one of the highest areas of vehicle crashes in Brenham.
Please consider this letter as a request for TXDOT to evaluate this identified congestion area and consider access management at this location. While no formal engineering study has been conducted, it is City Staff’s opinion that installing medians in this vicinity would improve the traffic congestion and reduce overall traffic accidents in the area. I understand that the TIP may not be the appropriate funds to allocate towards the project. No matter the funding mechanism, identifying funds to help alleviate this congestion as quickly as possible is essential.
Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,
Stephanie Doland Development Services Director
Map 15: Annual Average Daily Traffic, 2016.
Source: TxDOT, 2016.
Brenham has few traffic flow issues compared to larger cities. For the most part throughout the daytime hours (6 AM to 6 PM) typical weekday traffic is good, or experiences light congestion. TxDOT’s peak hour congestion map for 2016 does not show any TxDOT roadways experiencing severe congestion and only one segment (SH36 north of US 290) experiencing
“moderate congestion”. The cloverleaf interchange of US 290 and SH 36 was frequently cited during early engagement activities as a point of congestion bottleneck. There is particular concern for how the cloverleaf functions during extreme congestion events such as hurricane evacuations.
The Existing City ADOPTED September 19, 2019 A.59
Peak Hour Congestion 2016 and 2036 TxDOT’s Peak Hour Congestion 2036 (TxDOT, 2017), forecasts peak hour congestion levels for the year 2036. The map suggests that SH 36, north of US 290, will experience the most peak hour congestion in the Brenham area in future years.
Safety
Vehicle Crashes Crash history was obtained from TxDOT’s Crash Records Information System (CRIS) for all of Brenham from 2016-2018. There was a total of 1,547 crashes involving 3,074 vehicle units during this period, with one fatal crash. This translates to an average of 1.5 crashes per day over the past three years. In 2017 there were 530 vehicle crashes. In the heat map, which represents crashes in 2017, the darker color indicates higher frequency of crashes. Although crashes are spread throughout the city, they are concentrated at the following intersections: US 290 and SH36, US 290/SH 36 cloverleaf interchange, and the entire downtown area (see inset map).
Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety While pedestrian and bicycle specific crash data is not readily available, safety for pedestrian and bicyclists has been a focus of recent city initiatives. This includes installations of bollards in downtown that allow for the temporary closure of the Main Street and Alamo Street during downtown events to deter vehicles from entering during these events.
Peak Hour Congestion 2016
Forcasted Peak Hour Congestion 2036
Crashes in Downtown Brenham, 2017
A.60 City of Brenham, Texas Comprehensive Plan
P.O. Box 1059 200 W. Vulcan Street Brenham, Texas 77834 979.337.7200 www.cityofbrenham.org An Equal Opportunity Employer
Mayor Milton Y. Tate, Jr.
Council Members Andrew Ebel, Mayor Pro Tem Susan Cantey Keith Herring Clint Kolby Adonna Saunders Albert Wright
City Manager James Fisher
Doug J. Marino, P.E. Director of Transportation, Planning & Development TXDOT Bryan District
Re: Bryan District Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
Dear Mr. Marino,
Thank you for providing a copy of the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for our region. Many of the projects included in the upcoming four years are necessary to helping improve traffic flow and connectivity in and around the Brenham community. In addition to the planned projects I am asking for consideration of an additional area in Brenham.
As you may know, on September 19, 2019 the Brenham City Council adopted a new Comprehensive Plan titled, Historic Past, Bold Future: Plan 2040 (Plan 2040). Plan 2040 was written by Kendig Keast Collaborative and included a large public input component. During our kickoff Town Hall on January 1, 2019 over 150 citizens packed the Brenham NCR Memorial Library to provide feedback on various plan components. During that meeting citizens were asked to review an aerial map of Brenham and identity with stickers the following:
Citizens gathered in ten groups and ten maps were marked up with the above referenced input. Enclosed please find the ten maps produced during the engagement activity. As predicted the clover leaf (US 290/SH 36) interchange was the most referenced point of congestion and in need of improved traffic flow. A close second with eight of ten groups commenting, was the congestion along South Day (B 36) and SH 36 at its junction with US 290. This is the area nearby HEB, Lowe’s, Home Depot and the Bluebonnet Shopping Center (see map below).
P.O. Box 1059 200 W. Vulcan Street Brenham, Texas 77834 979.337.7200 www.cityofbrenham.org An Equal Opportunity Employer
This section is known as being a “free-for-all.” With the number of driveways and possible turning movements associated with the retail development on both sides of the roadways it truly is a point of congestion and concern. I have also included the crash data from TxDOT’s Crash Records Information System (CRIS) for 2016-2018. Based on the CRIS data this area is one of the highest areas of vehicle crashes in Brenham.
Please consider this letter as a request for TXDOT to evaluate this identified congestion area and consider access management at this location. While no formal engineering study has been conducted, it is City Staff’s opinion that installing medians in this vicinity would improve the traffic congestion and reduce overall traffic accidents in the area. I understand that the TIP may not be the appropriate funds to allocate towards the project. No matter the funding mechanism, identifying funds to help alleviate this congestion as quickly as possible is essential.
Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,
Stephanie Doland Development Services Director
Map 15: Annual Average Daily Traffic, 2016.
Source: TxDOT, 2016.
Brenham has few traffic flow issues compared to larger cities. For the most part throughout the daytime hours (6 AM to 6 PM) typical weekday traffic is good, or experiences light congestion. TxDOT’s peak hour congestion map for 2016 does not show any TxDOT roadways experiencing severe congestion and only one segment (SH36 north of US 290) experiencing
“moderate congestion”. The cloverleaf interchange of US 290 and SH 36 was frequently cited during early engagement activities as a point of congestion bottleneck. There is particular concern for how the cloverleaf functions during extreme congestion events such as hurricane evacuations.
The Existing City ADOPTED September 19, 2019 A.59
Peak Hour Congestion 2016 and 2036 TxDOT’s Peak Hour Congestion 2036 (TxDOT, 2017), forecasts peak hour congestion levels for the year 2036. The map suggests that SH 36, north of US 290, will experience the most peak hour congestion in the Brenham area in future years.
Safety
Vehicle Crashes Crash history was obtained from TxDOT’s Crash Records Information System (CRIS) for all of Brenham from 2016-2018. There was a total of 1,547 crashes involving 3,074 vehicle units during this period, with one fatal crash. This translates to an average of 1.5 crashes per day over the past three years. In 2017 there were 530 vehicle crashes. In the heat map, which represents crashes in 2017, the darker color indicates higher frequency of crashes. Although crashes are spread throughout the city, they are concentrated at the following intersections: US 290 and SH36, US 290/SH 36 cloverleaf interchange, and the entire downtown area (see inset map).
Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety While pedestrian and bicycle specific crash data is not readily available, safety for pedestrian and bicyclists has been a focus of recent city initiatives. This includes installations of bollards in downtown that allow for the temporary closure of the Main Street and Alamo Street during downtown events to deter vehicles from entering during these events.
Peak Hour Congestion 2016
Forcasted Peak Hour Congestion 2036
Crashes in Downtown Brenham, 2017
A.60 City of Brenham, Texas Comprehensive Plan
