Houston Chronicle by Dug Begley 10/25/2019
Local transportation officials are getting a head start on selling planned port improvements in Houston and Freeport, in hopes of spurring federal approvals and, perhaps more importantly, funding.
On Friday members of the Houston Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Policy Council unanimously passed resolutions formally supporting a $1 billion expansion plan for the Houston Ship Channel and $295 million in work at Port Freeport.
Citing huge growth in the region and among the businesses banking on the ports, economic development officials in both locations are lining up years of work widening waterways and deepening channels so larger ships can call on the petrochemical and container facilities lining the Gulf Coast.
The goal of local transportation officials’ early support is to “cut years from the normal federal schedule,†said Alan Clark, director of transportation and air quality programs for H-GAC.
Because they are federally regulated waterways, the channels that serve the ports must undergo extensive analysis; changes require approvals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/transportation/article/HGAC-transpo-board-backs-port-improvements-as-14563689.php
