The Airline Improvement District recently completed a Pedestrian and Bicyclist Special District Study along the Airline corridor and adjoining roadways.
The study was funded through a grant from the Houston-Galveston Area Council, Airline Improvement District funds as well as input from Harris County Precinct One. The study was conducted by Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam, Inc. with the assistance of the Clifford Group and Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates.
The main focus of the study is along Airline Drive where 5 large flea markets are located and congestion of both vehicles and pedestrians is a major concern for the District, flea market owners and the neighborhood residents. The study seeks to improve the safety of pedestrians in a busy commercial zone as well as normalize the flow of vehicles to improve access for transit and emergency vehicles.
The project team also conducted field inventories of traffic signals and sidewalk conditions on major roads throughout the District area and made recommendations of infrastructure improvements in those areas.
The study provides a list of twenty eight possible projects which are broken down as short, medium and long term recommendations as well as cost estimates for each.
The District has formed a Mobility Sub-Committee headed by Paul Weisser, an AID Board Member as well as Senior Transit Operations Liaison and Assistant Transportation Superintendent with METRO. “We have the beginnings of a solution for the weekend traffic problems in the Airline Flea Market areas and plan to work closely with private businesses in the area, Harris County, METRO and H-GAC to implement these solutions in a timely, cost effective way,” said Weisser. The committee also includes Brian Rego, AID Board Member and Administrative Aide to Commissioner El Franco Lee as well as Randy Sim, AID Board Member and owner of Mercado Sabadomingo Flea Market. The sub-committee has reviewed the list of projects and re-prioritized them. They will present the re-prioritized list back to the full Board for approval. The District will then seek funding assistance and begin discussions with pertinent entities such as Harris County and METRO on those projects that it would like to begin implementing.