News - Reduce Flooding

Kingwood Drive Construction Bottlenecks Evacuation Route One Month Before Peak of Hurricane Season

Exactly one month before the peak of hurricane season, Kingwood Drive construction has kicked into high gear. Kingwood Drive is one of the area’s primary evacuation routes and experiencing construction bottlenecks.

Luckily, the National Hurricane Center expects no tropical activity in the next seven days. NHC does not forecast beyond seven days.

Aerial Photos Show Traffic Constrictions

Reconstruction of Kingwood Drive between Loop 494 and US59 has begun in earnest. TxDoT has narrowed traffic to one lane in each direction. And according to the City of Houston, TxDoT now estimates that construction may last until October. Previously, TxDoT estimated September.

Dave Martin, City of Houston Mayor Pro Tem, told a board meeting of the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority this morning that he has asked the City, County and Humble ISD to supply traffic-control officers for the duration of Kingwood Drive construction to help reduce traffic snarls. But just before noon today, inbound traffic was backed up from all the way from 494 to 59.

I took the photos below on Thursday 8/10/2023. They show traffic constrictions in all directions.

*Looking N from over Loop 494. Note 494 is still under construction. Number of lanes varies by area.*

*Still looking N. Kingwood Drive bisects the frame L to R and is down to one lane in each direction.*

*At noon, inbound traffic from 59 was backed up to freeway.*

Outbound traffic on left was less congested. But that part quickly opened up to four lanes at this point today. Note how sidewalk and shoulder on left are being demolished. Focus of construction is on right side.

*Looking eastbound toward 494. Note fresh concrete in lane on left.*

*Workers are laying rebar in preparation for a concrete pour in upper right corner.* *Note recent pours in lower right.*

The last shot above captures the confusing traffic in this area. Despite the addition of officers, I plan to avoid this area as much as possible until construction is complete.

At the moment, Northpark Drive makes a decent alternative despite construction there, too. Northpark traffic is still two lanes in each direction. And the project manager says it will remain that way throughout construction.

Grand Parkway Construction Went Much Faster

I sure hope that if a hurricane heads this way, TxDoT hustles up. Loop 494 construction started at Kingwood Drive in 2019, four years ago – exactly when TxDot started extending the Grand Parkway east from 59 to Baytown. Grand Parkway crews finished the 33-mile extension to Baytown 15 months ago. The project above covers 3 miles. Reportedly, TxDoT has switched contractors after problems with the first one.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/10/23

2172 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Sediment removal from under Northpark Bridges

CoH Removing Sediment under Northpark Bridges, More Good News on Northpark Expansion

To help accommodate the expansion of Northpark Drive and the Kingwood Diversion Ditch, City of Houston (CoH) contractors are cleaning sediment from under the Northpark Bridges. This effort will eliminate a constriction in the Diversion Ditch that backed stormwater up, forcing it into Bens Branch, flooding people, businesses and schools downstream.

Separately, Week 2 of Northpark Drive expansion has seen other breakthroughs farther west.

Cleaning and expansion of the median ditch have reached almost to the UnionPacific (UP) railroad tracks that parallel Loop 494.
CoH and UP are also reaching agreements – at long last – that will let contractors move forward with construction at a much faster rate.

See more details and photos below.

Photos of Bridge Clean-out Taken 8/8/23

*Looking east toward Woodland Hills at sediment removal project under Northpark bridges.*

*Side view looking SE toward North Woodland Hills shows more of work under bridge.*

*Looking west across Diversion Ditch and sediment removal project toward Russell Palmer. Photo by Father TJ Dolce of St. Martha Catholic Church.*

8/8/23 Photos of Northpark Ditch Clean-out

*Looking East from Northpark median at Public Storage. Note Duncan Donuts on left.*

*Reverse angle looking West shows remaining distance to UP tracks and Loop 494 at intersection.*

The ditch clean-out will make room for 5′ x 7′ box culverts like those you see below. Workers have now buried all of the round concrete pipe stockpiled last week. They have also cut through concrete in the crossover between the fireworks stand and Flowers of Kingwood.

*Steel cofferdam prevents wall collapse, protects workers in ditch.*

The “step-down” from the box culverts to the round concrete pipe (now buried) will provide in-line stormwater detention during heavy rains that helps reduce flood potential in the receiving ditch, i.e., the Diversion Ditch.

UP and CoH Near Agreement on Access Rights

According to Ralph De Leon, project manager for the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority and TIRZ 10, CoH and UP have come to terms on one agreement and are close to finalizing a second.

The first covers covers maintenance and construction. It will let contractors drill under the railroad tracks to address utility issues. Cost: $2.2 million.

The second agreement covers vertical and horizontal easements. Cost: under $200 thousand. The easements will let contractors build a bridge and access roads over the tracks.

However, it will also require the TIRZ to purchase two additional tracts of land north and south of Northpark at the railroad tracks.

Resident Reacts to Sediment Removal in Diversion Ditch

Flood activist and Kingwood resident Chris Bloch lauded the CoH sediment removal under the Northpark Bridge. He called it, “Great news for Kingwood!”

“Removal of the sediment under the Northpark bridges will substantially recover conveyance capacity of the Diversion Ditch,” he added. “When the water level in the Diversion Ditch touches the bottom of the Northpark bridges, the bridge acts as a dam and water levels upstream rise rapidly.” That forces water into Bens Branch, threatening homes and businesses on either side of it.

Remembering Stan Sarman

Bloch worked with former TIRZ president Stan Sarman, who was also an engineer, to approach Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin and CoH about the need for this project. They agreed that sediment removal from the Diversion Ditch under the Northpark Bridges would help reduce flood risk in Woodland Hills, Hunters Ridge, Bear Branch and Kings Forest.

Martin’s office arranged for the purchase order to get this project done.

Bloch took video during Imelda and shared it with Sarman, who had the original drawings of the bridge and channel from 1972. He is quick to give credit to Sarman who has since passed away. “I am not sure most Kingwood residents appreciate all Sarman did for Kingwood,” said Bloch.

This project and the repair of the channel under the Tree Lane Bridge are valued at nearly $1 million dollars.

Up Next

The LHRA/TIRZ are now providing weekly updates of construction activity so you can see what’s coming next.

Come back soon for more updates. The Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority will hold a public board meeting Thursday at 8 a.m. at the Kingwood Community Center to discuss this and other business.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/9/2023

2171 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Smoking Guns Buried in Harris County 2022 Primary Election Report

This week, Harris County is releasing to the public a final report on the botched March 2022 primary election – a year after the report’s completion. That’s almost a year after a second botched election last November that has mired the County in lawsuits over election results.

The report recommended a number of changes in election processes. Had the then newly appointed Harris County Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum implemented the recommendations before the November election, many of the problems experienced by voters might have been prevented. But no one has explained why Tatum didn’t.

Most of the problems detailed in March also happened in November.

Fifty pages of election-worker survey data buried at the end of the March election report quantifies the magnitude of the problems that voters experienced.

As you read the numbers below, keep in mind that County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s official margin of victory was 1.65%.

Key Takeaways from Data

The following results jumped out at me.

Question 18 on page 100

Quantified the percentages of poll workers who experienced the following types of equipment problems:

Almost one third (31.4%) of workers had problems with the Duos (machines that create both electronic and paper versions of voters’ choices).
One fifth (19.3%) of workers had problems with the Scanners.
One tenth (9.8%) of workers had problems with the ePollBooks.

Question 17 on page 99

Delved into who (among election workers) had the problems and when:

One third (36.5%) of workers had problems with equipment during setup and operation.
The degree of problems did not vary significantly by the amount of election experience that the worker had, suggesting the problems were not caused by inexperience.
The problems virtually doubled on Primary Election Day compared to early voting (24.2% for early voting compared to 46.3% for Election Day).
45.8% of Republican election workers experienced problems compared to 29% of Democrats.

Question 10A on page 66

Measured the rough estimates of election workers as to voters who experienced problems:

6.5% of election workers felt most voters had problems recording votes on new machines.
Another 13.5% felt “less than half” of the voters had problems recording their votes.
So, 20% of election workers saw more than “a few voters” experiencing problems.

Question 9 on page 65

Measured how long it took election workers to get help via phone:

Twice as many Republicans (21.4%) had to wait longer than a half hour on the help line compared to Democrats (11%).

This contributed to long lines during the November election.

Question 7 on page 63

Measured how long it took election workers to pick up supplies:

22.7% of Republicans said they had to wait longer than an hour for their supplies compared to 13.7% of Democrats.

This contributed to many polls opening late in November.

Question 24 on Page 105

Looked at Political Affiliation of poll workers:

Democratic workers outnumbered Republicans by 12.1% (51.5% to 39.4%).

Vague Recommendations Don’t Get to Heart of Issue

The recommendations by the consultant performing the analysis focused mainly on processes and process improvements. Their recommendations on page 108 include:

Refine and prioritize desired objectives and outcomes;
Identify performance measures to meet outcomes;
Inventory the data assets available to measure outcomes;
Identify gaps in available data assets;
Establish clear lines of responsibility among EAO staff for each outcome or category of outcomes; and
Design processes to monitor the progress toward meeting outcomes.

Nowhere in the 114 page report did the consultant use the word “fair,” as in “conduct a fair election” to describe an outcome.
Results of word search in PDF

“B Certified”

The consultant’s report did, however, give us a clue about their company values.

A “B certified” watermark showed up on virtually every page of the ForsMarsh report. I didn’t know what that meant, so I looked it up.

BCorporation.net, a company that B-certifies other companies says, “Certified B Corporations are leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. Unlike other certifications for businesses, B Lab is unique in our ability to measure a company’s entire social and environmental impact.”

In choosing a vendor to audit the election, it would seem that Harris County selected a vendor that was more concerned with social impact than fairness. Their report demonstrates that.

Little Fanfare for Long-Awaited Report

The ForsMarsh Group delivered its report to Harris County on August 31, 2022. It’s now available to the public as the backup to Agenda Item 313 for the August 8, 2023, Commissioners Court meeting. That’s little fanfare for a long-awaited report.

By the way, #313 is a simple transmittal of the report to commissioners. No context or explanation is provided.

Too bad we didn’t have the report in a timely way before the November election last year. So much for transparency!

And little wonder that County Election Administrator Clifford Tatum is playing dodgeball with depositions. At the end of June this year, Tatum failed to appear for a scheduled deposition. And now, attorneys representing Judge Lina Hidalgo filed a motion to quash any further depositions of Tatum.

One Final Qualification and a Question

Harris County has also stonewalled production of records related to the November election. Data in the just-released report finally quantifies issues in the March primary election. However, it does not measure November election problems directly, i.e., those over which Tatum presided.

Regardless, the Primary data parallels independently compiled evidence of similar problems found on Election Day in November. That raises one final question: Nine months after the November election, why haven’t we seen an official report on it yet?

Posted by Bob Rehak on 8/7/23

2169 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.