Between 2004 and 2017, Downtown Houston attracted more than $6 billion of both public and private investment across a broad mix of new and renovated urban uses:
- parks and public spaces,
- hotels, multi‑family residences, and office towers,
- convention and theater facilities,
- government facilities, infrastructure, and public transit.
Plan Downtown is a 10-year framework for continued urban vitality, growth, and enrichment of the Downtown experience for all. Recent expansion of the regional transit, bike, and trail networks has created opportunities to connect Downtown and improve travel choices.
As transportation lead, TEI developed multimodal strategies to expand mobility choices and improve transit operations, while meeting the needs of commuters, including recommendations to:
- develop integrated mobility networks that establish travel mode priorities for each corridor to support transit, active transportation, and reinforce land use context;
- implement a well-connected, protected bikeway and trail network of 3-4 east/west and 3-4 north/south corridors;
- partner with METRO to enhance transit streets with speed and reliability improvements, passenger amenities, and information systems;
- prioritize projects to address regional access, neighborhood connections, and circulation Downtown;
- study and implement two-way conversions on lower-volume streets to support connectivity and redevelopment;
- review mobility lanes and on-street parking strategies to simplify street operations and serve active street fronts;
- pilot technologies to improve signal timings and balance synchronization for east/west and north/south streets;
- expand wayfinding systems and prioritize gateway connections to adjacent neighborhoods; and
- utilize low-impact design standards and best practices for storm water management as streets are reconstructed.
