TEI led a diverse stakeholder group to develop a comprehensive mobility plan for the Westchase District. The area is experiencing significant growth and redevelopment, putting pressure on the roadway network. Stakeholders seek more multi-modal choices to move around the area. The District recently made significant investments in walkable streetscapes and trails, with a goal of shifting short auto trips to foot, transit, or bike.
This mobility plan focused on improving roadways, transit, walking, and biking modes; and fostering an economic development cycle of private investments building on public projects to create places people want to be and add community value. In developing multimodal strategies to achieve the District’s mobility goals, TEI:
- assessed land uses and available right of way along 22 major roadways to develop travel mode priorities and proposed street cross sections to best reinforce the land use context,
- prioritized specific projects to address regional access and circulation within the district, that are rooted in best practices and local desires,
- developed an implementation framework including tactics to develop capital projects quickly.
Stakeholder and community engagement built tactically on input from previous studies by :
- conducting focus groups of property owners and business owners,
- engaging participants at District events including the Farmers Market and the Corporate Challenge,
- hosting public lunch and learn sessions to gather input about the goals and recommendations, and
- using surveys and prioritization exercises to gather preferences and gauge support for recommendations.
In addition to supporting redevelopment around key transit and trail nodes, the team developed short-, and long-term recommendations to improve transit service:
- collaborate with METRO to optimize stop locations, deploy more shelters, and improve rider amenities;
- partner to increase frequency on existing routes and develop commuter service to west-side suburbs;
- leverage improved sidewalks, trails, and a bikeshare network to provide last-mile connections;
- extend frequent transit service on Richmond and Bellaire through the district to Westchase P&R; and
- develop high-capacity transit ways along Westpark and Westheimer that connect to the region’s transit network.
