The novelty check had a few extra zeroes, but even if Houston’s airport system is not getting $40 billion, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg assured Houston-area officials Monday that federal funding is coming for a number of road, transit and airport projects.
“We have the funding and we can work on interesting and consequential problems,” Buttigieg said on a quick swing through Houston, citing the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill passed last year as the catalyst for local projects and jobs.
Buttigieg’s swing through the Bayou City came as the area has reaped more than $86 million just in the past three months. In early July, officials said George Bush Intercontinental Airport would receive $40 million and William P. Hobby Airport $3.6 million for assorted terminal upgrades to flow more people through security lines and make baggage movement from the airlines to passengers quicker, along with other projects, including energy efficiency improvements.
A mock check displayed at an event Tuesday in Terminal A listed the amount as “$40,000,000,000” — 1,000 times more than Houston got — but still was welcomed by local officials.
“Those dollars are already making a difference,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said.
A month after the airport award, Houston won $21 million for a planned remake of a stretch of Telephone Road, via a competitive grant aimed at community-altering projects. The 2.8-mile street rebuild will add wider sidewalks and bike lanes and spruce up bus stops between Lawndale Drive and Loop 610 from Eastwood to south of Pecan Park.
“This is dollars that are going to an area that is underserved, and frankly has been for a time,” U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, said.
Days later, Metro secured $21.6 million to fund the bulk of an upcoming purchase of electric buses, part of the agency’s early efforts to convert its mostly diesel fleet of 1,200 buses to cleaner fuels.
The final stop on Buttigieg’s tour was Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Burnett Transit Center, for a quick rundown of Metro’s long-range plans.
Buttigieg said there is “phenomenal energy” to take the federal investment and put it to work on projects nationwide, where local officials have a long list of projects.
Houston-area officials have the projects, but lack consensus in some cases about what exactly to build. Transit in the region, while increasing in support, still has detractors and skeptics, while opposition to freeway widening — notably the $9.7 billion-plus Interstate 45 project — has increased in volume.
Citing a Federal Highway Administration investigation into the I-45 project, Buttigieg declined to address the project’s specifics, but noted in his time as mayor of South Bend, Ind., contention over projects that got results.
“Through dialogue they really did come out better,” he said.
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