BOOST Route 82 Design
SALIENT FEATURES
Bus Stop Design
Corridor Improvements
Sidewalk Separation from Streets and Bus Stops
Consolidated Bus Stops
Dynamic Bus Lane
infraTECH served as Prime Consultant
CLIENT
Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA)
LOCATION:
Harris County, Texas
BACKGROUND
The objective of the BOOST routes is to improve the “WALK,” the “STOP,” and the “RIDE” along the corridor from the West Oaks area through Westchase, the Uptown/Galleria, Upper Kirby, Midtown and Downtown areas. The project has three distinct section characteristics. The first section, West Oaks to West Loop, has seven and eight lanes of traffic with high speeds, making it a challenge for pedestrians to cross. The second section, West Loop to Midtown, has four lanes with generally poor pavement conditions. The third section, Midtown and Downtown, have one-way streets with interconnection opportunities to the local bus, BRT, LRT and HOV systems. These sections needed to be integrated with the City of Houston bikeway network as directed by the BOOST program objectives.
PROJECT FEATURE
Some general corridor improvements include:
Improve Westheimer pedestrian crossings with high-visibility markings like continental crosswalks.
Improve the bus ride by implementing the dynamic bus lane in both directions from West Oaks to the West Loop and by repairing and overlaying the pavement from the West Loop to Buffalo Speedway.
Some specific areas of improvement include:
Optimized bus stops by installing mid-block stops, HAWK signals and removing stops.
Relocated bus stops to the far side of an intersection and assess site conditions to determine whether the stop is shared by another route, it would create a spacing larger than 0.30 miles, and whether there is a stop downstream very close to the proposed location.
Project stakeholders include METRO, COH, TxDOT, Westchase, Uptown, Plaza, Upper Kirby, Midtown and Downtown Districts, as well as the West Oaks/Eldridge and Greenway Plaza area and other local businesses. The permitting agencies are the COH and TxDOT.
RELEVANT SERVICES
infraTECH is responsible for designing over 100 bus stops.