“Would these elected officials be so eager to move the project forward if it were their districts being torn apart?”

Houston Chronicle: Letters to the Editor

"Regarding “Houston Republicans urge Buttigieg to lift pause on I-45 expansion project,” (Nov. 9): It is unethical and outside their scope for these U.S. congressmen to hurry along a federal investigation of civil rights violations. There is no national presence working in Houston to fight the I-45 expansion. The Federal Highway Administration pause is in direct response to the Title VI concerns filed by real people in affected communities and local advocacy groups. The seven signatory elected officials on this letter do not really represent communities directly impacted by the project. They are ignorant to what is going on locally.

The people of Houston and Harris County deserve a functional I-45 project that centers those most impacted, reduces environmental impact and actually improves congestion and safety. The current design exacerbates all the problems TxDOT seeks to solve. A wider I-45 would not help in a hurricane evacuation; the key to successful evacuation is coordinated emergency response and messaging. No road in the world is wide enough for single-occupancy vehicle evacuation en masse.

Would these elected officials be so eager to move the project forward if it were their districts being torn apart? Or are they pushing profits for an elite few at the expense of our city? Maybe if they actually showed up to some of the advocacy meetings they love to talk about, we’d know."