Strip away the enormity of rebuilding Interstate 45 and the promise of speedier trips along downtown Houston freeways, and two questions about the once-in-a-generation project remain:
How many negative effects are acceptable in one neighborhood for other people’s faster commutes?
And, how far should transportation officials go to reduce those impacts, to secure support and not vocal opposition?
“This is the defining project in the city of Houston for the next 20 years,” said Michael Skelly, a local businessman and organizer of the Make I-45 Better Coalition. “Doing it properly means minimizing impacts and, where there are impacts, mitigating them properly.” [Read more.]