SS 197 Grade Separation Feasibility Study

H-GAC seeks a qualified Contractor to conduct a feasibility study of potential grade-separation and gate-realignment improvements at SH 197/FM 519 and the Port of Texas City. The study will address recurring traffic backups that impede freight movement and worker access, as well as safety concerns at the rail crossing, where vehicles may be unable to clear the tracks.

The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) is the region-wide voluntary association of 133 local governments and local elected officials in the 13-county Gulf Coast Planning region of Texas. Local elected officials organized H-GAC in 1966 after authorization by State enabling legislation. Its service area is 12,500 square miles and includes more than 7-million residents. H-GAC is governed by a 36-member Board of Directors composed of local elected officials, who serve on the governing bodies of member local governments. All H-GAC programs are carried out under the policy direction of its Board of Directors. H-GAC’s mission is to serve as the instrument of local government cooperation, promoting the region’s orderly development and the safety and welfare of its residents. H-GAC is the regional organization through which local governments consider issues and cooperate in solving area-wide problems. Agency programs emphasize local government concerns, such as transportation, air and water quality, criminal justice, demographic analysis, mapping programs, and intergovernmental purchasing. H-GAC also serves its citizens through workforce development programs, services to the aging and elderly, and small business finance programs.

Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO): Designated by the State of Texas as the MPO for the eight-county Houston-Galveston region, the H-GAC Transportation Department is responsible for transportation planning and policymaking, ensuring that expenditures for transportation projects and programs are based on a continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive planning process.

Solicitations regarding plans/studies issued by the H-GAC MPO do not seek engineering design services and the associated scopes of work do not intend to seek design services to implement the construction of specific roadways. The plans/studies which H-GAC currently undertakes are the first steps in a process, and do not replace any steps in the engineering design process that will lead to actual construction. H-GAC’s plans/studies are not relied upon for any element of engineering design. For more details please visit: About Thoroughfare Planning | Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC)