June 6, 2007 Texas 146 expansion pushing businesses off the road

June 6, 2007, 12:29AM
Texas 146 expansion pushing businesses off the road
Project could ease congestion, but it will put merchants along the Seabrook highway at risk
By RUTH RENDON

Businesses at risk
A plan to widen Texas 146 through the southeast Harris County community of Seabrook will see many businesses along the road eliminated or affected in some way. The businesses include (Source: City of Seabrook):

West of Texas 146
Kaferhaus, Baygas/Eagle Gas, Miller's Machine, Boats Etc., Steve's Super Shine, All American Automotive Repair, Seabrook Lawn, Bente Interiors, Benjamin Automotive, Season's Imports, Benestante Investments, Guy Taylor, Sno Cones, Enterprise Leasing, Neptune Subs, Seabrook Pet Supply, Jack Turk, Psychic Palm, Wilcox Inc., Laredo's Mexican restaurant, Bay Area TV Repair.

East of Texas 146
Tookie's Restaurant, Mario's Flying Pizza & Italian Restaurant, Marburger's Sporting Goods, Whataburger, Ryan's Express Dry Cleaners, Donald's Donuts, Wells Fargo, Morgan Land LLC, Bay Texaco, Walgreens, Blockbuster, KFC/Taco Bell, McDonald's, Kwik Kar, Popeyes, Sonic, Angel's gas station, Batavia Services, Allometrics, ATD , Equipment, Auto Zone, CVS/Pharmacy

The parking lot at Neptune Subs in Seabrook is being eliminated to make way for, well, cars.

The sandwich shop — and its parking lot that abuts Texas 146 — is one of more than 40 businesses along the increasingly busy highway that are being eliminated or affected by a planned roadway expansion. The highway that cuts through Seabrook and neighboring Kemah serves as a hurricane evacuation route for residents in Galveston County and southeast Harris County.

Every morning and afternoon the roadway goes through major gridlock. On weekends, the bridge over the Clear Creek channel connecting the two communities is backed up with tourists heading to the popular Kemah Boardwalk.

City and state officials point to the expansion between Red Bluff and just south of FM 518 as necessary.

"This roadway has become very heavily congested," said Hassan Nikooei, transportation engineer and project manager for the Texas Department of Transportation. "It cannot handle the traffic that it already has. Even if we widen this short segment through Seabrook and Kemah, it still will be over capacity."

Texas 146 serves not only as a hurricane evacuation route but also as an alternative to Interstate 45 for commuters who work in Houston. Many residents in Seabrook, Kemah and east League City prefer taking Texas 146, to Texas 225 and Loop 610 to make their way into downtown. The city and TxDOT recently agreed on an expansion plan after years of negotiations, but the final design is still being ironed out, as is the price tag.

Construction could start by 2015 or sooner if funding becomes available.

In the interim, Seabrook hopes to alleviate some of the congestion by turning off a flashing school-zone light whenever nearby Bay Elementary is not in session. Another suggestion is to increase the length of turning lanes on Texas 146 for motorists turning west onto Red Bluff. The suggestion, Seabrook City Manager Chuck Pinto said, can be implemented during a resurfacing project that's expected to start this summer.

What is for certain is that businesses on the west side of Texas 146 — such as Neptune Subs — between the highway and an unused Union Pacific railroad track will be wiped out.

Month-to-month leases
Those businesses now operate under 30-day leases with Union Pacific, Nikooei said. Once TxDOT purchases the right of way from the railroad company, the businesses no longer will be able to lease the property on which they sit.

Nikooei said TxDOT and Seabrook will help those business owners relocate. "We'll do our best to minimize the heartache," he said.

Vinny Schillaci, owner of Neptune Subs, said he is grateful some relocation help is in the works. After being in business almost 30 years in Seabrook, he does not want to venture far.

"I could move across the street in the shopping center, and my business could increase 40 percent or it could decrease. Nobody knows," Schillaci said. "Customers are saying, 'Please stay.' I can't move too far."

On the east side of Texas 146, businesses will be encroached upon by the expansion to the point of depleting parking or cutting into their buildings, forcing them to relocate.

"Every single restaurant, bank and pharmacy will be gone," resident Keith Gray said. "For the business owners in the city, this is rough."

Already the city is looking at ways to retain the affected businesses, Pinto said. City leaders are considering rezoning areas north and south of Repsdorph to accommodate relocated businesses. The city also is considering putting together incentive packages to keep businesses.

The 5-mile project will consist of five lanes in each direction at Red Bluff. Traveling south, motorists will see the roadway reduced to four lanes in each direction and have two frontage-road lanes. As motorists approach NASA Parkway, there will still be four lanes in each direction and two lanes of frontage in each direction. Two lanes will be designated to turn onto NASA Parkway, and the other two lanes will go over NASA Parkway and continue to bypass Kemah.

The project also calls for the widening of the Kemah-Seabrook bridge to have three lanes in each direction with a median and shoulders.

New bridge in the works
Another bridge just to the west of the current bridge is planned with two express lanes in each direction. The express lanes on the bridge will bypass the weekend revelers that travel to the Kemah Boardwalk.

At a public hearing this spring, some Seabrook residents said the city leaders should have chosen a bypass over the current plans.

Nikooei said TxDOT has proposed having an express lane through town, providing access to drivers and eliminating the need to take additional right of way from the east side of Texas 146. The city of Seabrook rejected that alternative, he said.

Seabrook Councilman Kim Morrell said the thought behind going with the current plans was that with a bypass instead, motorists would no longer stop and do business in Seabrook.

Nikooei said the city will be responsible for 10 percent of the right-of-way costs.

ruth.rendon@chron.com