TxDOT Off-System Highway Safety Improvement Program

TGC was hired by four individual clients to develop Off-System Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) grant applications for submission to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). TGC’s efforts included developing schematic concepts, safety benefit calculations (using the TxDOT SII calculator) and full application documentation. TGC was successful in securing approximately $1.75M in federal funding for the implementation of all four projects.

We utilized our performance-based planning methodology to scan each individual project area for eligible safety projects based on approved TxDOT countermeasures. Once candidate projects were identified, TGC coordinated candidate projects with each individual client/sponsor, and through a series of meetings, preferred project alternatives were developed. Each project also involved coordination with TxDOT, Harris County, City of Houston, and Houston METRO to ensure alignment with other plans and projects. We leveraged our in-house suite of technical skills and accomplished this mission, inclusive of: planning, technical safety analysis, preliminary engineering, benefit-cost analysis, and intergovernmental coordination.

Upon award, TxDOT indicated they would not award four individual grants to four individual sponsors – they would require an advance funding agreement (AFA) with one of the four applicants. In response, TGC facilitated a solution-oriented conversation between the four sponsors and designed with a framework to move the project forward under the umbrella of one entity. We developed a series of flow charts and summary memos explaining the potential benefit and risks associated with the AFA and one or more supplemental interlocal agreements. Additionally, we coordinated meetings between agencies and respective legal counsels to discuss the matter and provided a draft agreement for review, edit, and finalization by the individual counsels. As a component of this process, TGC also shepherded the TxDOT AFA through the process.

Ultimately, TGC was successful in bringing together four parties to an agreement to shepherd the projects towards implementation.