HOUSTON — The pause of the Shepherd Durham Project is back in the spotlight after Mayor John Whitmire rebuffed City Council members’ calls for the development to move forward.
“What I want everyone to understand is that these projects are not bikeways and they're not walkability, only they're infrastructure,” Council Member At Large Position 4 Letitia Plummer said during Wednesday’s City Council pop-off segment. “They are the creations of infrastructure that the city of Houston does not have.”
Plummer told council members and Mayor Whitmire she had toured the area of the development and voiced support for the project and others, like the Montrose Boulevard Improvement Project, to continue.
Mayor Whitmire put those projects on hold and in response to Plummer’s comments, explained he was considering other stakeholders’ perspectives when deciding to pause and review the project.
“There’s a clash of interests,” Whitmire said.
The project is designed to work in two phases -- Phase One works on Shepherd and Durham from I-610 south to 15th Street and Phase Two covers 15th Street south to I-10. The project reduces the number of car lanes and adds wider sidewalks, bike lanes and trees.
Phase One of the project started in 2021 and is nearing completion, but Phase Two is on hold.
Whitmire said his concern is over the mobility of other neighborhoods and businesses that rely on the roadways for car transportation.
“You ought to go look at 5 o'clock or 8 o'clock in the morning traffic. I represent the entire city that has to go to work and school,” Whitmire said. “The folks that want to experiment with people's mobility have a challenge on their hands.”
The response from Whitmire was concerning for supporters of the project, who told KHOU they hope the project is able to continue.
“You can see even with the three lanes, traffic's not being impeded,” Kevin Strickland, a Heights resident and president of Greater Heights Super Neighborhood said. “So to say that Phase Two should be stopped simply to accommodate commuters isn't really looking at reality here.”
Others say the project boosts the neighborhood’s appeal for the present and future.
“We're really trying to design Houston for our children and grandchildren, right? So we need to do right by them and not come in and pause projects that have had wide community approval,” Heights resident Emmanuel Nuñez told KHOU.
Supporters said they’ll continue to voice their desire for the project to continue at City Council meetings, through online petitions and a postcard campaign where supporters can write to Mayor Whitmire about why they want the project to continue.