A Health Impact Assessment and a Civil rights complaint against discriminatory actions by TxDOT
In spring 2018, we were funded by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation under the 500 Cities Data Challenge to conduct a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of the NHHIP. The assessment focused on potential air quality, mobility, and flooding impacts at nine priority school campuses along the I-45 corridor.

In January 2021 in conjunction with partner communities and organizations, we filed two legal complaints against TxDOT under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As currently designed, the NHHIP would displace residents in over 1,000 households and hundreds of businesses in communities adjacent to the I-45 corridor, mostly in low-income areas.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has ordered a pause of the project to investigate these and other potential civil rights violations. We continue to work alongside Houstonians to make sure community concerns surrounding the project are addressed.

If mitigative strategies are not put in place, children and the surrounding communities may experience increased exposure to harmful air pollution, face more traffic safety concerns, and have to deal with aggravated flooding risks.

• See here for a summary of the key findings and recommendations.
• Read here the full Health Impact Assessment Report.
• A comprehensive overview of the HIA and all final products are available on the Urban Institute’s “Putting Local Data to Work” site.

Continuing Health Impact Assessments
We are working with Urban Design 4 Health, Inc. to create a Houston-specific Public Health Assessment Model (H-PHAM) that will be used to estimate the health impacts and economic implications for a broad array of transportation and land use policies and projects. The tool will pay particular attention to the impacts to disadvantaged communities. We will use the findings to guide our advocacy for needed transportation reform in Texas.