HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — $6 million will soon be spent to repave a stretch of Washington Avenue along I-10 and Franklin Street.

The work, which is set to begin next week, will start just a few weeks before findings from a $700,000 study examining ways to improve the street are published.

The city requested the study in 2021 through the Houston Galveston Area Council, a regional planning organization.

Earlier this month Metro approved a $24 million request to repave streets. According to a Metro spokesperson, about six million dollars from the request is going toward repaving Washington.

Board members said the decision was made at the request of the City of Houston.

“I understand that sometimes different parts of government go different speeds but it does seem like a bit of a lost opportunity,” Washington Avenue resident and West End Civic Club Member Matt Tetlow who helped participate in the H-Gac study, which sought resident feedback, said.

Transportation advocate, Peter Eccles, of Link Houston says the stretch of Washington being repaved is part of the city’s high-injury network,

In a statement, a Metro spokesperson told ABC13 the project will improve bus shelters and sidewalks while maintaining their original footprint.

They wrote, “With the work beginning on 1-10, commuters and our buses are getting diverted to Washington. We can’t continue to let the roads deteriorate while more and more drivers and our buses need to use them.”

They added that they felt the improvement was imperative ahead of several large events such as the RNC and World Cup.

“Which is a small share of streets where the majority of serious and fatal crashes occur again, as the city and Metro work together to repave this street. They could use this as an opportunity to redesign it to address those issues,” he said.

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Washington — Congress returns Monday from a weeklong recess as the fallout continues from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s move to help Republicans advance a controversial spending bill earlier this month to avoid a government shutdown. 

As lawmakers left Washington following many weeks in session, a recess that Democrats initially hoped would be marked by a show of force against the Trump administration and Republican control of Washington was punctuated by handwringing over the party’s direction — and questions about its leadership. 

Democrats remained mum as they left Washington in the aftermath of the tense funding fight. And at town halls from Colorado to California, Democrats sidestepped questions about Schumer’s decision and his leadership of the upper chamber more broadly, previewing a messy return to Washington as the party contends with its divisions.

Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, dodged a question about Schumer being replaced as leader last week, before pivoting to former President Joe Biden and urging that “it’s important for people to know, you know, when it’s time to go.”

“We’re going to have conversations I’m sure in the foreseeable future about all the Democratic leadership,” Bennet said at a town hall in Golden, Colorado. 

Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland became the first Democratic lawmaker to openly call for new Senate leadership at a town hall last week, saying that though he respects Schumer and his long tenure in Washington, “it may be time for the Senate Democrats to pick new leadership as we move forward.” Rep. Delia Ramirez followed suit at a town hall in Chicago last week. And progressive youth groups joined in on the criticism, urging Schumer in a letter obtained by CBS News to “fight for us or step aside.”

Still, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who initially opted not to comment when asked whether he was confident in Schumer’s leadership, weighed in with support for Schumer last week. And Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi echoed the confidence in Schumer’s leadership, though she delivered a stinging rebuke.

“I myself don’t give away anything for nothing,” Pelosi said. “And I think that’s what happened the other day.”

Schumer had initially signaled that his caucus would fight back against a partisan measure to keep the government funded after the House passed the measure in a narrow vote that came as a surprise to some. But a day later, Schumer reluctantly pledged to advance the continuing resolution, delivering one of the Democratic votes necessary to propel the measure to passage. 

The New York Democrat has stood by his decision, while arguing that he remains the “best leader for the Senate.” He told “CBS Mornings” last week that as bad as the founding bill was, “a shutdown is 10 times worse.” On Sunday, he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he’s not stepping down. 

The backlash against Schumer has come as Democrats contend with the party’s direction and approach more broadly after the 2024 elections delivered bruising defeats up and down the ballot. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, shifted the blame away from Schumer, saying on CNN last week that although “no one is in the caucus” is more critical of the minority leader than he is, “it’s not Schumer… it’s the Democratic party.”

Later in the week, Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez held a rally in Las Vegas. In an interview with CBS News at the rally, the Vermont independent said the “Democratic party has not been the kind of party we need to represent the working class of this country in so many ways.”

“There is no reason why we have massive income and wealth inequality, why we’re the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people,” Sanders added.

Across a number of town halls last week, constituents turned the focus from possible threats to Medicaid under GOP control of Washington to criticism of the Democratic Party itself. 

During a town hall held by Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego in Arizona last week, one constituent questioned the party’s overall messaging strategy, suggesting they should get “dirtier” with their approach against Republicans.

“They fight dirtier and we are not willing to get in the mud with them,” the constituent said. “Maybe it’s time we start getting a little bit dirtier with our messaging.”

Jaala Brown and

Nidia Cavazos

contributed to this report.

Demolition bid approved for Courthouse Square office building

Detailed plans for Washington County’s new public safety building were revealed Thursday as the city’s planning commission got its first look at the project.

John Campbell of AE Works and Sean Donnelly of Gateway Engineers unveiled architectural renderings and schematic plans during Washington’s planning commission meeting for an initial pre-development update as the project gets closer to beginning.

“There is a lot of public interaction (with those county services) and they want the building to express that,” Campbell said of the new county public safety building that will replace the Courthouse Square offices.

The three-story building’s facade will mimic the exterior of the neighboring Crossroads Center county office building across West Beau Street. The public safety building will house the 911 dispatch center, sheriff’s office, booking center and have other various office space for county government, along with some areas for civic institutions to gather for meetings.

The building is designed with large windows and will have easy pathways to the neighboring Family Court Center, although there is no enclosed connector planned over to the Crossroads building.

“We’re trying to make it much more transparent and open to the public,” Campbell said of the public safety building’s design.

Members of the city’s planning commission seemed intrigued by the designs that were presented, although the presenters admitted it’s still in the beginning stages and they’ll have to return with a formal land development application – basically a site plan – that will need final approval from the city.

“You talk about a smaller footprint,” planning commission member Jason Kilgore said. “How much room is there for growth and expansion with this building?”

Campbell said one area of the building that was labeled “shell” will remain undeveloped to allow for government operations enough room to expand as the county’s population grows.

“I think that’s what the intention is for the ‘shell’ space,” Campbell said.

Some information was still not available during Thursday’s meeting, including the estimated cost of the building and the construction timeline.

“On paper, it looks good,” planning commission member Angelo Musto said. “We’ll just have to see when it’s built.”

As the designs were being discussed at the city building, the Washington County commissioners were meeting at the Crossroads Center building a few blocks away and approving plans to demolish the Courthouse Square office building to make way for the public safety building. The commissioners unanimously approved a $1.555 million bid from Adamo Demolition Co. of Detroit to bring down the building and parking garage that sits behind the Washington County Courthouse.

The current 911 operations center partially connected to Courthouse Square that faces South Franklin Street will remain standing while the tower and parking garage are demolished so dispatch teams can continue operations. That department will be moved over to the public safety building after it’s constructed.

Campbell said the Courthouse Square building is no longer suitable because the bottom level of the three-story parking garage is heaving upward because the slab was built on poor soil.

“Things are kind of deteriorating over there,” Campbell said.

The new building will have a small parking garage for some employees and the courthouse’s seven judges, but there will not be enough parking for all of the county’s workers. Campbell noted that the Crossroads Parking Garage operated by the Washington Parking Authority has ample space for county workers to park their cars, which they have already been doing for months with the closure of the Courthouse Square parking garage.

“We’re still going through the design and need to answer some questions, including with parking,” Donnelly said.

The county offered $4 million to purchase that garage from the parking authority last year, but that price was considered too low. The garage is owned by the city, Washington School District and county – the city and school district would receive the lion’s share of the sale revenue – and members of each government entity sit on the parking authority.

The parking authority rebuffed the $4 million offer and instead voted to perform its own appraisal hoping for a higher figure. However, the county walked away from the sale at that point and negotiations have been at a standstill since. It’s not known whether the county might re-engage the parking authority to purchase the garage at a higher price or continue to lease the available parking spots on behalf of county workers.