Student Health
- Bruce Elementary and Secondary DAEP are exposed to 4X the traffic pollution of the average HISD/ASID campus.
- Expansion will be at the property line of both campuses.
- Increased pollution are linked to poorer student and community health.
- Asthma rates at Bruce (7.2%) and Secondary DAEP (5%) already exceed the HISD/ASID average of 3.5%.
Environmental Justice
- Removal or relocation of families in public housing units – specifically Clayton Homes and Kelly Villages.
- Poverty rate at Bruce is 92.6% and DAEP is 94% compared to 73.7% in Houston.
Community
- 20% of Bruce students walk to school exposing them to the highest accident areas of Jensen Drive and under and next to the freeway.
- NHHIP design will move the freeway closer to both schools increasing safety concerns for pedestrians and cyclists.
- Three bus stops adjacent to I-10 around Kelly Village will be temporarily impacted during construction.
Fifth Ward demographics
- Primarily minority: 50.6% Hispanic. 41.9% non-hispanic black.
- Mainly single-family residential with pockets of commercial development.
Second Ward demographics
- One of Houston’s 4 original neighborhoods
- Contains Frost Town, considered Houston’s oldest neighborhood, founded in 1822. The last remaining Frost Town building was demolished in 1992 to make way for a freeway expansion. http://ghosttowns.com/states/tx/frosttown.html
- Mainly hispanic: 74.8% Hispanic. 13.5% non-hispanic black. 8.5% non-hispanic white.
- Mix of residential (single and multi-family) surrounded by large-scale industrial properties
Here’s TxDOT’s take on connectivity, from their Community Impacts Assessment:
“The Fifth Ward was impacted by the construction of I-10, which divided the community, and again with the construction of US 59/I-69, which further divided the community. TxDOT worked with stakeholders to eliminate an at-grade railroad crossing. Although the proposed improvements to I-10 would widen the separation between the north and south side of the highway, the proposed improvements to I-10 would not create a new barrier in the Greater Fifth Ward.”
Other displacements
- Goodwill Missionary Baptist Church – founded in Fifth Ward in 1961
- Helping Hands Charity – collects donations for community schools, founded 1880
- Sloan Memorial United Methodist Church – founded in Fifth Ward, approximately 100 members, has been in current location for 58 years, impacted during previous I-10 expansion
- David Adickes Studio – larger-than-life sculptures of famous people
- Acre In A Box – Houston’s first urban hydroponic farm
- Sorb-All Co. – oil absorbents retailer
- PJS – Professional Janitorial Service
- 76 Convenience Store
- Cleaners at the Ballpark
- Subway sandwiches
- United Plastic Inc. – fabrication