Second Ward and Fifth Ward

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