Student Health
- Houston Academy of International Studies (HAIS) is exposed to 10X the traffic pollution of the average HISD/ASID campus.
- Young Women's College Preparatory Academy (YWCP) is exposed to 7X the traffic pollution of the average HISD/ASID campus.
- Expansion will move the highway closer to YWPC Academy which will introduce more air and noise pollution.
- Other impacts are poor student and community health, respiratory diseases like asthma which result in a lower quality of life.
- Current 5% asthma rate at YWCP Academy exceeds the average of 3.3% in HISD/ASID.
Environmental Justice
- Current I-45 demarcates a 500 ft. barrier between high income white neighborhood on the west side of 288 and low income people of color on the east side of 288.
- The current expansion will further entrench the separation between the Museum District/Midtown and the 3rd ward on the east side.
- HAIS and YWCP have both had close to 100 pedestrian and bicycle accidents within a half mile of their schools since 2010.
- The current NHHIP design does not have a design feature protecting pedestrians or cyclists crossing or traveling parallel to the freeway.
- YWCP is ranked in the top 15% of areas in Houston to experience the dangerous urban heat island effect.*
Displacements include (from north to south)
- Houston Police Department South Central
- 4001 Lounge – hookah bar
- Rossonian Cleaners
- Tacos La Creación
- GMA Medical Billing & Accounting
- Star Hair Salon
- Liberty Income Tax & Insurance
- Nurses Night & Day Inc
- Copias-Fotos-ATM-Email on Caroline St
- Consulado General De México
- King Fuels Food
- US Vets – veteran housing
- Midtown Terrace Suites
* Urban Heat Island (UHI)
Urban heat island (UHI) is a health concern. Increasing the percentage of impervious surface is linked to an increase in surface temperature.
The extent of tree canopy in an area can have a direct effect on temperatures and health. Higher levels of tree canopy coverage can help curb urban heat island effects by lowering temperatures. Not only is extreme heat the primary weather-related cause of death in the U.S. according to 2018 National Weather Service Office estimates but hot temperatures also create the weather conditions necessary to produce ground-level ozone.
Loughner CP, Allen DJ, Zhang D-L, Pickering KE, Dickerson RR, Landry L. Roles of Urban Tree Canopy and Buildings in Urban Heat Island Effects: Parameterization and Preliminary Results. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. 2012; 51:1775-1793.