TAG Houston Helps Hosts Comprehensive Road and Rail Safety Workshop, Welcomes Chicago’s CREATE Program for Insights on Grade Separations

TAG Houston Helps Hosts Comprehensive Road and Rail Safety Workshop, Welcomes Chicago’s CREATE Program for Insights on Grade Separations

The East End District and The Gulf Coast Rail District in collaboration with the City of Houston, the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT), Union Pacific, the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC), TAG Houston successfully hosted a two-day Road and Rail Safety workshop on July 23rd and 24th, 2025. The event brought together key stakeholders and welcomed members of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) program to share their experience in implementing effective road and rail grade separations.

The workshop focused on coordinated efforts to enhance safety, reduce congestion, and improve quality of life around rail crossings in a cost and social impact effective manner, drawing directly from the CREATE program’s nearly two decades of success in Chicago. The CREATE Program provided crucial insights into their successful model, emphasizing strong public-private collaboration, consistent project completion, and significant benefits like reduced delays and improved safety. Key takeaways from their experience included the importance of community engagement, detailed project agreements, and a strategic prioritization process based on operational efficiency and funding opportunities

The discussions of the workshop covered many topics, including H-GAC’s regional safety initiatives, bike and pedestrian plans, Safe Routes to School, and the Regional Rail Crossing Catalogue. The Houston Area Rail Transformation (The HART), created by and working in tandem with The Gulf Coast Rail District (GCRD), also highlighted the region’s unique freight growth challenges and efforts to improve student safety near railroads. The HART, aligning with the goals of the workshop, emphasized collaboration and community building in order to improve and utilize funding for the improvement of South East Texas road and rail infrastructure. 

 Discussions among participants highlighted the need for unity, clear prioritization, and a focus on schools as a unifying message for safety improvements. The Road and Rail Safety workshop brought together many of our region’s leaders of industry, policy, and action, and was able to get in writing their commitment to road safety and mobility. The Road Safety and Mobility pledge (seen to the right) was signed on Day 1 of our workshop, with notable signatures from the Mayor of Houston, John Whitmire and the State Senator of District 6, The Honorable Carol Alvarado. Alongside this pledge, The HART also made made a commitment to work with many of the organizations represented at this workshop to develop an action plan over the next 6-12 months, focusing on finalizing project lists, aligning with regional plans, and advocating for dedicated funding to enhance road and rail safety across the Houston area.

Looking ahead, we are enthusiastic about fostering the collaborative relationships ignited and strengthened during this workshop. The insights shared by the CREATE program, coupled with the commitment solidified through the Road Safety and Mobility pledge and The HART’s action plan, lay a robust foundation for future endeavors. We anticipate continued partnership among all stakeholders as we work diligently over the coming months and years to translate these discussions and commitments into tangible improvements in road and rail infrastructure, ultimately enhancing safety, mobility, and the quality of life for all Texans.