Grand Parkway Report by David Gornet is Wednesday's Program

State Highway 99 (SH 99, the Grand Parkway) is a proposed 180+ mile circumferential scenic highway traversing seven counties and encircling the Greater Houston region. The project has been shown on governmental planning documents since the early 1960's.

Active planning and design of the highway began in the early 1980's with the designation of SH99 from US59S near Sugar Land to US290 near Cypress in 1983 and the creation of the Grand Parkway Association and designation of the entire loop from SH146 in Galveston County near San Leon, around the south, west, north and east sides of metropolitan Houston to SH146 in Harris County near Baytown.

 David Gornet joined the Grand Parkway Association in June 1999, and, as the Executive Director, David is charged with promoting the benefits of the highway to area citizens and with supervising the route and environmental studies necessary to satisfy state and federal agencies. Following these approvals, David works with the state and local governments to secure the right-of-way and funding to construct the project.

Prior to joining the Association, David spent 18 years at the Houston based consulting firm of Turner Collie & Braden, now AECOM, where he was Principal and Project Director for Transportation Planning. It was there that he performed some of the original alignment studies for the Grand Parkway in the early 1980’s. In addition to his Grand Parkway experience, he managed or participated in the planning and environmental studies for I69, the Hardy Toll Road, the Sam Houston Tollway and the Westpark Tollway.

David serves on the HGAC Technical Advisory Committee to the Transportation Policy Council, has served on the HGAC On-Road Task Force to identify strategies to reduce air pollution in the metro area and other transportation related steering or advisory committees for projects throughout the Houston region. He lectured for several years on Transportation Engineering at Rice University for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

David has BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering, is a registered professional engineer in Texas and other states and has practiced in Houston since 1981. He and his wife, Terrie, have lived in Sugar Land since 1991 where they raised their two children and have been active participants in many community, athletic, educational and faith organizations.