good afternoon and welcome to this year's IDM rollout webinar my name is Mary Foster I'm a managing engineer and the office of the city engineer in Houston Public Works responsible for the city's infrastructure design manual standard construction specifications and standard details I want to thank you all for joining us and I hope today's webinar is informative I'd like to thank all of our internal partners within Houston Public Works and the planning department for their participation in this year's review cycle and I'd like to thank all of our external partners for their feedback the results of this collaboration can be seen in the numerous updates made to the standards in addition to presenting the standard changes in today's webinar we'll also be accepting questions we will be taking questions via chat please place your questions in the chat box as the presentation is ongoing we have several presentations today and will'll be allowing time for answering questions at the end of each presentation we have a team that will select the most applicable questions to address any questions we do not get to will be addressed after the webinar and posted online before I get started I'd like to highlight Houston Public Works purpose which is together we create a strong foundation for Houston to thrive and our five to thrive values of respect ownership communication integrity and teamwork all of these values Have Been instrumental in updating this year's standards if you're not familiar with the team's live event environment this slide provides a quick guide select the Q&A icon on the right side of the screen and select the ask a question box near the bottom of the screen to ask your question under the Q&A feature tab you will find all attendee questions under the my questions tab you will find only the questions you've submitted when you type your questions note the IDM chapter and topic to give your question context before I present an overview of the updates made during the 2022 2023 review cycle here is a quick overview of Houston Public Works design and construction standards the city's infrastructure design manual construction specifications and the standard details provide minimum requirements for design and construction of the city's infrastructure that is Opera and maintained by Houston Public Works the IDM specifications and standard details communicate with the city needs and captures lessons learned it's my team's responsibility to lead this effort with the support of various stakeholders within Houston Public Works other City departments and external stakeholders for those of you who may not know the office of the city engineer is tasked with ensuring the city's ordinances design manual and standards are carried out in the city's right of way the city Engineers office sees several hundred sets of plans a week for review so we're in a good position to identify problems within our standards and develop Solutions today's webinar includes multiple presentations from city employees we'll only be touching on the major changes to the standards this agenda is provided in the webinar announcement if you'd like to keep track of the presentations as we progress we'll do our best to follow this schedule so attendees can rely on when a subject matter will be presented I'll start with a quick overview of the review cycle process I'd like to point out that an executive summary was released with this year's IDM it includes a summary of the changes as well as implementation of the changes this can be found at the front of the IDM her current policy each chapter in the IDM will be reviewed at least once in five years the city has a review schedule that is posted on the website the associated standard drawings and instruction specifications are to be reviewed in conjunction with each chapter being reviewed this year's review cycle included chapters 15 through 18 along with the associated construction specifications and details there is a process to address significant issues within our standards outside of the designated review year however care is needed to ensure all stakeholders are informed and changes have been properly vetted a good example of this would be this year's changes to chapters 9 and 10 of the IDM also changes prior to publishing can be made with the use of a supplement the city did not have any supplements this year but has in previous years supplements once properly vetted must be signed by the city engineer and the director once the supplement is signed and put into effect My Team Works to implement these updates and notify the community establishing the website the distribution list and this webinar are all part of setting up effective communication to alert everyone of any changes in the city's standards chapters 9 and 10 were modified off review cycle the reasons for this will be discussed during each presentation section this is the timeline for this year's review process this is a similar process that we followed last year and how we'll continue operating moving forward the cycle follows the city's fiscal year but due to extensive changes this year extended beyond the end of the fiscal year the open comment period began in August the city communicated the opening on the Houston pering Center website comments were compiled summarized and provided to the review cycle committee the committee met over several months and a draft of the standards was created from there we met with external organizations for their input the purpose of these meetings was to vet and coordinate all proposed changes before they were implemented there is no design grace period for impl mentation of the city of Houston's 2023 edition of the IDM for Houston Public Works Capital Improvement projects 60% designs that are submitted for review on or after November 27th 2023 must comply with all standards in the 2023 IDM for projects in the public or private sector plan submitted for initial review on or after November 27th must comply with with all standards in the 2023 IDM the city must receive substantially complete plans before November 27 to be grandfathered under the 2022 standards for additional background refer to the 2023 IDM announcement and IDM executive summary the IDM executive summary is provided at the beginning of the IDM document and gives implementation information for the IDM standard specifications and standard details if applicants have submitted a project before November 27th 2023 and would like to use the 2023 requirements the existing project should be cancelled and a new project submitted revisions may be accepted in lie of cancellations if specific criteria is met this criteria will be posted as an announcement on the HBC website shortly directions on how to cancel plans can be found in the 2023 IDM announcement the members of this year's internal committee are listed here we ask for representatives from each Houston Public Works service line and the planning department these representatives are asked to keep their service line updated during the review Once the city has developed a draft document of all the proposed changes we work with external Partners to gather additional input before we move on let's talk about the website briefly all the items dis discussed today can be found on the city's design and construction standards website an easy way to find the website is by Googling City of Houston design and construction standards and this is what the website looks like next I will be going over the general changes for the 2022 2023 review cycle you can find red lines for all changes online there's also a revision bar in our standards to easily identify Updates this review cycle we have Incorporated change bars on our final documents the change bars are located on the left side of the page to indicate that something has changed to the right of the bar chapters 15 15 through 18 are now organized into sections to help streamline navigation throughout the chapters each title in the table of contents is also hyperlinked to its designated location clicking on any of the links in the table of contents takes you directly to that paragraph figure or table we also continued adding placeholders within the chapter while navigating through pages you can now look to the top left corner to see the paragraph reference of the previous paragraph Without The need to return to the previous page we've added new definitions that were not in the previous version of the IDM also we have come through the chapters in this year's review cycle and assured that only proper nouns and terms are capitalized that concludes our general changes we won't be answering questions at this time but you're welcome to enter your questions in the chat and we'll answer them at the end of the webinar if time allows now nasip Hanah will present on chapters 1 2 3 5 6 12 and 13 thank you Mary good afternoon thank you everyone for attending this webinar my name is nasf Hannah with the design and construction Standard Group and I'll be going over the changes in chapter 1 2 3 5 6 12 and 13 for the 2022 2023 review cycle these chapters that I just mentioned are not officially part of the 2022 2023 review cycle but due to some major changes in other chapters from the review cycle some changes have been made to these chapters in chapter one for General requirements chapter 16 used to be titled miscellaneous then since this chapter is updated to be a standalone communication facility chapter uh three protection requirements PR previously in chapter 16 have been moved from chapter 16 to chapter 1 as you see that section three was added for tree protection as soon and due to adding section three for the tree protection to this chapter references to the city of Houston code of ordinance to the three protection were added in paragraph 1.1.0 2.8 telecommunication facility requirements in chapter 16 were updated as part of the review cycle so telecommunication special data deliverable requirement were updated and added to paragraph 1.2.2 E3 to align with the review cycle update and chapter two for survey requirement due to frequent third party damage to the city to the city's underground infrastructure language was added to clarify in which instances ser survey guideline are required in chapter three for graphic requirements due to change and the new requirement which were added to the telecommunication facility in chapter 16 graphic requirements for telecommunication facility were added to section two of this chapter also Gra traffic requirements for aial utility were also added to a contractors to identify owners of the utilities in chapter five for eement requirement the requirements for Combined storm and sanitary sewers M were mistakenly omitted from the 2022 IDM so these requirements were added in section two of this chapter and chapter six for utility locations explanation for private project were added in which the city requests a quality level a b or c of subsurface utility exploration when underground utility trenchless construction or excavation is performed the the requirement of quality level of subsurface utility exploration are explained as follows if the proposed underground utility has a horizontal or vertical clearance less than what is required in the IDM a quality level a of subsurface utility exploration is required to Grant a variance for utility clearance for Underground trenchless Construction crossing existing public utility within 10 ft vertical distance a quality Level A or B of subservice utility exploration is required to confirm the location of the existing public utility for project excavation equal to 3 ft or deeper a topographical survey equivalent to a quality C of subsurface utility exploration is required in chapter 12 for Street cut requirements again due to the increased instance of third party damage to the City Underground infrastructure requirements for plan and profile for excavation greater than or equal to 3 ft in depth were added in Chapter 13 for G special data deliverable the to follow continuity from update in chapter one G special data deliverable requirements for telecommunication facility were updated and added to section four for or of this chapter that conclude the update on the changes in chapter 1 2 3 5 6 12 and 13 if anyone has any questions on these changes please ask those question on the chat box thank you NF so let me check um before um asking questions from the attendees uh I'm going to ask a few frequently asked questions so the first question is do all utility lines in roadway need to be shown in drawing even if the proposed underground telecommunication facility is not Crossing or close to them yes that is in paragraph 3.2.1 11. a.2 which is specifying that all utility lines located on both side of the roadway must be shown regardless of the location of the proposed telecommunication line relative to the roadway the exception only for this is for the above ground Telecommunication Utility so the underground utility lines are not required to be shown in this case thank you next question uh do driveway projects require subsurface utility exploration no driveway project do not require this uh is a subsurface utility exploration quality level a required if the proposed utility is parallel to the existing utility yes a quality level is required at intervals of every 500 ft within the limit where there is less than sufficient horizontal clearance as indicated by the quality level B C or D thank you um what is required to be provided on a uh softs surface utility exploration level a report a precise horizontal and vertical location of utilities obtained by actual exposure is required a brief explanation of Level A of subsurface utility exploration is provided as mentioned on chapter six also subsurface utility exploration deliverable uh requ requirements for telecommunication facility can be found in chapter 16 okay another question why are uh subsurface utility Explorations being enforced by the city now as I mentioned that the City Underground infrastructure has been damaged by third party contractors who are installing private Utilities in the right way and Houston water has had numerous damages in the water lines so they have requested to add subservice utility exploration in the IDM to protect our infrastructure okay uh how do we submit a sue report to the city sub subsurface utility exploration report will be submitt subed with plans in the document folder during the plan review process or with varience requests whenever required thank you NF I think we haven't uh received any questions from public let me check so there's one question here uh are the surface features showing in the construction drawings required to be shown with a high special accuracy GPS or survey for example manholes hydrant Outlet Mary is there something you want to respond or Gilbert you know in order to provide a complete response I want to check back with the team um we'll provide the response and the Q&A that will be posted on the website after the webinar okay thank you so uh thank you Mary and thank you nosf uh our next presenter is Mr otam Berto from Office of city engineer so otam will present changes made to chapter nine storm water design and water quality requirements thank you Sahar good afternoon my name is utam burel supervising engineer with storm water group group thank you for the introduction and thank you everyone for attending today's webinar I will be presenting to everyone the changes to the requirements in chapter nine of the IDM the changes and updates are mainly focused on detention volume calculations for residential projects moving on to the next one so this slide talks about the a summary of the major changes you will see in chapter nine the changes and updates are related to the detention portion of the Strom s designed for residential projects three detention tables are created in IDM 2023 to simplify the detention volume calculations we will be discussing the major changes regarding these tables in next few slides going on to the next one all all here we will be talking about the detention volume calculations which are now presented in tabular forms to make it clear and easier for our customers new updates are highlighted on your screen I will now talk about these updates which are highlighted uh in your screen the first table we call as table 9.3 has been created for detention volume calculations for a track containing only one single family residential home this table cannot be used if the replat shows multiple Lots so this table is intended if there is a track which shows only one lots and a homeowner is trying to build only one single family house the first two rows in this table are existing detention requirements these rows are for tracks with one single family home up to 15,000 Square fet track size the third and fourth rows in table 9.3 are the new addition from IDM 2022 now one single family home on a track over 15,000 square feet will also receive detention exemption up to 9750 square fet of total imperious area which means if a homeowner is trying to build a house in a track which is still above 15,000 square fet detention is not required up to the total impervious area which is up to 9750 Square ft we only will be asking detention for impervious area which is in excess of 9750 Square ft the definition of total impervious area has been added to provide clarity now total improv area we Define as existing plus proposed in previous area so 9750 will imply to existing plus proposed in previous area going on to the next one here we talk we will talk about table 9.4 the second table 9.4 is for tracks with single family residential developments with direct drive access joint access shared access Courtyard access drive or multi-unit residential development this table is used for tracks containing multiple Lots the first two rows are existing detention requirements these rows are for tracks up to 15,000 square ft the third and fourth rows are for the tracks within 15,000 square ft and one acre these tracks will receive a proportionality divided 9750 Square ft of detention exemption if a total impervious area is above 9750 Square ft then detention is required at a 0.75 acre feet per acre rate in other words let's say if there is a track with two lots so 9750 Square ft of impervious credit should be splitted between these two lots and detention will be credited up to 97 50 for each Lots after they are splitted equally in this example which I just gave it to you the last row shows the any track at or over one acre requires detention for all proposed in previous areas the requirements and rat rates are listed in table 9.5 here I will talk about the major updates that are called out under the note section for table 9.4 as per IDM 2023 any project that is based on table 9.4 all the Lots within the track must have a Shear out fall so this is the new edition which will be uh applicable for projects implementing table 9.4 a minimum of 24 in RCP shared connection is required with a separate plan and profile project submitted to office of city engineer for strong outfall approval so 24 in RCP is an standard outfall connection but we have added alternative out outfall options for track up to 15,000 square ft so a a Texas licensed PE is required to justify using a 4in connection via curve and 12 in to road side dit this options is only available if if the curve or dit is directly fronting these developments so in other words let's say for track up to 15,000 square ft we won't ask for plan and profile as long as a Texas p is will be verifying using a 4 in and 12 in connection to roadside days a public alley created with a recorded PL before January 1st 2023 is exempt from detention exemp uh requirements so this is the last table which is table 9.5 is the tabulated version of commercial project requirements for detention any projects not subjected to table 9.3 and table 9.4 will Implement table 9.5 the requirements in this table are the same requirements based on the 2022 IDM for commercial projects so this this table is will be implied for all projects not subjected to table 9.3 and 9.4 uh in other words we say we do for our commercial projects so the commercial requirements has not been changed it is still the same from IDM 2022 um the proposed percent improv is the proposed impervious area over Disturbed area this part has been added to provide Clarity uh to our customers when they are trying to come up with percent in previous so this concludes the summary of changes to chapter 9 in the IDM 2023 um we are now open to any questions you all have thank you Tom uh before asking the questions from the attendees I'm going to go over a few of the frequently asked questions we have a frequently Asked question of can my sfr property under 15,000 sare fet still be Na by the storm Department with the new uh 2023 IDM yes yes um a a project under 15,000 square feet can be anate uh with the Project's falling table 9.3 uh in other words you know they need to still be less than 65% previous and track size should be still less than 15,000 square ft another one is does my sfr property over 15,000 square ft need to have a storm review given my total imp purose area is below 9750 square feet Yes um the requirements in IDM 20123 is mainly focused on detention requirements only other components of drainage design is is still required and has to be reviewed by Strom department and then we have will the commercial project get the detention exemption provided under table 9.3 and 9.4 no like I said earlier in my uh presentation slide so the detention exemption are only for the residential projects for commercial projects at this time the requirements uh are still the same from idm2 22 so uh you know the requirements for detention will be still the same and there is no any exemption at this time okay those are the frequently asked questions I will go uh double check the chat to make sure there are no other questions from the public okay it seems like we have one here utam will credit be granted for existing impervious cover when redeveloping a site the person asked this because they couldn't read the chart okay so uh this is a very important questions at this time and our management is currently working on this part so I don't have answer to give to our customer we will get back to our customer once we have the answer um all of our customers are you know welcome to send us an email um you know to our stom department or reach out to myself or my team if they have any questions okay um we do have another question here utam and they asked uh so attract over 15,000 square fet with existing impervious over 9750 Square F feet uh that will be adding a room uh will will that need to detain only what is being disturbed resulting on imp impervious cover yes that's true so for a project let's say the existing impious uh for a residential project is already above 9750 Square ft in that case we will be only asking detention for the proposed impervious area so our customers should be focused on proposed scope of work which is uh any proposed impervious at that time only will require detention okay I believe we have another question here if my shared Access Project is using the alternative outfall option do I still need a catch Basin under the access driveway yes this is very good question actually um so alternative outfall options all of our customers should uh should be aware this is only available up to 15,000 square fet of track size so um the idea here is um you know a Texas licensed PE has to do the outfall analysis to show 4 in pipe in front of Government gter Street or 12 in schedule 405 in front of roadside dit street is still capable to hold the runoff uh discharge coming out of the proposed development so yes uh the the good way of doing it is to do a catch Bing just inside the private property next to the outfall and release it with the help of 4in schedule 40 pipe if it is fronting the carbon G Street otherwise do 12 in schedule 45 if it is fronting the roadside dit stet okay we have another question here Tom will table 9.3 be affected if there are two Sr F sfrs instead of one and a track greater than 15,000 square F feet so um so po table 9.3 clearly says in the title it is imply it is applicable only when there is one single family house when the question says when when a customer is trying to do single family house so it will automatically will be reviewed under table 9.4 so all the requirements stated for table 9.4 and the notes uh applicable for table 9.4 will be used to review the project okay we have another question here where would the project fall when it comes to providing detention if any for a property being replat into individual lots for sfr uh can you repeat the question please sure uh they asked where would a project fall when it comes to providing detention if any for a property being replatted into individual lots for sfr okay like I said you know the first table 9.3 is only applicable when there is no replat or when the when the plat only shows one lot or it has not been splitted into multiple Lots so table 9.3 is only for a criteria where a homeowner is trying to build one house so the plat or replat shows only one property without without you know multiple Lots within that track now when it comes to you know multiple uh Lots within the track um it should automatically go under will be reviewed under table 9.4 so 9.4 means a SE outfall is required a detention exemption up to 9750 Square ft is allowed for single family residential property with direct driveway access which we also call front loader shared access joint access there are two new kind of uh developments being uh proposed in IDM at this time um we can get more information in code of ordinance chapter 42 as well there are multi-unit residential and Courtyard style development so all these projects will be viewed under table 9.4 so the the simpler way of understanding this is if your replat or the plat shows multiple Lots multiple means more than one automatically table 9.4 has to be used to uh to design and submit the project to CD of Houston okay there is a couple more questions you Tom uh one of them is is the alternative outfall pipe size fixed to 4 in and 12 in sizes or other sizes between 4 in minimum to 12in Max can be analyzed so this is very good question so um at this time we only have provided two pipe sizes you know these are again um some part was uh adapted from IDM 2022 so 4in schedule 40 pipe we have been us we have been allow allowing our customer with single family residential development fronting curve and cut the key is these development should front these Strom SE are in front of it 4 in is always designed uh when there is carbon gutter Street 12 in schedule 40 pipe is uh designed when there is roadside ditch fronting this property okay the next question is if my shared aess project is using the alternative outfall option do I still need a catch B oh I think that one was already asked right yes yes okay the next one is Will adding impervious cover over existing impervious cover trigger detention so at this time um uh like I said earlier you know our management is working towards uh this particular topic based on current manual yes uh you know uh detention is required because we go based on Disturbed area resulting in in previous cover when saying this um I'd like to you know wait for that answer once we have the answers from our management we will get to our customers to relay this information thank you um for sfr projects needing detention and we choose um to do a Swale for detention what will be the minimum offset from the lot line so uh these are Project Specific uh questions I would say you know refer to our IDM uh chapter nine uh if there uh I can my team or myself we can go into details and reply that questions thank you okay we have another question here can a swill be used for table 9.4 if we are under the 65% exemption um so now when you are uh below 65% uh it means uh indirect indirectly you uh it means you you don't require detention so soil can be used as a method of conveying runoff from your you know down spots from your property all the way to the you know right of way and connect through 4 in or schedule 40 pipe yes it can be used he it seems like at this time there aren't any uh questions in the chat and if some come up later on we can answer that later but thank you Tom um our next next presenter is Mr Ahmed G from Office of the city engineer traffic mobility and the rideway group Ahmed will be presenting the changes made to chapter 10 the street Paving and designment design requirements Amed I'm not sure if your uh mic is muted or not okay yes okay good afternoon everyone thank you for joining us today today I will share with you a small uh changes in chapter 10 EV of cycle chapter regarding two items first item is the alleys and the second item is the street street Widing I'll start with the alleys uh start with the know confirming that the Al is part of the right of way owned and managed by the city and alies either um private maintained Alys or uh City maintained Alys there is is a list on line for the list of the alleys maintained by the city and today the just the changes are coming to the private maintained Alys for uh um City maintained alleys the they are allowed to be used by either commercial or residential access if there is any Improvement proposed for uh res for City maintained alleys it must be following the city street standards the changes coming for the private Alys private maintained Alys are allowed only for uh commercial commercial uh for residential use not for commercial use and the in the past we were asking for plan proile if you are proposing any Improvement in the private maintained a would like to make make it easy on the residents and applicants instead of plan and profile now we ask for cross-section every 20 ft to show to show us the certain uh the surface surface uh elevations and to make sure that the stor mod water will be going in the right uh Direction however any Improvement must follow the requirements for chapter for chapter 9 of the manual if there is any um proposed underground utilities we will ask for planner profile in both cases will be signed and sealed by a professional uh uh engineer registered in the state of uh Texas new alleys talk about the exacting alleys either privately maintained or uh City maintained for all new Alys regardless it must be following uh the city uh standards for Street design and also it must follow requirements in chapter 10 of the manual regarding storm water drainage and it must have plan and profile for the Street the other the second item which changes also in chapter 10 is the street street wiing and the pass we all request to wide the street if it's shared driveway for multi-unit development now we ask to IDE the street regardless it's a shi driveway or front loader driveways for multiunits however there's some requirements that trade is much easier right now now if it's the residential development is less than 15,000 ft we will not ask you to wide in the street and or if the frontage of the lot is less than 25% of the entire length of the block will not ask you to hide in the street I think that would make much much easier so these two items are small items in chapter 10 to clarify the usage of the alleys for Access as access points and uh changes in the requirements for street wiing so I'm here to answer any question you may have thank you very much Ahmed before answering questions from the attendees I'm going to ask a few frequently asked questions so the first question is are no parking signs required for Streets between 18 and 19 ft in width yes this would be requirement yes okay another question with the new changes can we still apply for variances sure we're always open to receive variances and as I said the IDM like rep that it's just guidelines and we will always deal with variances however just variance if it has uh technical justification are very open for it and discuss it but just please make sure you know sure that the variance is not based in cost or Finance okay next question is the OC plan and profile required for new Ali access for the new ones yes new ones must follow the street requirements and yes it must uh submit plan and profile signed and sealed by a registered professional engineer in the state of T good so I haven't received any question from public is there anything you want to add I mean major things about this chapter the changes made to this chapter no just the the two because I said it's a chapter 10 of cycle so that's the two things uh we thought that would be very important to add in this uh update okay thank you Ahmed thank you uh changes made to chapter 15 uh traffic and Signal design requirements will be presented in three parts the first part will be presented by Mr Ian lavachek from multimodal safety and design Branch good afternoon everybody and thank you Sahar um so yes I will be presenting some of the changes in chapter 15 traffic and Signal design requirements you'll hear again from ammed gayy talk a little bit about a little some driveway issues in and Abdul razak will join us near the end to talk about some signal timing changes so we're doing a a team effort on this [Music] chapter um so I will start with a few of our early parts of chapter 15 um chapter 15 if you will recollect deals with most of the traffic related issues in the IDM this could be traffic studies uh this could be traffic counts it could be traffic impact analyses it also deals with very specific traffic infrastructure such as signage um traffic signals traffic control plans so I'll be talking mostly about um some of the study um information that we're looking at and before I get into the details I wanted to give an overview of some of the general changes that we're making the first change is just a terminology change previously in our traffic engineering um um reports we referred to level of service uh what what we always meant by that was the vehicle level of service um and so we're just clarifying that now we're also understanding based on National best practice that there are other modes of transportation that we value as well and so we want to clarify that vehicle level service is not the only level of service that we worry about but it will remain an important an important one um and the definition of that does not change it's still the same level of service just now you'll see a lot more of these V's for the vehicle level of service generally we also have you'll see a few more changes throughout the chapter that we won't talk about in detail here some rearrangements of the sections U just for readability legibility and for clarification uh we're hoping to make the the whole IDM um clearer and clearer every iteration and I think that's what you'll see in some of these changes hopefully there is one brand new concept um that we'll be introducing today today um we are calling this multimetal service standards um what this is these are not actually any new standards these are just a framework for understanding how priorities are set on the streets um these will help um where there might have been gray areas in the past about tradeoffs these will help U make those decisions more clear um hopefully cutting down on review times um and and helping everybody along the way so there's not lots of B back and forth um so and I said these are not new standards they are um I got a couple pictures on this slide and the next um kind of highlighting some of the elements that we are now um giving guidance for when we want to see things like different pedestrian real elements different kinds of bike facilities uh multimodal service standards are prepared for both corridors and at intersections they're basically two different sets with two different expectations and those those two different tables for corridors and intersections have are much more attuned to the scope of the project so these will impact anything that impacts the public RightWay which will in include of course development projects um also large scale Capital Improvement projects what we really tried to do is give the guidance in a way that is very tied in with the scope of the project all of these U service standards are um intended to be um in the public RightWay that is a point of emphasis for the IDM we this is a right a public RightWay manual we're not looking for making any changes on private property through the IDM although we do reference code of ordinances from time to time but from this section these will be public rightaway impacts and I I've listed them all out here these are the kinds of things that are included in multimodal service standards um these are things like pedestrian realm everything behind the curb where uh people walk but also where their utility where we have a lot of needs for that space um including things like sidewalks bike facilities bus stops curb ramps we want to look more carefully at intersection quarter radi and features called curb extensions that we'll talk a little bit more about in chapter 17 we'll also be looking for help um on pavement markings pedestrian push buttons at signal uh signals pedestrian signal heads bicycle signal heads and pedestrian signal timing um we we are trying to be very clear about the scope um that we are expecting for every project and so the tables that are provided in this T the chapter now are very nuanced we don't provide them all here um but the the intent is that um we are we are working with projects that are already working within the public RightWay and helping give guidance for what to construct in the public RightWay that's aligned with the scope of the project we're not looking at adding any costs here this is more about helping set prior ities for costs that have already been um um assumed for a project the implementation of multimodal service standards uh has has propagated through to other parts of this chapter um we have this will be a relatively um this will be a a change that might be unexpected um so on the left this is our for our traffic impact analyses we have the the older table that was much more of a a clear designation for level of service or what we're now calling vehicle level of service that's what's on the left where if you had you we would have as um ask you to look at the level of service vehicle level service for existing conditions background project projected and mitigation and we would give you very specific requirements for what vehicle level service to mitigate back to we still largely follow that um but now our new flowchart that's shown on the right um was is hopefully providing a little bit more Nuance I won't go into the details today but basically it has the same general requirements for vehicle level of service that existed previously but it gives other ways of um um um mitigating um in in ways that we find AC acceptable building on the multimodal service standards um hopefully this will allow us to really think through um um what are the improvements that we need to ask for um to to handle the demand placed on our our public infrastructure by private developments in a in a very nuanced fashion um so I that's a very brief overview there's a lot more information in the chapter with a lot more specifics and we understand um that that the details here really do matter and so we do want to offer a separate webinar where we will go into detail for these multimodal service standards and how they apply for lots of different kinds of projects developments intersection projects um how we're thinking about that and how we think that these can be a tool for the success of your project that webinar will be on April 17th um you can register here um and you can also scan the QR code there I'll hold here just for a second um and we'll try to also get this known um in other another um forums as well but we'll really try to get some some examples here to show people about what kind of documentation we're looking for um and and really try to make your project as successful as possible so in addition to um that effort we have rethought through our section that was previously called traffic engineering study for design we are now calling it traffic and design studies this is a section that we did not find to be very largely used uh previously and it provided a lot of a lot of confusion and a lot of back and forth what we've really tried to do here is be very specific for the kinds of documentation that we need um to make sure a project is successful so whenever we're doing things like Building New Roads or changing the traffic control like adding signals or stop signs or changing roadway configurations by adding a removing Lanes we like to document document all of that fully um um and and and document it in a way that we can communicate to lots of stakeholders and do public engagement so we are we have dramatically en enhanced this section um and given a lot more guidance for when these kinds of studies will be useful I'll note that it does complement but does not supersede a traffic impact analysis so this should be our hope is that this is fully compatible with the Tia process for private developments um Tia some of the studies in here will be useful for private developments we've we've added emphasis for safety and crash analyses for a lot of our studies and again we're trying to ensure that project decisions are fully documented um for for the longevity of the project the way we have thought through this section is we have defined a series of project Scopes which I've shown on the left and then we have a lot of interchangeable study modules shown on the right and we have very clear guidance in the chapter for how to link these together um but the first step would be to identify your project scope um so if this is a roadway corridor construction project intersection construction if it's traffic signals pedestrian Crossings bike Lanes or safety studies we Define what each of those mean and then each of those will have their own requirements for the different modules that are shown on the right so and we Define what would go into those modules safety analysis Corridor and access management analysis intersection design and traffic control analysis intersection vehicle level of service analysis pedestrian Crossing analysis and traffic signal warrant analysis uh most of these kinds documentations and studies were previously required but we're much more clear about when they are required now and how to use them a few more minor changes in chapter 15 before I pass it on to ammed uh we have a little more guidance for the kinds of information we're looking for for traffic volumes and traffic counts are um these are this is the section that defines what kind of data we are looking for at the city to approve different kinds of studies and uh we've been using 13-hour turning movement counts at intersections um these have gotten a lot more affordable and with this gives us it allows us to look at the am hours peak hours PM peak hours um and um noon peak hours and off peak hours we like to also include pedestrian bicycle because that um that influences a lot of our different studies in the study module and then for most of our our urban city we are finding that the traffic growth rates are are not nearly as high as they are in the Greenfield Suburban areas which I think feels reasonable we're finding it at most most of our billout areas have a have a growth rate of about 1 to two% per year in a lot of areas it's a lot less than that and when we really like to to to push to that level of understanding what the growth actually is in an area so we provided a little guidance on that we've added a little bit bit of guidance for our blue tiles in town these are the street address tiles that you'll see in a lot of the older parts of town um they are beloved by the community and they're they're useful um for actually wayfinding as well and so we what we've done in this chapter provided guidance for how we expect them to be maintained and preserved and a coordination uh process to follow when these are encountered and might be impacted by a construction project and we have included a little bit of language in chapter 15 um in our section for um traffic control plans for pedestrian bicycle and Transit facilities um we have a lot more details about how pedestrians Transit and bicyclist are can be detoured in chapter 17 and I'll talk about that a little bit later but we're trying to get that unified throughout our IDM and that's it for me thank you very much just a reminder uh thank you Ian just a reminder if anyone has any questions please ask those questions in the chat box we will be responding to those questions at the end of the chapter 15 portion of the presentation and as Ian mentioned our next presenter is Mr Amed Gali from the office of city engineer and Amed will continue to discuss the updates made to chapter 15 good afternoon again and uh just this portion of chapter 15 I'm going to talk about it today it's reflection of the changes in chapter 42 of the ordinance as all of us aware there are so many changes in chapter 42 and including some driveways and that I'm going to speak with you today about in the P till you know 2020 2023 we had only two categories either residential or commercial driveways as uh chapter 42 changes we they added a new category now we have category a b and c a represents the uh single family residential driveway C is a commercial as used to be now we have the new categor is type B type B is reflects the whatever they are coming up with right now in our leag in the planning department for M or multi-unit residential developments and table 15.6 it USS to be just two uh portion in the past now we added inserted the type B in the middle right now type A doesn't have much changes except the width of the driveway went down from 12 uh 12 ft 12 ft the width as minimum to 10 and maximum is to be uh 24 and still 24 as it is um chapter I'm sorry category C is stay the same there's no changes there for category b as you see right now the table in front of you that it has its own Dimensions as well but it still have the minimum and maximum radius for safety for the tning vehicles and this uh figure coming from chapter 42 the liveable places uh please visit it and read about it and it's different configurations where category V will be applicable for multi-units this table also has been modified for the so three main variables three three variables that uh changing for type a distance from the right of way if it's cornal not stay the same is 20 and uh maximum number of driveways will be two driveways maximum for any single family home for type B the distance from the r of way will be uh it depends on the side the how many Lots on the development if it's less less than 20 the minimum distance from the right of will be 30 and the if it's more than 20 Lots as you see it will be 40 however there is no uh maximum number of driveways so to make sure that you have sufficient and efficient inner circulation for the development and still the minimum radius for uh for the curb is 4 feet it's one really he uh highlighted comment as you see below there that no gravel no sand no braks no alternative material except new saw around the junction box in the open space in thetive way one of the benefit from this not allow any other material except s just to prevent any parking in the right of way what we call it the parking p for uh category uh c as see for the the commercial dve we placement if you have the distance uh from the property line for the commercial as in the past it was one table would change it and the column d for commercial if you only have one driveway the minimum spacing should be not applicable in the past we had it as T just 40 ft so we fixed in this uh update please just you know I'm asking you kindly please go back and read the chapter 42 there's a lot of changes and I'm sure there will be some questions come up and uh I will ask you kindly please bear with us that's a new requirements everyone we need learning curve to apply it and uh at the end I would say yes we are open for variances and like always do and uh variances should be based on technical reasons only not cost anything and we'll work with you as you always do thank you now I will hand it to our colleague and star Mr abdah I'm the thank you Amed uh just want to reiterate again if anyone has any questions please type it in the chat box and they will be discussed at the end of the chapter 15 presentation as ahed said our next presenter is Mr maen Abdul razak from Houston TranStar Mazen will be presenting the changes made to traffic signal requirements in chapter 15 thank you Jose good afternoon everyone and thank you for giving us the opportunity to go over the changes in the 2022 20 23 infrastructure design manual um review Cycles as it relates to traffic signal there are four traffic signal related items that had some changes in them this uh review cycle the first uh the first item is the left turn phasing guidelines the left turn phasing analysis requirement in itself have not really changed and remained the same as those in the 2017 IDM Edition what we changed was the method of evaluation the left turn operation the new method follows the traffic signal timing manual second edition guidelines it is in a flowchart format which is very easy to follow for both the design engineers and the city reviewers the second item uh is detection the city of Houston is reintroducing the video detection as known as vivids to replace the wireless mag magnetometers we have about 400 intersection signalized intersection that we implemented Wireless magnetometers and uh we're having some issue with them so the the wireless magnetometers technology did not really deliver what it had promised we have experienced several issues with this technology such as failing batteries lack of accuracy in volume and occupancy counts and other issues such as interference and design uh uh I mean signal strength in addition to that video detection technology has made remarkable advances in the recent years and has proven to be very effective especially in detecting bicycles the third uh item I have to discuss here today is the leading pedestrian and leading bike intervals as part of the city of Houston uh Vision zero and to introduce more safety measure to Road user such as pedestrian and cyclist a leading pedestrian and a leading bike intervals are required now in areas where we have high crashes and in areas where we have high volume of pedestrian and cyclist the last item that so changes in the IDM in this uh review cycle is the fiber optic cable as we all know the fiber optic cable network in the city of Houston is very limited and order for us to expand that we introduce a couple of things here the first one is that uh we require the uh fiber optic cable to extend if there is a fiber optic cable within 1500 ft of the uh signalized intersection whether it's a new signalized intersection or it's a signalized intersection that's being updated and upgraded the second uh item is the if there is a fiber optic cable exists within one signalized intersection so if we are building or upgrading an exist distant signalized intersection or we actually uh installing a new signal and the next intersection actually is run on fiber that fiber cable has to extend to this signalized intersection with with complete regard to distances so it doesn't matter within 1500 ft or 5,000 ft we ask that this cable is extended to the intersection so this conclude the traffic signal portion and I believe leave the entire chapter 15 uh review cycles and changes done we would be happy to answer any questions if you have any questions pleas uh leave those uh questions in the chat box once again thank you for giving us the opportunity to share this information with you thank you maen before answering questions from the attendees I'm going to ask a few frequently asked questions uh Ian Amed or Mazen if either one of you feel comfortable asking answering these frequently asked questions please do so um one one of the questions is is a circular driveway allowed for single family homes H I think that touches on driveways you want to handle that one well is hman might be having temp difficulty yes circular yes yes uhan I can my mic go ahead please again um you hear me yes we can hear you but the question was is circular driveways allowed for single family homes yes yes it is another question is are parking pads allowed in the rideway No No actually no another one is is gravel allowed for temporary driveway approaches for plan review a gravel for temporary yes we can we can we allowed yes another question is does the new changes apply for remove and replace driveways in kind and what is the minimum driveway width allowed yes it should applicable for rep uh in kind and what is the second part of the question what is the minimum driveway width allowed H 10 ft just I go for the gravel it depends you know temporary what the definition of temporary driveway that depends on it if you can gravel or not sometimes we allow a gravel and uh if it's for very short term for certain purposes otherwise the approach must must be concrete or asphal next question is is the 8ft cover distance between driveways within the same lot still allowed for duplexes the eight again what the 8 ft one is the 8T covert distance between driveways within the same lot still allowed for duplexes it's the same lot we go go the the the the table right now the minimum distance between two driveways the minimum is 10 ft for oneway system for residential so if you apply this requirement as the table 8 ft should not be allowed but for different Lots yes thank youed we're gon to uh be going through some of the questions that the public has asked and one of the questions is is the past temporary Bots dots are placed during construction in a way that was dangerous for uh ped pedoc cyclists has that been addressed I I can take that I think what the request was referring to are temporary raised pavement markers that are installed as part of TR traffic control during construction we do not specifically handle that we do believe that that that that is not widely used and may have been installed inadvertently in the past another question is what is the Horizon year for the road reconstruction project for traffic study it's a good question it'll depend on a couple of different things if if the road project comes in through a development project all of that study year will be defined in the in the Tia process for buildout if it's part of a bigger roadway project that's coordinated with the city that'll go through our process called a design concept report and that has a lot of internal coordination um it's a little outside the scope of what we're talking about here um but but that'll be a determined um collaboratively with um City representation okay the next question is if a TIA identifies multimodal or safety improvements needed based on existing conditions who will be responsible for the cost of these improvements it depends on on a lot of things I think that's where our um our training might be come in handy generally speaking we are handling this the same way as if a tiia requires a new traffic signal or other major or other improvements to an intersection if the new requirements require these multimodal um kinds of improvements they will be included at the same way someone has posted uh hello perhaps my question is out of the scope about bus lanes have you studied the case of central busways with the bus running Contra flow the solution implemented in chav Chavez Avenue [Music] in uh bissi uh with many advantages it Al it allows also to implement easier bus priorities at traffic lights it could be an interesting example for Wester road yeah good question I'm GNA have to look into that I think what we're talking about here I think you're right is outside of the particular scope of here that actually might fall more within our our metropol Metropolitan Transit Agency who leads the design of Transit ways we work collaboratively with them but we do not Define the standards for them um one more question we ask before we move on will 13-hour tmc's be required at all study intersections or on only major intersections they're intended to be collected um this is the there's no additional requirements for Atty movement counts this is just where previously Atty movement counts were already required um we are now just requiring them to be 13 hour instead of just peak hour so this is not we're not expanding the scope or number of places where try movement account would be required uh thank you Ian Mazen and Amed uh I just want to reiterate if we didn't get to your questions right now we will be answering them uh later on but for right now our next presenter is Mr Gilbert pello from the office of city engineer water and waste tell telecommunications permits and plan review uh Gilbert will be presenting changes made to chapter 16 good afternoon uh thank you for the introduction Jose I would like to thank everyone who worked together to complete all these revisions um I will be I will be briefing everyone on the changes to chapter 16 pertaining to communication facilities one of the first major changes to chapter 16 is the title has been changed to communication facility requirements the previous title was miscellaneous this chapter is for requirements related to telecommunications and the title communication facility is a broader term that this chapter aims to govern all other miscellaneous items were moved out from this chapter to other sections in the IDM to improve organization I will cover some of those later this afternoon beginning with the table of contents this chapter is divided into two main sections the first section is an overview of communication facilities which includes references and definitions and the second section explains more of the technical aspects for communication facilities which include design requirements submittal and quality assurance many details in this chapter are new or have been changed clarified or expanded these include criteria defining a communication facility article references definitions General requirements expansion or KN requirements submittal requirements of drawings analysis and Sue deliverables and quality assurance the first section defines the criteria of what is considered a communication facility in the public right of way as a result some of these items have been move out of this chapter such as tree protection to chapter one residential subdivision markers and Sky Bridges to chapter 18 with this change chapter 16 has an improved structure and focus on telecommunications the criteria to be a communication facility was modified to include Wireless or radio cable and wir line facilities ground equipment and poles article references have been compiled and expanded under Section 16.10 2 previously a few references were made and Scattered Throughout the chapter the list includes governing articles revolving around safety structural design and deployment of communication facilities such as ashto the American Association of State Highway and transportation officials city ordinances International building codes and Associated City amendments and Texas local government and utility codes to prevent conflict between this chapter and applicable regulations it is necessary to reference city state and standard codes that govern communication facilities many terms have been defined in Section 16.10 3 to be clear on what communication facilities include the section was expanded to prevent a conflict between our infrastructure design manual and definitions from the Texas local government code the second section of this chapter is on communication facility General requirements some sections in 16. 2.0 1.a emphasize specific compliance with federal state and local requirements such as Texas codes 283 and 284 chapter 40 of the city of Houston ordinance and the Americans with Disabilities Act Section 16.2018 3 tells us what communication facilities need to be marked with this is necessary in case the facilitating owner needs to be contacted by the city section 16.2018 point8 ensures efficiency of its devices and prevents bad effects on our traffic signals when non-ra TR related devices are mounted to City infrastructure it is also noted that approved non-traffic devices attached to City infrastructure may be removed in the future if it interferes with its or traffic signal Communications clearances for at ground or above ground equipment have been made more clear in section 16.2018 point9 this is to the distinguish requirements from underground facilities if equipment is placed in a curb and gutter roadway at least 2 feet clearance behind the curb is required but if a roadway has a ditch no at or above ground equipment is allowed within the ditch or between the ditch and the edge of the pavement this requirement keeps protruding equipment away from the roadway and closer to the rway line the driveway intersection clearances are similar as before but specific particularly mentioned for polls and cabinets several other requirements on at or above ground communication facilities have been added to protect vehicular traffic and Public Safety such as such as um node and repeater installations that require at least a 250 foot radius from the traffic signals or its devices if this isn't met a zero interference study and variance must be submitted to the city Engineer's Office a clearance of 1T from the edge of the sidewalk and prohibiting facilities installed on Main Street placement of poles and cabinets installed on property lines in residential areas and on shared property lines that intersect with the public right away in non-residential areas and finally prohibiting obstructing signs its devices and pole penetration within the public right of way next node network node attachments to pools have established elevation requirements to protect public and vehicular traffic as such they must be installed at least 12et above ground if facing toward the street then at least 18 point ft above ground to the bottom of the node is required ground equipment can cause damages to public city utilities and have certain aesthetic conflicts for this reason section 16.2 01e lays out some considerations for ground equipment placement such as being least intrusive and outside of visibility triangles for safer traffic being a neutral color and material compatible with surrounding structures not being within a park or within 250 feet of a park boundary without approval and to minimize density um in the cases where existing ground equipment occupies 25 feet or more square feet and is within 30050 feet 300 feet of a proposed location the city may deny approval of that in section 16.2018 additional requirements for node support or repeater plls were added to meet aesthetic requirements and prevent damage to City infrastructure as such clear Zone requirements for polls include that no wooden pools with uh should be located within the Zone new or substitution poles are required to be Breakaway poles weighing less than 992 pounds as described in ashro specifications po aesthetic requirements include blending in with surrounding poles by matching their style and color if if a pole is within a design or historic district it must meet their requirements if pole types inconsistent with height or color are to be within 1,000 foot radius of each other then City approval is required uh prior to submitting plans to the city Engineer's Office continuing with node support or repeater pole requirements additional requirements were added to be more straightforward if a if a ride of way is more than 50 feet wide and has a commercial side the pole needs to be placed on that side the poles need to be at a minimum 15 ft away from pedestrian ramps and 10t away from nearby driveway replacement or reinforcement of poles will be replaced by providers if it's structurally inadequate and the city prefers utility polls and city-owned service poles to be used for supporting installations the next section added was for Network pole load analysis as some polls may not be safe to support new devices for this reason requirements of section 16.2018 have been added to Define criteria for design analysis of polls supporting proposed devices an analysis may be done in accordance with IBC asro or other relevant codes but you must take the following into consideration um the structural elements for the poll such as the base plate and concrete foundation and wind speed an analysis report must be provided with a summary this will verify that all structural elements and dimensions of the pole are adequate to withstand loads stresses and fatigue at a minimum another section added to chapter 16 was underground facilities section 16.2018 also uh you must provide four feet horizontal clearance from nearby utilities and now 3 feet vertical clearance for crossing utilities it was originally two feet vertical clearance in previous editions these changes have been made to verify all existing utilities underground and to address utility damage concerns that our utility operators have been dealing with our operators have had over 600 combined cases where telecom companies have hit our public infrastructure causing delays in service ACC to the public and costly repairs section 16.20 2 provides requirements for submissions such as drawings in order to ensure the quality of the projects being approved meets those standards depending on the project type a poll load analysis or Sue report may be required the deliverables are listed under each submittal category finally Section 16.20 3 has been added for for Reliable quality assurance all reports and drawings will need to be signed by a licensed professional engineer in the state of Texas the city May perform visual inspections of any of the equipment located in the public rideway at any time that concludes the information on chapter 16 changes for communication facilities in the 2023 edition of the IDM thank you all so much for your time today if anyone has any questions on this chapter please ask those questions in the um thank you Gilbert so let's uh ask a few um frequently asked questions so the first one is uh where can we find the other miscellaneous requirements that were previously in this chapter great question Sahar um other miscellaneous requirements were moved to different chapters as mentioned previously um encroachment requirements in this chapter will move to a brand new chapter which will be covered later this afternoon and tree protection requirements we moved to chapter 1 good the next question is uh why is the vertical clearance requirement Tre fit now well um as I mentioned earlier uh this was proposed as a result of several Telecom conduits hitting our existing infrastructure like water lines and so we've had over 600 combined cases in the last few years of those you thank you uh what if uh this design criteria conflicts with state requirements well that that's very good question um the chapter this chapter was vetted uh to ensure that it didn't conflict with any existing codes but under certain uh government under certain Provisions um in the state code and municipality which in this cases the city is allowed to create its own design requirements and that's what we intend to do with this chapter great thank you Gilbert so I haven't received any questions from public is there any other major topics you want to add um sure um on suit deliverables I know that is uh new requirement um when folks uh if if they cannot if they at a minimum they need to meet a sue level B for these projects if they're with if they're within 10 ft of a public utility um if they cannot meet standard clearance requirements as I mentioned earlier um they're going to have to provide a sue level a with their variance report in order for us to consider and process that application