Bolivar Bridge | |
|---|---|
 Robert C. Lanier Bolivar Ferry between Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula | |
| Coordinates | 29°21′01″N94°47′03″W / 29.350219°N 94.784075°W |
| Locale | Galveston Island |
| Named for | Bolivar Peninsula |
| Preceded by | Bolivar Ferry |
| Location | |
 | |
The Bolivar Bridge was a proposed bridge connecting Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula in the United States state of Texas. Its intention was to replace the Bolivar Ferry, the only direct connection for traffic from Galveston Island.
Service between Galveston and Port Bolivar is currently provided via a ferry operated by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) linking both halves of State Highway 87. The state-operated ferry has operated since 1934, replacing earlier operations.
Due to the rapid growth of the Greater Houston area (which includes Galveston County), the commute time required to board the ferry has rapidly increased (during the summer the wait can be up to two hours), which slows emergency response times (there are few emergency services, and no hospitals, on the peninsula, thus requiring trips to Galveston). Maintenance costs for the ferry crossing have risen to approximately $12 million per year, a 200 percent increase in the last eight years alone. The ferry is unusable in the event a tropical storm or hurricane approaches the area, thus forcing evacuating traffic onto the other two egresses from the island (Interstate 45 and a two-lane toll bridge on the west end of the island), and projected ship traffic in Galveston Bay (including the Houston Ship Channel) is expected to increase dramatically in the coming years.
The Original Ferry consisted of three vessels. Traditionally, these have always been named for significant directors of the TxDOT. The first three vessels were named "Cone Johnson", "E.H. Thornton, Jr." and "R.S. Sterling". All three of these original ferry boats have been replaced with five slightly larger vessels. The first two had fixed shaft/propeller designs as the original boats. The following three were built with the same basic hull, but steerable prop pods. The oldest of the second generation boats is named "Gibb Gilchrist", followed by the "Robert C. Lanier", "Dewitt C. Greer", "Ray Stoker, Jr.", and the "Robert H. Dedman". The later 4 vessels are all painted in a differing color scheme to honor various universities of the State. Consecutively as named above starting with the Lanier, these schemes are Orange/White for UT, Maroon/White for TAMU, Green/Gold for Baylor U., and Red/Blue for Southern Methodist U.[ citation needed ]
In 2000, TxDOT identified immediate need for improvements to the ferry crossing, specifically a third landing site (which is under construction), and also identified that the best long term solution was to replace the ferry with a bridge linking Galveston and Port Bolivar. The option to make the bridge a toll bridge is being considered along with other options.
TxDOT held meetings with the Galveston and Port Bolivar communities to obtain input. A third ferry landing being built was considered an interim solution only; the long-term goal is a permanent fixed crossing.
TxDOT identified the following alternatives:
The final solution was to build a bridge between the communities. Four tentative corridors were identified:
The preferred corridor is Route 1-3, the Pelican Island alternative. One estimate for the cost of the bridge was $240 million. [1]
After numerous environmental studies, TxDOT worked with the Houston-Galveston district and made a final plan to cancel the project. [1] The plan was canceled in 2007. [1] Failure to find a partner to support the project was a deciding factor for not building the bridge. [2] The ferry systems will remain as the access point to the Bolivar Peninsula from Galveston Island.
Galveston County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, located along the Gulf Coast adjacent to Galveston Bay. As of the 2020 census, its population was 350,682. The county was founded in 1838. The county seat is the City of Galveston, founded the following year, and located on Galveston Island. The most-populous municipality in the county is League City, a suburb of Houston at the northern end of the county, which surpassed Galveston in population during the early 2000s.
Interstate 45 (I-45) is a major Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. While most Interstate routes which have numbers ending in "5" are cross-country north–south routes, I-45 is comparatively short, with the entire route located in Texas. Additionally, it has the shortest length of all the interstates that end in a "5". It connects the cities of Dallas and Houston, continuing southeast from Houston to Galveston over the Galveston Causeway to the Gulf of Mexico.
Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at 355.8 miles (572.6 km). The remaining separated segments are variously completed and posted or not posted sections of an extension southwest to the Mexican border in Texas. Of this extension—nicknamed the NAFTA Superhighway because it would help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)—seven pieces in Laredo, Texas; Pharr, Texas; Brownsville, Texas; Corpus Christi, Texas; Houston, Texas; northwestern Mississippi; and Memphis, Tennessee, have been built or upgraded and signposted as I-69. Indiana is currently working on a fifth segment that will extend I-69 through the entire state while a sixth segment of I-69 through Kentucky utilizing that state's existing parkway system and a section of I-24 was established by federal legislation in 2008 with several more parkway segments being upgraded since then. This brings the total length to about 880 miles (1,420 km).
Bolivar Peninsula is a census-designated place (CDP) in Galveston County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,417 at the 2010 census. The communities of Port Bolivar, Crystal Beach, Caplen, Gilchrist, and High Island are located on Bolivar Peninsula.
Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris and Chambers counties. Located in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the northern side of the Galveston Bay complex near the outlets of the San Jacinto River and Buffalo Bayou. It is the sixth-largest city within this metropolitan area and seventh largest community. Major highways serving the city include State Highway 99, State Highway 146 and Interstate 10. At the 2020 U.S. census, Baytown had a population of 83,701, and it had an estimated population of 84,324 in 2022.
Galveston Bay is a bay in the western Gulf of Mexico along the upper coast of Texas. It is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, and the largest of seven major estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico and is surrounded by sub-tropical marshes and prairies on the mainland. The water in the bay is a complex mixture of sea water and fresh water, which supports a wide variety of marine life. With a maximum depth of about 10 feet (3 m) and an average depth of only 6 feet (2 m), it is unusually shallow for its size.
Galveston Island is a barrier island on the Texas Gulf Coast in the United States, about 50 miles (80.5 km) southeast of Houston. The entire island, with the exception of Jamaica Beach, is within the city limits of the City of Galveston in Galveston County.
Port Bolivar is an unincorporated community located on the northern shore of the western tip of the Bolivar Peninsula, separated from Galveston Island by the entrance to Galveston Bay. The Bolivar Peninsula itself is a census-designated place, in Galveston County, Texas, United States, and part of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The entire peninsula was severely damaged during Hurricane Ike on September 13, 2008; re-building efforts were still continuing as late as 2013.
High Island is an unincorporated community located in the Bolivar Peninsula census-designated place, Galveston County, Texas, United States. The community is located in the extreme eastern part of the county on Bolivar Peninsula, less than one mile from Chambers County and less than two miles from Jefferson County. As of 2000, 500 people resided in High Island. The 2010 census did not record a population for High Island.
The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) was a proposal for a transportation network in the U.S. State of Texas that was conceived to be composed of a new kind of transportation modality known as supercorridors. The TTC was initially proposed in 2001 and after considerable controversy was discontinued by 2010 in the planning and early construction stages.
The Houston Ship Channel, in Houston, Texas, is part of the Port of Houston, one of the busiest seaports in the world. The channel is the conduit for ocean-going vessels between Houston-area terminals and the Gulf of Mexico, and it serves an increasing volume of inland barge traffic.
State Highway 87 runs for 249.4 miles (401.4 km) between Galveston, Texas to U.S. Highway 59 and U.S. Highway 84 in Timpson, Texas.
Gilchrist, Texas is an unincorporated residential community and beachfront resort along State Highway 87, located seventeen miles east of Bolivar Point in the Bolivar Peninsula census-designated place, in Galveston County, Texas, United States.
State Highway 124 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Texas maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The highway begins along the Gulf Coast near the northeast end of the Bolivar Peninsula at SH 87 and extends to the northeast ending at US 69 and US 96. In between, the highway has major intersections with SH 65 and SH 73. The highway is located in Galveston, Chambers, and Jefferson counties and also serves the communities of Hamshire, Fannett, and Cheek. A portion of SH 124 is part of a longer coastal hurricane evacuation route.
State Highway 225 is an east–west freeway in the Houston area between the Interstate 610 Loop in Houston and State Highway 146/future State Highway 99 in La Porte. It is identified as the Pasadena Freeway over its entire length except for La Porte where it is called the La Porte Freeway. The freeway passes near several refineries, chemical plants, and tank farms as it passes through Pasadena and Deer Park.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is a governmental agency and its purpose is to "provide safe, effective, and efficient movement of people and goods" throughout the state. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with maintenance of the state's immense highway system, the agency is also responsible for aviation in the state and overseeing public transportation systems.
The George and Cynthia Mitchell Memorial Causeway is a set of causeways in Galveston, Texas, United States. Two of the routes carry the southbound and northbound traffic of Interstate 45, while the original causeway is restricted to rail traffic. It is the main roadway access point to Galveston Island. The second access point is Bolivar Ferry.
The Texas City Dike is a levee located in Texas City, Texas, United States that projects nearly 5 miles (8.0 km) south-east into the mouth of Galveston Bay. It is flanked by the north-eastern tip of Galveston Island and the south-western tip of the Bolivar Peninsula. The dike, one of the area's most beloved and enduring landmarks, was originally designed to reduce the impact of sediment accumulation along the lower Bay.
Caplen is an unincorporated community that is part of the Bolivar Peninsula census-designated place, in Galveston County, Texas, United States.
For other uses, see Bolívar (disambiguation)