Peloton Land Solutions

As part of Fort Worth’s Healthy City Initiative, the development of a plan to make the City more pedestrian-friendly is underway. The objective of the Walk! Fort Worth Pedestrian Transportation Plan is to promote and provide a safe, efficient, equitable and accessible comprehensive pedestrian network.

Some of the initial goals of Walk! Fort Worth include:

• to increase total walking trips and overall physical activity,
• to create an environment that encourages walking and
• to increase safety for all pedestrians.

The benefits of replacing short vehicle trips with pedestrian trips include cleaner air over Fort Worth, a reduction in traffic congestion and a healthier population.

The Plan is at the very beginning stages of development and public input is being sought at scheduled public meetings and through written comments.

Peloton Land Solutions has been named a finalist in the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce 2012 Small Business of the Year Award in the Emerging Business Category. This category includes start-up companies in business less than three years.

Finalists will be honored at a Chamber Business After Hours event on January 17 at the Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel. After final judging, award recipients will be announced at a private reception prior to Mayor Betsy Price’s State of the City address on February 23 at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Peloton is proud to be considered for this award and would like to thank the Fort Worth Chamber for this important opportunity. The Presenting Sponsor for the 2012 Small Business of the Year Awards is Community Bank. Platinum Sponsors are TCU’s Neeley School of Business Entrepreneurship Center, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., and Staples, and the Media Sponsor is the Fort Worth Business Press.

For more information, visit the Fort Worth Chamber and Fort Worth Business Press websites.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has recognized Hillwood’s Alliance Town Center with its LEED® for Neighborhood Development certification. The prestigious designation is one of the most difficult sustainable development certifications to obtain, with Alliance Town Center ranked as one of only two such projects in the State of Texas and as one of the largest in the nation, out of 80 total projects in the United States.

Alliance Town Center is located along Interstate 35W and stretches from North Tarrant Parkway to Golden Triangle Boulevard. The LEED certification area includes 155 acres, master-planned for a mix of residential and commercial uses.

Hillwood Properties has incorporated environmentally friendly aspects throughout the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas project since its inception in the late 1980s. Features and processes have included the utilization of white roofs on industrial buildings to reflect heat, skylights and other daylighting options, extensive native landscaping, groundwater management systems, storm water detention ponds, the use of recycled materials for construction, construction waste recycling, energy efficient HVAC systems, and the use of local construction materials to reduce transportation costs. In addition, more than 36,000 trees have been planted within the development.

The announcement of the certification represents the culmination of ongoing efforts by  Hillwood to build and develop a sustainable community in north Fort Worth.

The 35W Coalition is a nonprofit membership organization of concerned citizens; business and land owners; city, county and state officials; developers; and transportation experts that advocates for transportation improvements along the I-35W North Corridor in Fort Worth, northern Tarrant County and southern Denton County. With the goal of encouraging quality development, the members of the 35W Coalition take an active and official role with regional planning agencies (TxDOT, NCTCOG, RTC, TRTC) and municipalities and counties. They seek to educate and engage larger groups of citizens and businesses, educate legislators, advocate for increased investment in transportation in the region, demand action and drive solutions. As a stakeholder in the North Texas region, Peloton Land Solutions actively supports the 35W Coalition through membership and committee involvement.

Attend the 35W Coalition Annual Meeting featuring special guest, The Honorable David M. Walker. As former U.S. Comptroller General and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, he’ll speak about the state of the economy as it relates to transportation and economic development.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

10:00-11:30 a.m. (with networking beginning at 9:30 a.m.)

DFW Marriott Hotel & Golf Club at Champions Circle

3300 Championship Parkway

Fort Worth, TX 76177

The 35W Coalition recently celebrated its 5th anniversary. Its quarterly meetings are open to the public and held at various locations throughout the North Texas area. For more information, visit www.35wcoalition.com.

Join the upcoming Transportation Summit and add your voice to the discussion addressing the pressing transportation needs of the North Texas region.

U.S. Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) will host the Ninth Annual 26th Congressional District/TxDOT Transportation Summit on Monday, November 28, 2011 at the Hurst Conference Center. Also featuring state legislative keynote speaker, The Honorable Larry Phillips, Chairman of the Texas House Committee on Transportation.

Unprecedented population and employment growth in North Texas has increased traffic, leading to congestion and straining existing transportation capacity. Further complications resulting from gas tax policy and efforts to increase vehicle gas mileage threaten the funds available to build, maintain and improve North Texas roads, bridges and transit. It is essential that North Texas’ voice be heard in Washington and Austin concerning these issues to ensure we can keep this region and our economy moving.

The Summit will include informative presentations and panel discussions by federal, state and local officials regarding federal highway reauthorization. Special focus will be given to the transportation issues affecting North Texas.

November 28, 2011 from 8:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at the Hurst Conference Center. For more info and to register, visit the Texas Transportation Institute conference website.

Peloton Land Solutions biologists Randy Alexander and Frank Holland, along with partner Richard Payne, helped several local North Texas Boy Scouts fulfill their Environmental Science merit badge requirements this summer.  The merit badge program allows Scouts to examine subjects to determine if they would like to further pursue them as a career. While Scouts can choose from over 100 merit badge subjects, the Environmental Science merit badge is one of several that are required for aspiring Eagle Scouts.

The Scouts from Troop 928 attended a two-hour classroom session taught by Randy Alexander, a Certified Wildlife Biologist, followed by a field course where the Scouts sampled vegetation from two plots in a residential development in north Fort Worth.  As part of the merit badge requirement, the Scouts presented their research and findings on endangered species in Texas.

As a result of the class, at least one of the Scouts expressed interest in a career in rangeland ecology, the study of the relationships between rangeland plants, animals and their environment.