Scoping
This week, METRO is holding two public open houses on the Universities Corridor. These are scoping meetings, the start of the official federal planning process. Metro’s definition notes:
If there are alternatives to be considered, the scoping meeting is the place to ask that they be analyzed.
We’ve heard a lot of talk about which street the line should follow. But where should it start? And where should it end? Some ideas I’ve heard:
I’ve argued twice that University Line trains should turn right at Post Oak and share the center of that street past the Galleria and as far as San Felipe with Uptown Line BRT vehicles. That complicates operation. But it means a one seat ride from Greenway Plaza, Neartown, Midtown, and UH to the Galleria.
METRO’s maps end the University Line at South Rice. But it hasn’t always been so. In the 2003 referendum, the line ended at the Hillcroft Transit Center, at the corner of Westpark and Hillcroft. That’s a major bus transit center with connections to populous Southwest Houston, the the 59 HOV lane, and to Westpark. And on either Westpark or Richmond, the line between South Rice and Hillcroft would serve some high-density residential areas.
There’s an existing transit center with HOV lane access just past where METRO shows the east end of the line, too: just 1000 feet and across I-45 from UH. Serving Eastwood Transit Center would link the Universities line to local buses in the East End and to the extensive METROExpress service on the Gulf Freeway. That would let someone from Clear Lake commute to UH or even Greenway Plaza with one easy transfer.
And from Eastwood it’s a straight shot up Lockwood to Harrisburg, only a mile away. That would close a gap in the system, connecting the Universities line to the East End line (which will likely be on Harrisburg) and making trips from the East Side to UH, the Medical Center, and the West Side much quicker.
I can make a good argument for any (or all) of these extensions. I can also make an easy argument against them: money. METRO’s budget may not have room for all of this. But we won’t know that unless we can quantify the costs and the potential ridership. And even if we can’t afford these options now, studying them may shape the future expansion of the system and identify how to build the initial segment to accomodate it.
Many of us have sat around and thought about what this line ought to be like. Some of us have written down those thoughts in places where METRO people might read them. But all of this is armchair transit planning until we the public go METRO and say directly “we want this.” This week’s our chance.
Post your own ideas in the forums