prepared by Christof Spieler, cspieler@ctchouston.org, Jan 18 2005. Last updated Mar 28 2006.
Why this matters
The Texas Department of Transportation owns an abandoned railroad right-of-way through the Heights. This strip of land is intended to
be used for a bike path, and METRO has considered using portions of it for rail transit. The Harris County Toll Road
Authority is now negotiating to purchase the right-of-way. HCTRA's plans for the land, and the impact those plans might
have on other potential uses, are unclear.
The western portion of the corridor has a wide right of way and passes a mix of industrial and residential areas. The
overpasses in the distance are Shepherd and Durham.
Through the Heights, the corridor is narrow with homes built right up to it. The
street in the foreground is Heights Boulevard.
Current status
The Eureka Corridor was originally part the Missouri-Kansas Texas railroad line from Smithville through Katy to Houston. When the
Union Pacific railroad purchased the Katy in 1988, the rail line became redundant. In 1992, the Texas Department of Transportation
purchased the rail line from Katy to downtown Houston (28 miles) from the UP for $103 million. TXDOT was interested in the line for the
portion west of 610, which is being used to widen I-10. Union Pacific retains ownership of the Eureka Yard, a active rail yard along the north side
line of the line between Washington Avenue and Nicholson Street, where the railroad serves local industries.
Plans for the corridor
The Eureka Corridor is highlighted in yellow, with future plans superimposed.
The Texas Department of Transportation does not have any plans for the portion of the corridor inside 610.
The City of Houston's bikeway plan, approved in 1993, includes an off-street bikeway in the Eureka Corridor from Shepherd
through the Heights to Downtown. While the trail was scheduled to be complete by December 2003, no work has started.
The White Oak Bayou Association has a proposal, presented to the City of Houston in November 2005, which would extend the bike
path further west along the corridor to the Northwest Transit Center at North Post Oak. The plan also includes a number of other bike path
connections to connect this trail to Memorial Park, to the White Oak Bayou bike trail, and to other bikeways. See a
map. Update from Linda Mercer of WOBA
as of March 2006:
March 11, 2006: The city of Houston Bikeway Coordinator, Liibeth Andre, has asked for letters of Support regarding the purchase of the Eureka
corridor MKT ROW, and the MKT ROW west to 610 and east to U of H. The Coordinator reports that the City would like to purchase the
RR ROW easements to enhance the existing transportation corridor in an area east of Shepherd where "we are building a rails-to-trails project
that connects to many destinations along existing bikeways". The COH bikeway coordinator would like to nominate the easement purchase
as a State Transportation Enhancement Program which means that the COH will compete with other areas in Texas for selection.
If selected, the COH would be responsible for 20% of the acquisition costs, the remainder coming from federal allocations to projects
selected by states' departments of transportation.
METRO's Metro Solutions plan includes an Inner Katy Line extending from Downtown to the Northwest Transit Center (at 610 and I-10).
The line would be part of a connection from the Galleria to Downtown, allow future expansion along I-10 and 290, and serve neighborhoods
along the way. The line is not scheduled to be finished until 2019 (and that will require another public vote); therefore METRO does not intend
not begin formal studies until 2013. However, the City of Houston did a study in 2003 and identified two alternatives based on
constructability, ridership, and potential impact on development. The study looked at two routes in detail. One follows Washington almost
to 610, then uses a short section of the Eureka Corridor to the Northwest Transit Center; the other leaves downtown on Washington,
then follows Yale to the Eureka Corridor, and uses the corridor to the Northwest Transit Center. Community input favored the former option;
METRO prefers the later because it's technically easier and would attract more ridership.
The city study identified the Eureka Yards as having high potential for redevelopment. The yard remains in use only to serve
industries around it, and industries in that area of Houston are giving way to office, retail, and residential uses. The yard is a
large parcel of land in a booming neighborhood. Since it is adjacent to major arterials, it could be
developed with little impact on surrounding neighborhoods. With a transit connection, it has potential for high-density mixed
use transit-oriented development. (It might also make a good park with access from light rail and the White Oak Bayou bike path.)
Rail transit and bikeways can share a right-of-way; since light rail trains are electric they give off no fumes, making them more bike-friendly
than cars. A fence woudl separate the tracks and the bike path.
What we know
On August 4, 2004, the agenda for the Harris County Commissioner's Court included a "request for authorization to negotiate with TxDOT
to purchase railroad surplus right of way from the 610 West Loop easterly to the University of Houston, Downtown for the Old Hempstead
Highway Managed Lanes Project." The Commissioners voted unanimously to approve.
According to the Houston Press, 11/25/2004, "
Arrangements with an engineering firm to perform a 'toll facility study' along the right-of-way were approved by the county in August.
According to a rough map included in the county's agreement with the Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation, the route under study follows
the rail corridor east as far as Shepherd Drive and then turns southeast to connect with the Katy Freeway."
On December 2, 2004, County Judge Robert Eckels released a letter which confirmed the Toll Road Authority was negotiating to buy the Eureka Corridor
in which he said:
"The Toll Road Authority is the only entity in County government that has the resources and relationships to work with the City
of Houston, Houston Metro, TxDot and the community to develop a plan for the right-of-way"
"There is no plan to build a toll road through the Heights"
"There is no need for toll lanes beyond the immediate Hwy 290/Loop 610/I-10 interchange and I will not support a tollway through
this neighborhood."
"The right-of-way is ideally suited for a recreational orf transit use as a trail or possible extensions of the Metro Light Rail or
other Trolley systems to link the Houston Heights to other communities."
On Jan. 20, 2005, Michael Rozelle, a representative of Judge Eckels, spoke to a Heights West Home Owners Group meeting. He
riterated Eckels' statement that there would not be a toll road through the Heights. Asked if this statement ruled out a toll road
west of the Heights, he said he did not know.
How the corridor could become a toll road
(1) The Harris County Toll Road Authority is now studying a toll road in the US290 corridor. The US290 Major Investment Study, completed
in 2003, recommended that toll lanes be located in the Hempstead Highway right-of-way, parallel to the freeway. One of the outstanding questions about
these toll lanes is where they would end. One option (shown here) would be to have them merge into I-610 like 290 does. But that would
require toll road users to negotiate a congested section of 610 and the 610/10 interchange to head Downtown.
(2) The Eureka Corridor could be used to bring the toll road directly into downtown. When this possibility became public in late 2004,
the Heights community came out strongly against it. County Judge Robert Eckels then stated that no toll road would be considered through
the Heights. Apparently, this option is off the table.
(3) However, Eckels did not say anything that would rule out a toll road in the Eureka Corridor west of the Heights. A toll road that
followed the corridor to Shepherd, then connected south to I-10, would still bypass 610 and put driver onto the relatively uncongested
inner section of I-10, headed downtown. This would still impact Metro's light rail plan and redevelopment in the Eureka Yards.
(4) Continuing the toll lanes along the Hempstead railroad right-of-way directly to I-10 would serve the same purpose as (3). But
this option would not require the Eureka corridor, and it does not explain the toll road authority's interest in that right-of-way.
