Decision time on the North Line
UH Downtown is the end of the line — for now. By 2010 the trains should be continuing on another stop to the Northern Intermodal Center, where light rail will meet the BRT line to Northline Mall.
Yesterday the METRO chose an alignment for this line that will follow North Main, jog east on Boundary, then follow Fulton up to Northline Mall.
Back in 2003, the board had adopted a slightly different alignment: North Main-Boundary-Fulton-Irvington-Cavalcade-Fulton. The jog on Irvington and Cavalcade was intended to avoid a narrow section of Fulton. The revised alignment will require METRO to buy 50 more properties than the old alignment would.
But this isn’t METRO imposing its will on the neighborhood. It was neighborhood groups and local politicians who wanted Fulton, to avoid distruption to Irvington and Cavalcade. So METRO put it back on the table. As it turns out, the Fulton route is shorter, with the same ridership and almost the same cost as the Cavalcade-Irvington option. And, based on input at the public hearings, the public overwhelmingly favored Fulton.
Yesterday’s decision followed a 5-year public process:
- Summer 2001: City of Houston sponsors public Near Northside workshops as part of the Northside Village Economic Revitalization Project. Recommendations include rail transit on alignments including North Main, Irvington, and Fulton.
- Jan 9, 2002: METRO starts North Hardy Alternatives Analysis study to study transit alternates for the general corridor of I-45 and the Hardy Toll Road and launches public web site.
- Feb 5,6,13,20, 2002: METRO holds public scoping meetings, advertised via direct mailings and newspaper ads in English and Spanish.
- June 4,6,15, 2002: METRO holds further meetings. Multiple alternatives – including North Main, Fulton, and Irvington – are identified.
- Fall 2002: Three alignments are shortlisted. All three follow North Main; two continue along Fulton and Irvington to Northline Mall. Newsletters showing these alignments are mailed out to 2,800 people, including anyone who signed in at the previous meetings.
- February 4,8, 2003: METRO holds 2 public meetings to present results of the alignment comparison.
- Summer 2003: North Main – Fulton – Irvington – Cavalcade – Fulton – Northline Mall alignment included in METRO Solutions plan.
- June 26, 2004: another public meeting
- February 25, 2006: A public meeting to present the Bus Rapid Transit option and detailed maps.
- July 2004: Draft Environmental Impact Statement is released.
- August 8, 2004: Hearing on the DEIS.
The result of that process seems to be that a well-informed community that has found an alignment it likes.
The METRO LRT/BRT system is coming together. The Southeast Line is in the DEIS process right now, with a public hearing this week, the board will likely chose that alignment next month. The Uptown line alignment has been largely set for 3 years now. The basic alignment of the Harrisburg line has been chosen, and DEIS is now under way. That leaves only the University Line, and you can expect to hear much more on that, here and in the news.