Intermodality

20 months since METRO started talking about the University Line, and nearly 4 years since voters approved light rail expansion, the map of our 2012 light rail system is set. And, as usual, the outcome was a bit surprising and driven by public comment.

In the morning, the METRO staff recommended the Westpark-Cummins-Richmond option west of Main and the Wheeler-Ennis-Alabama option east of Main. The former recommendation was expected. The latter was a bit of a surprise, given the support from both the public and some members of the board for extending to Eastwood Transit Center. In fact, the staff noted that going to Eastwood was the most cost effective option, though not the least expensive.

But then came the public comments. There were some anti-Richmond comments, but they were outnumbered by pro-Richmond speakers. There were quite a few residents there speaking against Wheeler, though they seemed willing to work with METRO. And there were a dozen speakers — from UH, from the Third Ward, from the East End, from the University of St. Thomas, even from Greenspoint — speaking in favor of making the connection to Eastwood.

After lunch, the board came back. When the motion was presented to adopt the Cummins and Wheeler-Alabama alignments, METRO President Frank Wilson raised another possibility: Wheeler-Ennis-Alabama-Scott-Elgin. That keeps the Alabama portion of the alignment but still serves the north side of UH and gets to Eastwood. This was made possible by the other surprise of the day — the Southeast Line on Scott, along with all the other 2012 lines, will be light rail, thanks to new FTA funding rules. Thus, the Southeast Line and University Line will be able to share track on Scott. And that amended idea carried. The Chronicle story note some hesitation on David Wolff’s part as to whether the money is there to get to Eastwood right away. When I talked to him, he sounded quite committed to finding a way to make it happen. Given the political support behind it, that seems likely.

Above, the new map, with the extra jog in the Southeast Line. Note also the North Line — it’s red now, since as light rail it’s become part of the Main Street Line. That means no transfers between the North Side and Downtown or the Medical Center. Not shown: light rail means trains can run from the University Line onto the Uptown Line to the Galleria.

That’s a good system.

More later. See Off the Kuff, too.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 4:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.