Revisiting the soccer stadium
Last week, City Council delayed a vote on buying six blocks of land just East of Downtown for a soccer stadium. They will vote again this week. I’m glad that the stadium’s impact on METRO’s Southeast and East End light rail lines has been part of that discussion. And it seems that METRO is looking at a rail option that would go around the stadium.
But the rail line was never my biggest concern to begin with. It’s the traffic impacts that worry me.
Let’s start with a bit of history. In 1984, there were 9 streets that connected Downtown to the East End between Bell and Congress (the building of Union Station in 1911 had closed one street; Highway 59 blocked another and rerouted Bell in 1966).
Then, in 1987, the city opened the George R. Brown Convention Center, closing 2 of those streets.
In 2000, the opening of Minute Maid Park closed another street.
In 2003, the convention center was expanded at both ends, and Toyota Center was opened. That took out two more streets. So where there were 9 streets, there are only 4 today.
If the soccer stadium occupies all 6 blocks, closing the streets that run through that area, that would take out 2 more streets.
So here’s the bottom line: 9 streets in 1984 would become 2 streets. That may have been acceptable when the area just east of Downtown was largely warehouses. But now it’s sprouting townhouses, condos, and apartments. New residents will surely generate more traffic. And so will soccer games. Is this the time to cut the East End off of Downtown even more and add a traffic bottleneck that doesn’t need to exist?
A complete street grid is the most effective way to carry traffic and the easiest way for pedestrians and bicyclist to get around. In place where we don’t have a good grid, like Uptown, we’re regretting it. Why are we destroying the grid where we do have it? We can’t undo the damage the convention center did, or the damage the ballpark did, or the damage the basketball area did. But we can avoid doing even more damage.
Like I said before, this isn’t a stadium; it’s a moat. What do you say?
(updated with more history, 2/24)