Metro announces ambitious plans, changes for rails and roads

09:52 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 14, 2005

By Jason Whitely / 11 News

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If you're fed up with sitting in Houston traffic jams, Metro's new traffic plan could make your life a little easier. But light rail is only a part of it.

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After two years, Metro isn't concentrating on light rail as much as it used to.

There are some changes Houstonians can look forward to on both the rails and the roads.

After two years, Metro isn't necessarily abandoning light rail, it's just not concentrating on it as much as it used to.

City leaders gathered downtown to announce different mass transit choices to Houstonians.

First, Metro only has plans for one new light rail line in the short term. It will be 8.3 miles and run from the Galleria to the University of Houston's main campus along parts of Highway 59.

Originally, Metro had plans for new four lines, totaling 60 miles, but now it will use a special bus system called "Bus Rapid Transit Lines."

Basically it's a fast, cross-town service.

Pete Musgrove is a dedicated transit user. "It doesn't seem like it makes a lot of sense. I thought the train was a great idea to begin with, but when they started cutting all the local service, it just made things more inconvenient and uncomfortable," he says.

One line will run the entire stretch of the 610 West Loop from 290 down to Highway 90. The other will run just east of downtown, connecting Northline Mall to 610.

"And it's a lot different than a bus," said David Wolff, Metro Chairman. "And it generates a lot more riders. For example it has low floors. It's easier in and out. You buy the passes in advance instead of the driver sitting there having to make the change for you."

Metro is moving ahead with plans for two new commuter rail lines. One will be a 20-mile stretch from far northwest Harris County into downtown. The second, an 8-mile line from Fort Bend County, would link up to the existing light rail near Six Flags. There will be tracks, but no trains.

We can actually build some of these things before we have federal approval as long as we're confident that they will receive it. We are confident that that line will receive federal approval," says Metro chairman David Wolfe.

Finally, the city's antiquated HOV lanes are changing. Metro wants to open them in both directions around the clock.

The entire plan is ambitious over the next decade and certainly quite different.

Mayor White is no doubt excited. He lobbied hard to get Congressmen John Culberson and Tom DeLay on board. The congressmen were skeptical of Metro.

But they had to sign off since they can help secure $1 billion in federal money -- half of what it'll cost to pay for the plan in the next decade.