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A number of north Houston residents are unhappy with Metro for allegedly using them to get Light Rail passed and then forcing them out of their homes and businesses to build the new route.

Tuesday, nearly 50 of them gathered outside city hall after having walked the entire length of Metro’s proposed Northline transit route.  When they arrived, they were carrying with them messages of betrayal and anger.

At the corner of Hogan and North Main, for example, Uncle Johnny’s Good Cars will be forced to relocate because of the new route.

“We don’t know where we’re going. We don’t’ know what to do. How do you plan for it when you don’t know where you’re going,” Jose Reyes asked.

The business had planned to celebrate their 50^th anniversary on the site this summer, but now the occasion may be their going out of business sale.

Reyes said he spoke to a woman at Metro who told him they may only need to clip the corner enough that trucks can make the turn, rather than force the business out entirely.

“That’s something I can live with,” Reyes said.

For now, businesses like Uncle Johnny’s and residents like Michael Robes who may be forced out by eminent domain can only hope Metro is listening.

“I don’t need the money. I want to stay in my community. I was born there, and I want to stay there,” Robles said.