Houston METRO University Line project on hold following community pushback
A $1.56 billion plan to build what would be the longest rapid transit bus line in Houston is on hold following community protests.
The Houston METRO’s board of directors delayed a vote its proposed METRORAPID University Corridor Project on Thursday in the face of opposition from residents of the city’s historic East End, Houston Public Media’s Ashley Brown reported.
“The board will not take action today on this item,” METRO’s board chair Sunjay Ramabhadran, said, according to Brown. “We anticipate bringing this item back to the board for consideration for a vote in the next week or two weeks,” he continued.
Ramabhadran said the delay allows for more interaction between the board and community members, Brown reported. “Our commitment as you see is to do as many community engagement meetings and to explain things to the extent needed to the community,” he said, according to Brown.
Residents’ main concerns? They say the project would divide the community and that the board’s engagement with the community had been inadequate.
The METRORapid University Corridor Project is estimated to cost $1.56 billion and would run over 25 miles from the Westchase Park and Ride near Sharpstown to Tidwell Transit Center located northeast of downtown. The route would take riders past Houston Community College, Texas Southern University, University of Houston and University of St. Thomas.
Part of the proposed project involves building an overpass on Lockwood, reaching from McKinney Street to Canal Street. The overpass is designed to keep buses from being delayed by trains on their routes in the area.
“Overpasses tend to be divisive, tend to separate communities further, and historically black and brown communities have already had too much of that,” Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia told HPM’s Brown. “Overpasses tend to be divisive, tend to separate communities further, and historically black and brown communities have already had too much of that,” Garcia continued.
Danielle Laperriere, President of the Eastwood Civic Association, told Brown that she “asked that the work that happens between now and when you do vote on this happens so you can restore the opportunity for community pride.”
“Laperriere said no one is against the project, they just want to make sure the community will not be impacted along the way,” according to HPM’s Brown.
Transit officials told HPM that the project is only about 30 percent complete, allowing for ongoing community discussions as construction progresses.