I was looking through Metro's website for updates on MetroNext, and found this powerpoint from a meeting that apparently happened about a week ago.
According to the presentation, the whole project is already funded through the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Improvement Program (and as I understand it, the root of much of that money is TXDOT), and the first public meeting is happening by the end of February. We've already seen preliminary designs for the two middle stations, and the whole thing seems pretty straightforward. It's the only major project from MetroNext that's under the "in progress" category . . . anyone think we'll see ground breaking this year?