Design Charrette: Houston Rail/Texas Rail

[Luminare]

Morning everyone!

 

So I thought it would be fun to challenge the community a bit. As a community that discusses so much about architecture/infrastructure it really seems a bit odd that I don't see a lot of forum submitted proposals or ideas for Houston, but not just some description of it or a post from a news source, but actual drawings or planning of these ideas. I know it's in there somewhere lol Everyone is very passionate about this city with an enormous amounts of opinions on how Houston should function going forward.

 

I would really like to see this in action, and tap into that! Whether you are an architect, designer, engineer, student of some kind, or work in another field everyone has a voice that can shape Houstons future reality.

 

This should be a fun exercise. The only thing you can not do is simply describe it in words! You need to provide visuals. I want to see maps, route plans, potential stations, maybe the actual trains themselves and what they look like, ideas for a train station?, the name of the system? lol. It can be very simple looking to very professional, it doesn't matter to me....your ideas are what matter. The scope can be large or huge. It could include everything from all lightrail to a combo of lightrail and commuter. Maybe someone has an idea for a subway. Monorail? lol Maybe its all that new people mover system they are going to build in Tel Aviv! Maybe you not only have ideas for Houston, but Texas in general. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination. You also don't have to do a bunch of work and then post it all at once. In fact I would encourage that you just post drawings/sketches or plans as you go.

 

Now for critique. No bashing of others ideas! If you don't have a sound critique in mind (that means finding at least one small thing you like even if you hate everything about it lol) then don't say anything at all. Make critiques constructive. I want this to be sort of a think tank for all ideas associated with the future of mass transit in houston.

 

I really hope I'm not asking to much from everyone here >.> I think stuff like this would be fun for the community to do. If this one works out I would like to create other design challenges. Good luck everyone

[bachanon]

I think Luminare has a great idea.  HAIF has the potential to grow in ways we have yet to discover.  With today's technology and the excitement we are currently enjoying with Houston's booming development, HAIF may have the talent to become an idea factory.  It may not be as far fetched as it sounds.

 

Any other input?

 

(I've pinned the topic to keep it at the top of Traffic and Transportation for now.)

[Luminare]

Thank you! I honestly have been baffled by this question lol. While not everyone here is an architect, designer, or engineer it does have a community that really is passionate about it's city and should be a place where ideas and proposals can manifest themselves Anyway really appreciate it and hope people really get involved in it. At some point a long way from now if we get a large amount of proposals and ideas it would even more interesting how we could compromise as a community on one holistic vision. Now enough generic conversation! Lets see those ideas.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Luminare

[mfastx]

Here is my heavy rail rapid transit plan for Houston (excuse the crude drawings). 

 

• Both airports connected
• Northwest, Katy, and Sugar Land all connected
• Very west-centric (population is westward)
• Folks in Cypress, Katy, and Sugar land can all either one-seat it to downtown OR Uptown
• Sugar land has direct access to TMC
• Subway under all of Westheimer, Washington Ave, Downtown and Uptown. 
• Trains would have top speeds of 80mph. 

Many of the lines follow railroad ROW as well.  

 

Transit centers would remain where they are today, and buses would feed into the rail lines from the surrounding areas.  This model is very similar to the highly successful model in Washington, DC.  

 

This is also VERY similar to the proposal in 1983 which unfortunately was never passed. 

 

One change to the proposed map: the red line going out to Cinco Ranch should be a bit more south to follow Westpark after it gets to Beltway 8. 

Edited June 28, 2014 by mfastx

[Luminare]

I think this is a great start with this first post mfastx. It sorta lets us reestablish a past dialogue as to what could have been and what would happen if we essentially adapted this version in our present condition. Connecting to the airports is essential and honestly should be top priority in whatever system we choose to implement in the future. However, this is where I would take off my good hat and then replace it with a more critical one.

 

The biggest  problem of course is how these lines essentially stick to all our highways like a super strong adhesive. If you are to have a variety of transportation systems then they should each strive to touch areas where the other couldn't or at least service those area's touched by the highway in a more engaging manner. I mean if we continue to harbor this philosophy that these networks of highways and rail essentially are married and forever can not be separated then the bigger question we must ask is....why? why even pursue rail at all when it simply follows paths which can already be accessed by another. Another problem is interconnectedness with other lines. The best thing about mass transit is that it is interlaced with itself. I mean we have ways to get to other highways via loops or spurs.....why not rail. With the exception of the green and yellow line you have here if I wanted to get to cypress from IAH then I would have to go all the way downtown and then hop on a train on the green line to cypress. I bit impractical. I'm also curious, where you would put your main stations? Does the system work in layers or have a hierarchy?

 

Anyway. This is great first start like I said, but what I'm trying to say is now that we have sorta established a foundation of what could have been done in the past, lets look at what is possible for a Houston 20 years from now. You are just scratching the surface and there is so much more which could be done. Of course this doesn't just apply to what you just posted, but others as well. Let's really open the possibilities. Maybe we gain more ROW in the future but in different places away from the highway? Who knows! Nice job mfastx. Lets see more

Edited June 29, 2014 by Luminare

[mfastx]

The biggest  problem of course is how these lines essentially stick to all our highways like a super strong adhesive. If you are to have a variety of transportation systems then they should each strive to touch areas where the other couldn't or at least service those area's touched by the highway in a more engaging manner. I mean if we continue to harbor this philosophy that these networks of highways and rail essentially are married and forever can not be separated then the bigger question we must ask is....why? why even pursue rail at all when it simply follows paths which can already be accessed by another. Another problem is interconnectedness with other lines. The best thing about mass transit is that it is interlaced with itself. I mean we have ways to get to other highways via loops or spurs.....why not rail. With the exception of the green and yellow line you have here if I wanted to get to cypress from IAH then I would have to go all the way downtown and then hop on a train on the green line to cypress. I bit impractical. I'm also curious, where you would put your main stations? Does the system work in layers or have a hierarchy?

I thought those were excellent points to bring up. About the highways, I really only followed highways along I-10 and 290, reason being is that is currently where all of the development is happening. Large amounts of employment is cropping up and if we build a rail system I feel that it should work to connect existing employment centers. I guess I am following a highway with the Hardy Toll road to Bush airport but that is the only spot I can think to put the line, there wouldn't be that many stops going up there, not much in that area.

I did also strongly consider running a loop, and yes, getting from Bush airport to Northwest Houston on the rail wouldn't be practical... but getting most everywhere else is an easy transfer away, and I tried to avoid excessive interconnectivenss where taking a bus route across town would be faster. In this instance, there would be bus that'd go along beltway 8 between a stop on the 290 line and the Bush airport line so that's an easy transfer, and quicker than going all the way into town.

As for the stations, it would be very similar to the system in Washington DC if you are familiar with that. Inside of loop 610 stations would be about a half mile apart, then when you get further out there would be a longer distance between stations. There would be about five stations downtown three on the red line and two on the other two lines (a convention center station and a city hall station, along with a transfer station to the red line. There would be four or five stations on Washington Ave. and many more on the Westheimer section of the Red Line.

This is just the heavy rail aspect to the system, and this map does not take into consideration the existing light rail lines. If it did, it'd probably look a little different.

 

Anyway. This is great first start like I said, but what I'm trying to say is now that we have sorta established a foundation of what could have been done in the past, lets look at what is possible for a Houston 20 years from now. You are just scratching the surface and there is so much more which could be done. Of course this doesn't just apply to what you just posted, but others as well. Let's really open the possibilities. Maybe we gain more ROW in the future but in different places away from the highway? Who knows! Nice job mfastx. Lets see more

Thanks for the constructive criticism. I certainly don't have the resources/time to do anything more sophisticated, but hopefully others contribute to the thread as I'd love to discuss possible ideas on Houston transit infrastructure.

And I will say that what I posted isn't necessarily just what could have been, as I feel that heavy rail transit is still a potential solution for Houston that hopefully gets explored in the future. It works fantastically in other cities and I feel it works best to cover long distances that are obviously prevalent in Houston.

 

EDIT: Here are some pics of what I am talking about:

 

1) Design of the trains would be similar to this: 

 

2) Here is a to-scale map of the DC metro system, and the station distances would be similar in my proposed system - closer together in the central area of the city and further apart once you get into the suburbs: 

 

3) And here is a station along the highway that would be along on one of my proposed lines - lots of parking and bus bays for bus connections.  These bus connections could utilize the extensive highway network to better connect the rail system: 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2014 by mfastx

[cloud713]

Luminare.. this thread is legit! some are probably tired of seeing my fantasy ideas, but this is right up my alley and a perfect place to collaborate/compile everything..

here is my downtown streetcar circulator, hitting spots closer to the perimeter of downtown instead of only the interior, spawning new development along the lines and linking residents, workers, and tourists with the downtown parks and destinations.. ive also wanted to put a streetcar down Washington in some of my other plans, which can tie into the northeastern tracks, from the west. the circulator also ties into the East Ends street car plan, through the spur connecting into the south corner.

red - streetcars
blue - light rail (and water/bayou)
green - parks and proposed greenway trails linking the three sports venues and Discovery Green
black - highways, sports stadiums, and light rail stations





this one is just my revision to the University Line to please Culberson and have a more efficient/faster line between Uptown and the Red Line/Downtown/TMC than the proposed route with stations every half mile.

the rail would turn south off Richmond at Yoakum (Yoakum has a large median in between the lanes of traffic, leaving plenty of room for rail), across a new arch bridge that matches all the others, before continuing west along the south side of 59 in METROs Westpark ROW (the eastern most portion of the ROW starts at Montrose, which isnt wide enough for the rail lines to cross 59 there, so Yoakum is the first viable option to cross 59 really, to utilize the most of METROs ROW). then most the rest of the stops between the uptown line and the Monstrose/UST stop would be eliminated for faster transit time, except for an elevated stop at Upper Kirby, and a sunken or elevated stop at Edloe, with either a tunnel or pedestrian bridge crossing 59 to Greenway Plaza.





heres a streetcar line connecting many of the new mixed use developments in Uptown and "River Oaks", avoiding San Felipe and Westheimer except for the portion of San Felipe that has a large median in between the lanes, which can be eliminated and the lanes shifted north for the streetcar line to run on the southern portion of the San Felipe ROW (so it doesnt dump people out in between multiple lanes of traffic, in the median). everywhere else on San Felipe and Westheimer in those areas is too narrow to expand for rail.



and the grand daddy of them all.. my ultimate all out fantasy map (though its very unrealistic, i budgeted it at between 15-20 billion, which i figured we could pay for in 50 years or so given the pace and cost of the light rail weve built over the last decade, to try and keep it a somewhat attainable vision for the future).

for the commuter lines i stuck to either current rail ROWs or abandoned ROWs, or highways with middle lanes built for rail (i10) or medians wide enough to support rail (288). also the line to Hobby follows the Spur 5 rail lines, from the end o the University Line, before hitting the end of the Southeast line (extended a couple blocks east to meet up with the commuter line), before going on and turning east down the road Hobby is on)

red - subway (downtown, TMC, uptown/Post Oak, Westheimer, Kirby north of Halcombe)
blue - light rail (new express line through the south side of Memorial Park, linking the Uptown subway to the western terminus of the green/purple lines in downtown, and connecting the Kirby subway to downtown as well)
green - streetcar (all over the inner city and west side, but also in Galveston, The Woodlands, and around Clear Lake, past NASA before connecting Kemah to the commuter rail line since that area is popular with tourists)
yellow - commuter rail
pink - trenched or elevated commuter rail (trenched through Washington area, elevated along inner city stretches of Westpark all the way east to a multi modal Wheeler Station)
brown/multi colored - BRT (along Beltway 8 west, from Hardy Tollroad to 59/69, highway 6/1960 from Hardy Tollroad to 288, and 59 S from Hilcroft TC to Highway 6)
black - highways
orange - commuter and subway stations

close up..



close up - The Woodlands streetcar



close up - Galveston streetcar



full map - almost took up my whole queen sized bed



i dont mind criticism.. criticize away! positive or negative (i realize the last map is an all out fantasy that will likely not happen in any of our lifetimes without a valiant effort.. it was more for fun than anything)

as for High Speed Rail, i would prefer it came down a new rail line squeezed on the west of the current rail lines down the Hardy median (i realize this is the Woodlands commuter rail line, so trains would either be timed accordingly, or there would be a HSR stop at The Woodlands and or at the access road to Bush [a shuttle could take you the rest of the distance, similar to Love Fields light rail connection], before coming into the Hardy Yards station or the Post Office site (with a skybridge connection linking it to UH-D and the light rail system).. ive even sketched out fantasy designs for the HSR stations and mixed use developments they could spawn around them.. heh.

Edited June 29, 2014 by cloud713

[BigFootsSocks]

It would be cool if there was someway to monitor the amount of car traffic along each road, that way we could get a better idea of where the most congestion is located and where the most amount of foot/car traffic is. Maybe looking at the traffic maps during rush hour?

[mfastx]

Very, very cool maps Cloud713!

 

When you mention "commuter rail" are you talking about something like the TRE in Dallas or the Washington DC Metro?  Many people call both of those "commuter rail" but they are entirely different things. 

 

 

[cloud713]

thanks! admittedly i envisioned them to be more like Atlantas commuter rail than the TRE. (i guess ATL and DC are technically "heavy rail"?). which do you think would be best for Houston.. thats an interesting discussion because i really havent a clue. i do know DCs trains are the fastest commuter trains in the nation, capable of 125 mph, so that would be nice for Houston. heh

[Luminare]

First of all, awesome stuff cloud . I will give a full critique tomorrow.

 

I been formulating my own ideas on this subject for for quite some time now, but created this whole thing because I wanted to see what the community thought about this matter. I will probably slowly introduce my sensibilities on this matter a bit later on as I'm probably going to make this into a full independent project for myself Always need to improve those computer and design skills lol.

 

Mine will of course be a tad more radical (shocker i know xD). Overall though my model is more German based. I was thoroughly impressed with their model when I went to Germany last summer and the spring before that.

 

Anyway I love the responses so far! Keep it up everyone

[bachanon]

excellent work cloud713!  i think you may need a new medium to expand on your ideas.  you're having bigger thoughts and ideas than mere paper can contain!  can someone suggest software or can we utilize functions in google maps/layers maybe?  i'm not familiar with writing over a google map.

 

i think circulating trolleys are perfect for certain applications; it would enhance particular neighborhoods near rail stops and you remove the "bus stigma" for some.  it think this thread is going to do well.  i can see other charrettes in our future.

 

 

[Luminare]

@bachanon

 

Adobe has made CS2 free for anyone to download which includes programs like photoshop, illustrator, etc... That's a medium that I would highly recommend. However, I love that he is doing this all on paper. In fact, I always recommend starting on paper first and then jumping to digital later because on paper you can get through ideas very quickly.

 

@cloud713

 

This is fantastic work! Clearly you have put a lot of thought into this and effort. For that I applaud you. I will start from Commuter Rail and work my way down.

 

Commuter Rail-

 

the good: Now we are starting to get a little further. More places are now connected with a variety of stations. You cover a good base with your system. I really like how you stretch it all the way to the woodlands, cypress, and galveston!

 

the bad: Like many others it still ignores large populations which could potentially benefit the most from such a system. In particular you ignore virtually the entire Buffalo Bayou zone all the way from the Second Ward to Baytown, Fifth Ward to many areas of Northeast Houston, and many areas in between highways. Out of all of those that I did mention the Second Ward to Baytown area would probably get the most out of a commuter line since most of these areas are low income groups.

 

While you your system has a a few more cross connections, it is still very much lacking. I would certainly re examine your overall layout to see where we can establish more connections.

 

Finally, with all the places you are connecting we are still a bit to tied up to the highways. I would really like to see all of us make a departure from this kind of condition. Certainly existing RR ROW will be used...thats a given, but it's also restricting ideas a bit.

 

Street Cars-

 

Honestly, I love this idea ( thought I'm more a supporter of light rail whenever possible). Street cars will work best in communities and small towns in the Metro area get to the larger transportation network and you are starting to get there, so that's good.

 

One last critique (for now) is your bridge idea. I'm fine with the readjustment of what will be the University line, but then we get to this new bridge. Here we are getting to a really great design moment. A chance for what one professor told me once is a "big move". This could be a moment that really sells the project because it would become a landmark in a since and in terms of infrastructure landmarks we are lacking in this area. I really don't see why it has to be like the other bridges. In fact an argument could be made that since this bridge provides an entirely different function (rail bridge and not a car one) that it should look radically different from the others.

 

For now that's what I initially picked up from your post and probably still more to critique, but this is good enough for now. Of course all of what you did was really great! This is effort that I, and the community really like to see I hope we get many more submissions like this. Now we are getting places, but it still hampered by current thinking/conditions. I think we should start looking further and explore bigger ideas or develop our current condition before doing so.

 

I think what we should be asking is that with what we have seen so far. If after 20 years this whole plan was built......would we be the innovator in rail? Would it meet a ever expanding and growing Houston? Would the system already be way out of date by completion? I begs the question that if we are already a few decades behind other cities then should we be pondering more radical solutions in order to propel us beyond everyone else?

 

[cloud713]

excellent work cloud713! i think you may need a new medium to expand on your ideas. you're having bigger thoughts and ideas than mere paper can contain! can someone suggest software or can we utilize functions in google maps/layers maybe? i'm not familiar with writing over a google map.

i think circulating trolleys are perfect for certain applications; it would enhance particular neighborhoods near rail stops and you remove the "bus stigma" for some. it think this thread is going to do well. i can see other charrettes in our future.

Haha, agreed. Great idea!

@bachanon

Adobe has made CS2 free for anyone to download which includes programs like photoshop, illustrator, etc... That's a medium that I would highly recommend. However, I love that he is doing this all on paper. In fact, I always recommend starting on paper first and then jumping to digital later because on paper you can get through ideas very quickly.

@cloud713

This is fantastic work! Clearly you have put a lot of thought into this and effort. For that I applaud you. I will start from Commuter Rail and work my way down.

Commuter Rail-

the good: Now we are starting to get a little further. More places are now connected with a variety of stations. You cover a good base with your system. I really like how you stretch it all the way to the woodlands, cypress, and galveston!

the bad: Like many others it still ignores large populations which could potentially benefit the most from such a system. In particular you ignore virtually the entire Buffalo Bayou zone all the way from the Second Ward to Baytown, Fifth Ward to many areas of Northeast Houston, and many areas in between highways. Out of all of those that I did mention the Second Ward to Baytown area would probably get the most out of a commuter line since most of these areas are low income groups.

While you your system has a a few more cross connections, it is still very much lacking. I would certainly re examine your overall layout to see where we can establish more connections.

Finally, with all the places you are connecting we are still a bit to tied up to the highways. I would really like to see all of us make a departure from this kind of condition. Certainly existing RR ROW will be used...thats a given, but it's also restricting ideas a bit.

Street Cars-

Honestly, I love this idea ( thought I'm more a supporter of light rail whenever possible). Street cars will work best in communities and small towns in the Metro area get to the larger transportation network and you are starting to get there, so that's good.

One last critique (for now) is your bridge idea. I'm fine with the readjustment of what will be the University line, but then we get to this new bridge. Here we are getting to a really great design moment. A chance for what one professor told me once is a "big move". This could be a moment that really sells the project because it would become a landmark in a since and in terms of infrastructure landmarks we are lacking in this area. I really don't see why it has to be like the other bridges. In fact an argument could be made that since this bridge provides an entirely different function (rail bridge and not a car one) that it should look radically different from the others.

For now that's what I initially picked up from your post and probably still more to critique, but this is good enough for now. Of course all of what you did was really great! This is effort that I, and the community really like to see I hope we get many more submissions like this. Now we are getting places, but it still hampered by current thinking/conditions. I think we should start looking further and explore bigger ideas or develop our current condition before doing so.

I think what we should be asking is that with what we have seen so far. If after 20 years this whole plan was built......would we be the innovator in rail? Would it meet a ever expanding and growing Houston? Would the system already be way out of date by completion? I begs the question that if we are already a few decades behind other cities then should we be pondering more radical solutions in order to propel us beyond everyone else?

Thanks for the software tip! I might have to give that a go.

The commuter rail actually goes all the way up to Conroe (they're only getting bigger, and the Camp Strake development could be huge), I just didn't have enough room on my bed to add another sheet of paper to the top of the metro.

True, I guess a route east to Baytown would be a logical addition that I originally skipped.

And good points! Additional connections would be served by the busses that are replaced by the train routes would spiderweb outward from the rail stations to serve the local areas around each stop.

I agree, but unfortunately we can't do much else besides follow current/abandoned rail and road ROWs on the surface, so the only way to get creative with routes is to elevate or tunnel the rail, which are both extremely costly. It is definitely something to keep in mind though! Admittedly the routes that follow roads are desirable because current developments are all along roads and highways.

Yeah I really like streetcars too. They are like a tenth the cost of light rail and much easier to incorporate (or so I hear). Not to mention they extend the "last mile" effect that plagues development beyond a certain distance from light rail stations.

I forgot to mention my i10/energy corridor light rail line, but you guys may have already noticed it. It's around a stop per mile, and should be able to travel much faster that inner city light rail, so travel times should be a good bit faster/not seem miserably slow if you ride the light rail portion after riding commuter rail out there from the city (not sure if there would be a transfer from commuter rail to light rail at beltway/CityCentre, or more likely the i10 commuter line would function like DART, with LRT trains operating like commuter rail/less stops/faster speed, and just continuing on west, down the same tracks without a transfer, into a more light rail like setting with stations every mile or so the rest of the way to Katy).

Interesting idea with the bridge. I figured it would look odd if it didn't match the rest of the cluster, but maybe you're right and we could get something even better for a focal piece (though tbh I think the design of the bridges are perfectly nice and serve well enough as "signature bridges" for that stretch). It would be neat to have the LEDs change colors as the trains cross the bridge.

Again, good points.. Definitely something to think about and kind of makes me want to scheme up another/more refined transit map (I took a couple month break after going hard on transit maps for a few weeks).

Edited June 30, 2014 by cloud713

[cloud713]

Here's an idea for getting rail from the Westpark ROW into downtown since METRO will likely be using the part between the uptown line and wherever they decide to cross over 59 to Richmond (hopefully at Yoakum to utilize the most of Metros eastern ROW) to the east. The Westpark commuter/express line can come in from the west down METROs westpark ROW before turning north through a tunneled Post Oak subway segment which continues under post oak across 610 before popping up on the south side of Memorial Park and riding along the surface again, joining up with Memorial Dr and continuing into the western terminus of the green/purple LRT lines in downtown/the theater district.

A Kirby subway also pops up to the surface and connects into the Memorial line so there is direct access to downtown from Kirby too.

The southern memorial park segment hits a few of the criteria you wanted by building rail without following current/abandoned road/rail ROWs. It creates a nice short cut so uptown has direct access to downtown without having to take a slow university line to a transfer to the red line through midtown before finally getting into downtown. Cheap too because the city owns the park and surface rail is much cheaper than the subways I implemented through the denser areas of town.

Red - subway

Dark Blue - light rail

Light blue - express/commuter rail

Black - highways

Edited July 1, 2014 by cloud713

[Slick Vik]

Converting HOV lanes to rail would be my first step, extending one or both of the two new lines opening to hobby, adding a line from downtown to nw transit center down memorial or Washington, and extending the north line to greenspoint then iah would be my short term plan.

Edited July 1, 2014 by Slick Vik

[IronTiger]

^ You're missing the point, the idea was to actually try to DRAW things out. Like, how would they retrofit the HOV lanes into rail? "The only thing you can not do is simply describe it in words!" which you just did.

Anyway, here's my plan:

It involves leaving the Uptown Line as BRT (in the other transit thread, my goal involved removing about half of the stations in the Uptown line, because I felt it would be too slow) but decided to leave them in for this one. This transforms the moribund Northwest Mall as part of a centerpiece for a great mixed-use transit center with HSR stops (more on that later), rail (more on that later), and also the extended BRT. Problem is Northwest Transit Center just isn't good for rail, even if you did work to have the train slowly back into it, and that would be a pretty kludgy way of doing it.

Here, while the pedestrian crossing just goes under the street (yes I know Hempstead Tollway might come through there, maybe we can get it canned or moved), the BRT goes much deeper, under both the Northwest Mall and 610.

There's probably a lot of wasted space, but to put it simply:

Ground Level - Commuter Train, parking

Elevated Level - BRT, HSR (maybe)

edit: oops, forgot image...

Edited July 1, 2014 by IronTiger

[cloud713]

what does everyone think of people-movers?

[cloud713]

what does everyone think of people-movers?

Dang, can't edit my post anymore. I did some fooling around with a few people movers and a monorail, to change things up from the typical "commuter rail/light rail/brt" way of thinking.

Here is a people mover I added to an expanded GreenStreet that I sketched up for another thread.

It spans 10 different rooftops, yes rooftops.. I figured I'd really think outside the box with this one. It spans my expanded greenstreet, shops at Houston center, and 2 garages, all that have about the same roof height.

The roofs could be used for an outdoor market space on the weekends and have a few street vendors here and there on regular days (the rooftop makes a great space that was underutilized, where they can charge very cheap rents so that these vendors can afford to set up shop in downtown). The people mover links the Main Street Square light rail stop at Sakowitz building with the greenstreet garage, hotel Alessandra, NRG Energy office high rise, Toyota center (one of the main draws outside of shoppers in the new retail district, saving people a half mile walk if the weather is nasty), a condo tower (yellow) I implemented into the expanded greenstreet, and discovery green, and shops at Houston center, all together (and more importantly to light rail) to form a more cohesive retail district and open opportunities for mom and pop shops/vendors to sell stuff downtown for cheap.

Here is a Greenway Plaza people mover (black), between Weslayan, and the high rises and apartments on the opposite side of Buffalo Speedway.

It would be elevated above Norfolk Street and Greenway Plaza dr. The light rail (blue) would eventually connect to the people mover through a pedestrian skybridge/moving walkway down Edloe from the station on Westpark.

And here is a monorail through the greater uptown area, linking at least 7 different mixed use developments through a circulator loop down Sage, San Felipe, the ROW along the railroad tracks through Highland Village, and Wetheimer.

[IronTiger]

I already did post my "Red Line South" plans earlier, so I'm going to tend to elaborate on that. I'm of the opinion that a good light rail plan should work with a good road plan and not against it, so I'm going to also include road connections. Basically, we tear down the concrete plant or whatever south of Kirby and extend it. Meanwhile, the light rail goes OVER the railroad, Holmes, and NB Fannin and becomes sunken in the Fannin median (not affecting lanes or turns) until it eventually goes underground. The second picture is to show the interaction of Kirby and Reed because I'm a big roadgeek and wanted to show how that intersection would work. Kirby, of course, goes straight down to Airport Blvd., finishes up to Orem, and eliminates Anagnost as it connects to Beltway 8 at last. But we're focusing on the rail for now.

[cloud713]

I think I may be trying to push the envelope too far. These elevated people movers don't quite seem practical except for linking the buildings to Main Street Square and the light rail.

Like the retail district people movers, this "sky train" would span the rooftops of buildings with similar roof heights in the same vicinity.

The red line is 752' in the air (the average of the heights of the three yellow buildings, which range from 741' to 762') center point energy plaza, enterprise plaza, and heritage plaza.

The green line is 512' in the air, the average of the 4 pink buildings which vary in height from 502' to 522'. Two Allen center, total plaza, kinder Morgan tower, and reliant energy plaza.

The green line could also link into the side of the Centerpoint energy plaza tower to connect the green line with the red line (by elevator).

Edited July 2, 2014 by cloud713

[Sparrow]

Everybody talks of a Hardy Yards or Post Office HSR station. I would build an EaDo HSR terminal.

 

Land is cheaper and largely unused. I would largely alter the street plan of the area--its largely discontinuous at the moment due to the rail line, Minute Maid, and BBVA Compass. An EaDo HSR station location would provide the most direct access for expansion to Galveston. Both the Green Line and the Purple Line will stop at the EaDo light rail station to which this would have immediate access. Both the Red Line and one day the University Line would be a short two stop transfer away. The convention center is just one stop away. This location would provide easy freeway access via US 59. A signature tower (office, hotel, mixed use?) would be connected via sky bridge to the rail station. Two other less significant office buildings would be included as well as a residential tower and a residential mid-rise.

 

The most radical idea of the plan would be to build a mall on the site. While Downtown may be struggling with retail, and the Galleria dominates the Houston tourism shopping market, if you really think about it, a mall makes sense. Convention goers shop. Travelers shop. The Galleria is across town thru traffic congestion. The areas surrounding Downtown are gentrifying. Go big or go home. A company like GGP without a presence inside the Beltway might venture to take a share of the business from Simon and the Galleria.

 

Of course despite prime light rail location as mentioned, parking would need to be plentiful. The Astros, the Dynamo, the mall, and the rail line would all be heavy users of structured parking. The two less significant office towers and the mall would be on top of several levels of parking.   

 

 

[cloud713]

Everybody talks of a Hardy Yards or Post Office HSR station. I would build an EaDo HSR terminal.

 

Land is cheaper and largely unused. I would largely alter the street plan of the area--its largely discontinuous at the moment due to the rail line, Minute Maid, and BBVA Compass. An EaDo HSR station location would provide the most direct access for expansion to Galveston. Both the Green Line and the Purple Line will stop at the EaDo light rail station to which this would have immediate access. Both the Red Line and one day the University Line would be a short two stop transfer away. The convention center is just one stop away. This location would provide easy freeway access via US 59. A signature tower (office, hotel, mixed use?) would be connected via sky bridge to the rail station. Two other less significant office buildings would be included as well as a residential tower and a residential mid-rise.

 

The most radical idea of the plan would be to build a mall on the site. While Downtown may be struggling with retail, and the Galleria dominates the Houston tourism shopping market, if you really think about it, a mall makes sense. Convention goers shop. Travelers shop. The Galleria is across town thru traffic congestion. The areas surrounding Downtown are gentrifying. Go big or go home. A company like GGP without a presence inside the Beltway might venture to take a share of the business from Simon and the Galleria.

 

Of course despite prime light rail location as mentioned, parking would need to be plentiful. The Astros, the Dynamo, the mall, and the rail line would all be heavy users of structured parking. The two less significant office towers and the mall would be on top of several levels of parking.   

DOOOD... way to think outside the box! that area has a ton of potential (see my fantasy sketch below), and you are right. land is cheap (compared to downtown). im loving the HSR location, but id probably do a few things differently. not sure i would have an office tower be the first thing linked to a HSR station. maybe a hotel or something. also as much as i feel the idea of bringing more people to the downtown area with retail, im not sure a suburban style mall is the best approach. besides, the population surrounding downtown is much less than the population of greater Uptown. and the income difference is quite a bit too, so building a large mall in that area seems risky until you get the east end fully gentrified and a good 20k people living downtown. and that could be a couple decades.. 

im going to fool around with that idea with my little fantasy sketches (hope you dont mind)..

(for this new district i sunk 59 between the convention center and Commerce St. i just think it makes for the best connection of seaming the east end and downtown together. i also consolidated all of the parking spaces into two garages, with a condo tower, apartment mid rise and a hotel. i might incorporate some of this fantasy [i realize the hotel and part of the park on the far east would have to go/be relocated] into a new fantasy sketch using your HSR location)

[Luminare]

Finally someone else has the same idea as me of an East End station! Thank you Sparrow as I also have it in my scheme I will do some more critiques and stuff maybe tomorrow or monday. Taking an intellectual weekend off lol

[cloud713]

Well this is getting slightly off topic.. Maybe we should start a Design Charrette for Mixed Use/Transit Oriented Developments. Or am i the only one that nerds out scheming up new developments (always dreamed of being a developer. Ha)..

Here's my redesign of Sparrows plans. (I hope you don't take offense to me redesigning the layout..)

I built a long park through the middle to keep the views of downtown from being blocked when you exit the HSR station/first see the city. Sort of how Austin leaves corridors undeveloped of with only short buildings not to block views of the Capital building. Also I figured if that's going to become a new hopping area it could use more green space/an outdoor area between the stadiums and all the development.

[Luminare]

@cloud one Charratte at a time Plus its still on topic because the main core of what you are showing has to do with rail and how it integrates with possible new developments. Once again I'll comment further on these probably tomorrow or monday.

[Montrose1100]

Well this is getting slightly off topic.. Maybe we should start a Design Charrette for Mixed Use/Transit Oriented Developments. Or am i the only one that nerds out scheming up new developments (always dreamed of being a developer. Ha)..

Here's my redesign of Sparrows plans. (I hope you don't take offense to me redesigning the layout..)

I built a long park through the middle to keep the views of downtown from being blocked when you exit the HSR station/first see the city. Sort of how Austin leaves corridors undeveloped of with only short buildings not to block views of the Capital building. Also I figured if that's going to become a new hopping area it could use more green space/an outdoor area between the stadiums and all the development.

I really like the park idea. It's very Mr. Smith goes to Washington.

Would you have a Glorious fountain with statues to greet the entrance of the station in the park? Would you have oaks, or pines, or both? Paths? Or open lawn concept?

I also like how the commuter rail extends all the way from Conroe to Galveston. These satelite cities will become more centers of local activity for jobs, shopping and entertainment. Connecting then to the mother unit (Houston), is important.

[cloud713]

I really like the park idea. It's very Mr. Smith goes to Washington.

Would you have a Glorious fountain with statues to greet the entrance of the station in the park? Would you have oaks, or pines, or both? Paths? Or open lawn concept?

I also like how the commuter rail extends all the way from Conroe to Galveston. These satelite cities will become more centers of local activity for jobs, shopping and entertainment. Connecting then to the mother unit (Houston), is important.

Thanks! Yep, I would definitely have a large water feature and/or statues in the park to greet the visitors. If I ever feel inspired I'll eventually get back to that and design all the buildings and the park. I agree, once we get Metro rail built out (or maybe even start moving forward now since it looks like culberson could hold the last 2 lines up for quite some time) we need to shift focus onto commuter rail. The metro is supposed to have 10 million people by 2040. Were going to need alternate forms of transportation instead of relying on the highway system forever.

[Sparrow]

Cloud, no offense taken at all. A charrette is to bounce varying ideas off one another to arrive at an even better concept. I'm not sure that I'd make so large of a park on such prime real estate. And so close to a freeway no less. Underground parking a la Discovery Green would be a plus however.  You know who would use such a park though? Transients. And put the bus depot there too? Traveling via high speed rail is very luxurious, people will not be traveling via Greyhound in order to take the HSR to Dallas. You are right I think in preserving a view corridor. Designing the St. Emmanuel extension in my site plan as a linear park boulevard to preserve the downtown views would be a great addition without creating a vast parkland area that I believe would attract an unfriendly element.

 

Just rambling a bit, I believe the mall concept is not beyond feasibility. My inspiration comes from Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall. Very much an urban concept, 5 stories tall, street level retail, parking garages, two anchors (including a Nordstrom). In the heart of downtown Anchorage, 5th Avenue Mall doesn't disrupt the street level character, it adds to the fabric. Look at Google street view to see how lively the surrounding area is. What better concept to greet travelers and tourists alike?

 

My thinking is this: traveler arrives via HSR from Dallas for week long convention at GRB and intends on staying at a downtown hotel. If traveler intends on using LRT he/she will walk to the EaDO/Stadium station via enclosed skywalk (hot, rainy, etc.) or along the street. Commercially it makes sense to have store fronts along both corridors and to have both enclosed and outdoor options. A clear, well signed, interesting, friendly, walkable route is a must. People don't want complications. At the same time, actually having the traveler have to travel a short distance does open up the possibilities for retail, where HSR to LRT direct connect would not.

 

Street level retail spread throughout downtown is a great thought, but at the same time planners should not overlook why people love going to places like the Galleria or The Woodlands Mall even to this day. Malls aren't dying, poorly planned and designed malls are dying. What better location for a mall could there be? All four sides of the location would have heavy usage--convention, two sports stadiums, and a transit hub. Three major mass transit links via the two LRT lines and the HSR line. Major road connections in US 59, Texas/Harrisburg, and Navigation. While in the short run a mall would likely take away some street level retail for downtown, in the long run a highly popular, well visited mall would create even more demand than would have existed otherwise--look at Uptown if you need an example.   

[Sparrow]

As an aside, if planners were truly imaginative and wanted to preserve a spectacular view of downtown for arriving HSR travelers, they would put the HSR station on top of the GRB.

[cloud713]

Cloud, no offense taken at all. A charrette is to bounce varying ideas off one another to arrive at an even better concept. I'm not sure that I'd make so large of a park on such prime real estate. And so close to a freeway no less. Underground parking a la Discovery Green would be a plus however.  You know who would use such a park though? Transients. And put the bus depot there too? Traveling via high speed rail is very luxurious, people will not be traveling via Greyhound in order to take the HSR to Dallas. You are right I think in preserving a view corridor. Designing the St. Emmanuel extension in my site plan as a linear park boulevard to preserve the downtown views would be a great addition without creating a vast parkland area that I believe would attract an unfriendly element.

 

Just rambling a bit, I believe the mall concept is not beyond feasibility. My inspiration comes from Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall. Very much an urban concept, 5 stories tall, street level retail, parking garages, two anchors (including a Nordstrom). In the heart of downtown Anchorage, 5th Avenue Mall doesn't disrupt the street level character, it adds to the fabric. Look at Google street view to see how lively the surrounding area is. What better concept to greet travelers and tourists alike?

 

My thinking is this: traveler arrives via HSR from Dallas for week long convention at GRB and intends on staying at a downtown hotel. If traveler intends on using LRT he/she will walk to the EaDO/Stadium station via enclosed skywalk (hot, rainy, etc.) or along the street. Commercially it makes sense to have store fronts along both corridors and to have both enclosed and outdoor options. A clear, well signed, interesting, friendly, walkable route is a must. People don't want complications. At the same time, actually having the traveler have to travel a short distance does open up the possibilities for retail, where HSR to LRT direct connect would not.

 

Street level retail spread throughout downtown is a great thought, but at the same time planners should not overlook why people love going to places like the Galleria or The Woodlands Mall even to this day. Malls aren't dying, poorly planned and designed malls are dying. What better location for a mall could there be? All four sides of the location would have heavy usage--convention, two sports stadiums, and a transit hub. Three major mass transit links via the two LRT lines and the HSR line. Major road connections in US 59, Texas/Harrisburg, and Navigation. While in the short run a mall would likely take away some street level retail for downtown, in the long run a highly popular, well visited mall would create even more demand than would have existed otherwise--look at Uptown if you need an example.   

 

i guess i just dont see it as being "such prime real estate" considering right now its a just couple very large and underused surface parking lots for the two stadiums. plus Discovery Green gets too overrun with large events and doesnt have enough time for the grass to grow back, so another large park would help alleviate that. agreed, underground parking would be awesome. i dont see why it would be "transients" who use this park, yet Discovery Green isnt overrun by transients..? surely there would need to be some light security presence around the park, but thats not unusual for areas in inner cities. i dont think you understand the "bus depot". its not supposed to be for greyhound. if they were on greyhound already why wouldnt they just take the bus to Dallas? its for METRO busses. because not everyone in Houston lives near the 3 light rail lines... i agree HSR is "luxurious". i still dont understand why that park is going to be overrun by transients, but Discovery Green, and the Sister Cities Plaza(?) park/corridor south of BBVA wont attract transients. just get a few security guards on bikes/segway/foot to patrol the area if it becomes a problem.

interesting inspiration. ive been to Anchorage before. its a touristy town, with not much outside of the city. downtown is THE spot in the city. Houston is not developed in the same way. for one, we arent really a tourist town. we also are sprawled across 8(?) counties, with countless hot spots of urban activity across the metro. theGalleria does so well because its surrounded by such a large high income population. a mall in EaDo does not have the same luxury. there is a very minimal draw of nearby high income shoppers, without making them drive across the city, in which case they might as well go to theGalleria or somewhere else closer than EaDo. dont get me wrong, i love the idea, and wish GreenStreet would become a little more urban, but i just dont see something like 5th Ave Mall being able to sustain itself in that area for the next few decades/until the east end and near north side fully gentrifies..

true.. i would have retractable horizontal roman shades above my walkways through the corridors between developments. potentially an underground tunnel for hot/nasty weather, but id rather not bring the people underground/miss the "grand entrance" to Houston.

agreed with the last paragraph..

 

As an aside, if planners were truly imaginative and wanted to preserve a spectacular view of downtown for arriving HSR travelers, they would put the HSR station on top of the GRB.

heh. you know im down with this. im the one who has been proposing repurposing the roof of the GRB CC into a TopGolf and sports complex for so long everyone in here is probably sick of hearing about it. lol..

[BigFootsSocks]

As an aside, if planners were truly imaginative and wanted to preserve a spectacular view of downtown for arriving HSR travelers, they would put the HSR station on top of the GRB.

. Can you explain your reasoning behind this? Is it because of it's close proximity to all of the event spaces around it? I assume it would create a pretty solid urban core but I like to think this area already has the potential to develop into that. Wouldn't you rather they place it somewhere that it can position itself to be the catalyst for another strong and "lively" urban center?

[Sparrow]

. Can you explain your reasoning behind this? Is it because of it's close proximity to all of the event spaces around it? I assume it would create a pretty solid urban core but I like to think this area already has the potential to develop into that. Wouldn't you rather they place it somewhere that it can position itself to be the catalyst for another strong and "lively" urban center?

 

Speaking solely in relation to Cloud's suggestion of a downtown skyline view corridor to greet HSR arrivals. No doubt about it he's right that something should be incorporated onto the top of the GRB whether it be a HSR station, Top Golf, soccer fields, helicopter tours, or something else. Houston doesn't have too many views to take in, we should take advantage of those we do have. Wouldn't it be something to add on to the cruise ship theme and add an entertainment deck on top--we do everything bigger here in Texas, why not "make" the world's largest cruise ship. But I digress, getting off topic.

[DNAguy]

As far as the signature downtown stations I'd like to see combine HSR, commuter, light rail, buses, and street cars there really is only two real places to consider:

 

1.) Current downtown post office 

or

2.) Hardy Yards

 

The post office site has some advantages that Hardy doesn't and visa versa. What are the advantages of one site vs another as you guys and gals see them?

 

[cloud713]

Hardy yards - direct light rail access

Post office site - actually in downtown..

[lithiumaneurysm]

Sorry if I'm a bit late to this game, but here's the rail and bus plan I've been working on for the past couple of weeks. Orange is commuter/heavy rail, blue is light rail, yellow is BRT:

 

 

You can also download a .kmz file for Google Earth here, which includes some hypothetical stations as well.

 

I've tried to make this plan as realistic as possible considering the myriad of constraints that METRO and the city are forced to operate in when it comes to public transit. The commuter and light rail lines make use of existing freight rail ROWs, undeveloped tracts of land and avenues with wide medians. The BRT lines are designed to service high-density areas with roads that, again, are probably wide enough to incorporate them.

 

Using the metro systems of well-developed cities (like London and Paris) as references, I've tried to constrain light rail to within the Loop. I've only added one completely new light rail line to METRO's existing and proposed five – the Heights line. In the aforementioned cities, the commuter and subway systems are integrated so that travelers use commuter to from the suburbs then transfer to the underground/light rail for service to the inner-city. Light rail would be inefficient outside the Loop as density drops and speed becomes more of a concern than accessibility. It's unreasonable to expect a commuter to take a light rail line from IAH to Downtown, for example – that would be far too slow and many areas between the Loop and Beltway 8 are sparsely developed.

 

The foundation of this system is the nine commuter rail lines that radiate out of the Loop:

• Katy Line: replaces the Katy Freeway toll lanes. Runs from the Somerset Green to a new transit center near Katy Mills Mall.
• Woodlands / North Line: runs up the Hardy Toll Road to Greenspoint, then replaces the North Freeway HOV lanes to the Woodlands. Includes a spur line that services the airport.
• Westpark Line: follows the Westpark Tollway out to Cinco Ranch. Begins at the Uptown TC.
• Hempstead Line: follows the Hempstead Highway out to Cypress. Begins at Somerset Green.
• Galveston Line: follows freight ROW from Downtown to Interstate 45, replaces HOV lanes out to NASA Road 1, then follows freight ROW to Galveston.
• Highway 90 / Sugar Land Line: a commuter line that is already being considered by METRO and H-GAC. Runs along existing freight ROW parallel to Hwy. 90 out to Sugar Land.
• Pearland Line: a short line that runs from the South Fannin TC to the western suburbs of Pearland, utilizing the wide 288 median. I'm a bit skeptical about the practicality of this line.
• Bellaire Line: one of the most important lines in the system, the Bellaire Line provides an essential north-south connection between the Sugar Land, Westpark, Katy and Hempstead lines. This runs along an existing freight / utility ROW from the Sugar Land line up to Somerset Green. 
• Washington Line: the shortest line in the system, running down the existing freight line ROW from Somerset Green to Downtown. Probably one of the busiest as well, since it connects the Bellaire, Katy and Hempstead lines with the Galveston and Woodlands lines.

The lines converge at five "nodes" which act as the main transfer points for commuters coming from the suburbs into the Loop (or vice-versa). These are marked with stars in the .kmz file:

• The Park Place roundabout at the Gulf Freeway
• South Fannin TC
• Uptown TC
• Somerset Green (stealing the name from that new Hines development because I'm too lazy to think of anything else)
• Downtown

A commuter arriving at any of these five nodes should be able to easily access a large number of other areas in the metro area. Centralizing rail and bus service at these locations makes the act of transferring between lines much simpler and overall navigation of the system less complicated. The main node – Downtown – is located where the current post office is. This is a prime location because it provides easy access to Downtown and the light rail system, and it's the site of a future walkable mixed-use development – a "gateway" of sorts to the central business district.

 

However, this system (or any proposed metro system for Houston) won't work without ample bus service reaching into the depths of the suburbs, providing as direct a connection as possible between suburban neighborhoods and the commuter rail lines. A good example of this model working in a low-density city can be found in Perth, Australia (coincidentally one of Houston's international sister cities): although the rail component of their metro system is only comprised of five lines radiating out of the city center, high ridership is achieved through a comprehensive bus network that services the suburban sprawl. Maps of the Perth bus system can be found on page 14 of this report, which also notes that "84.7% of Perth properties are within 500m [0.3 mile] of a Transperth service." This high degree of accessibility makes it easy to hop on a bus, transfer onto a rail line and travel into the city. The BRT lines I've included in this plan attempt to address the accessibility issue by providing localized, high-frequency routes that commuters can follow to transfer onto the main commuter lines. When it comes to suburban service, I prefer BRT for its flexibility with the existing bus system, relative ease of construction and inexpensive nature. Of course, the BRT lines I've created are only a piece of the puzzle – they're supposed to provide an alternative to traffic on heavily traveled arterial roads. METRO will need additional funding for its existing bus network to allow for expansion into areas further outside the city. Traditional bus routes that follow unmodified surface roads are undoubtedly part of this plan, although they aren't on the map above.

 

This system should also make extensive use of Houston's well-constructed Park & Ride system. In a city as sprawling and low-density as Houston, it's unreasonable to expect that the bus network could reach every single neighborhood (unless the government suddenly has a desire to spend immense amounts of money). For those who are too out of the way to access a bus – which would probably be a very large number of people – P&R is the next best thing. I've tried to incorporate existing P&Rs into the commuter rail network, but METRO should probably construct more of them if something like this were actually going to be implemented.

 

There are a number of problems with this system that will need to be addressed:

• Walkability. It is extremely difficult for a public transit system to succeed without some level of walkability involved, which is very unfortunate for auto-dependent metropolises like Houston and Dallas. Urban planner Jeff Speck notes in his book Walkable City that the low ridership on the Dallas DART system is in large part due to the failure of planners to properly incorporate pedestrian accessibility when configuring routes and designing stations. Commuters in Houston are not going to use the system if they're going to be dumped in dilapidated/industrial areas or onto extra-wide traffic-clogged roads without sidewalks or dedicated pedestrian crossings. Making stations friendly to walkers is an essential part of making public transit preferable to driving. The city has to go out of its way to ensure pedestrians can access the areas they're using the system to get to, especially when it comes to mixed-use developments. For example, someone getting off at the Memorial City station on the Katy Line should be able to use a pedestrian tunnel or bridge to access the mall directly from the station, without having to interact whatsoever with the wide, hot, heavily trafficked Katy Freeway feeder roads.
• Speed. In order to attract riders, this system needs to beat rush hour traffic. I'd encourage METRO to start an all out advertising blitz showing the benefits of commuter rail as opposed to driving. In addition, the number of stations along each line needs to be balanced with the need to get commuters into and out of the city speedily. 
• This system doesn't really address large swaths of the east side of the city. I don't know much about places like the Fifth Ward or Pasadena, and I didn't really notice any viable ROWs that commuter lines could be placed on to access these areas. It would be unfair to deny these parts of the metro access to a quality transportation network. In addition, there's no link to Kingwood.
• There is a serious lack of north-south transfer lines. This is due to the nature of Houston's existing freeway system – a radial freeway / beltway system, as opposed to a grid – which simply is not suited for the multiple business districts that the city has developed. If all commerce were centered on Downtown this wouldn't be as much of an issue, but since business districts are so haphazardly scattered around the metro, commuters on this system would need to transfer more often – and nobody wants to ride a train all the way into Downtown just to transfer between lines. The Bellaire Line is so important for this reason. I'd like to add another north-south line on the westside of the city, but the ROW doesn't seem to be readily available. I'm also concerned about what I see as a lack of service to the Spring/Cypress/FM 1960 and Katy Prairie suburbs.
• The Pearland Line is short, travels through undeveloped areas and doesn't even service much of Pearland in the first place. I'm not sure if it's a good idea, regardless of how well-suited Highway 288's wide median is to mass transit.

I'll probably be expanding on/rethinking this plan as time goes on. It's always a work in progress!

Edited July 17, 2014 by lithiumaneurysm

[mollusk]

 

•  In addition, there's no link to Kingwood.

 

That one's easy to fix.  Just continue the IAH spur east along Will Clayton (plenty of median there), then hang a left to go north up the 59/69 HOV lanes out to Deadwood (The Leaveable Forest*).

 

 

*(h/t my brother in law who lived there for a while).

[lithiumaneurysm]

That one's easy to fix.  Just continue the IAH spur east along Will Clayton (plenty of median there), then hang a left to go north up the 59/69 HOV lanes out to Deadwood (The Leaveable Forest*).

 

 

*(h/t my brother in law who lived there for a while).

 

haha, that's a good idea. Added the rail link so that people can leave more quickly. Also made a few other changes:

 

 

I decided to get rid of the original Pearland line and replace it with the Fresno line, which should service the growing west end of that area. The new Pearland line runs along the Spur 5 ROW, branching off of the Galveston line. This allows for a potential expansion down to Friendswood. In addition, I've extended the Hwy. 90 / Sugar Land Line to connect with the new Pearland line. This creates a loop around central Houston, which allows for better accessibility to George Bush Intercontinental from the southern suburbs and makes transferring between lines less of a hassle. This also creates a sixth node at South Union (near the existing Southeast Line OST/South Union station). A more detailed .kmz file is here.

 

I also created a rough-yet-cool-looking metro map with (probably unprofitable) fare zones:

 

[mkultra25]

That one's easy to fix.  Just continue the IAH spur east along Will Clayton (plenty of median there), then hang a left to go north up the 59/69 HOV lanes out to Deadwood (The Leaveable Forest*).

 

 

*(h/t my brother in law who lived there for a while).

 

One of the regulars at a bar I used to hang out at some years ago was a resident. He frequently referred to it as "Kingweed: The Smokable Forest".

 

Judging from some of the novel-length entries for Kingwood at Urban Dictionary, I'm guessing that not much has changed there since then. 

[cloud713]

haha, that's a good idea. Added the rail link so that people can leave more quickly. Also made a few other changes:

 

 

I decided to get rid of the original Pearland line and replace it with the Fresno line, which should service the growing west end of that area. The new Pearland line runs along the Spur 5 ROW, branching off of the Galveston line. This allows for a potential expansion down to Friendswood. In addition, I've extended the Hwy. 90 / Sugar Land Line to connect with the new Pearland line. This creates a loop around central Houston, which allows for better accessibility to George Bush Intercontinental from the southern suburbs and makes transferring between lines less of a hassle. This also creates a sixth node at South Union (near the existing Southeast Line OST/South Union station). A more detailed .kmz file is here.

 

I also created a rough-yet-cool-looking metro map with (probably unprofitable) fare zones:

 

doood.. great work. though i would rather keep the original 288 line (as a resident of 288 South, i am biased towards this though. heh) and just add an old Pearland route down Spur 5. but the Metro Map is fantastic. question. why didnt you extend the Uptown LRT line to the Northwest TC? and i LOVE your Bellaire commuter rail line connecting 90A to the Westpark Line, all the way north to the Hempstead Line. i implemented this idea in some of my transit maps posted somewhere in here, but my only concern was the residents of places like Afton Oaks opposing more rail lines built along side the current freight lines.

[lithiumaneurysm]

doood.. great work. though i would rather keep the original 288 line (as a resident of 288 South, i am biased towards this though. heh) and just add an old Pearland route down Spur 5. but the Metro Map is fantastic. question. why didnt you extend the Uptown LRT line to the Northwest TC? and i LOVE your Bellaire commuter rail line connecting 90A to the Westpark Line, all the way north to the Hempstead Line. i implemented this idea in some of my transit maps posted somewhere in here, but my only concern was the residents of places like Afton Oaks opposing more rail lines built along side the current freight lines.

 

Thanks man! Really you could exchange the Fulton Line for the original 288 line, it wouldn't make that much of a difference in terms of populations served. I think the map is a little confusing with regard to the Uptown LRT – it does connect with the Northwest TC, which is on the Katy Line. I think you were looking at the Northwest station directly north of the TC on the Hempstead Line, which would be in the vicinity of Northwest Mall.

 

The Bellaire Line is the most important one! If this plan were ever going to happen (one can dream, right?) it would have to be the first or second one constructed. It really ties everything together. I did take into consideration the fact that some of the wealthier parts of town would be opposed to public transit. That's why I didn't really connect the Memorial Villages or River Oaks to even a simple BRT line... chances are they just wouldn't have that. But the Bellaire line passes along a utility ROW that's already pretty well concealed from River Oaks and Afton Oaks, and it's not like it's a particularly attractive stretch of land in the first place. Until recently it seems to have been covered with surface parking. Hopefully that would put off neighborhood opposition, but considering the reception the University Line has gotten over the past few years I could be too optimistic.

[cloud713]

Thanks man! Really you could exchange the Fulton Line for the original 288 line, it wouldn't make that much of a difference in terms of populations served. I think the map is a little confusing with regard to the Uptown LRT – it does connect with the Northwest TC, which is on the Katy Line. I think you were looking at the Northwest station directly north of the TC on the Hempstead Line, which would be in the vicinity of Northwest Mall.

 

The Bellaire Line is the most important one! If this plan were ever going to happen (one can dream, right?) it would have to be the first or second one constructed. It really ties everything together. I did take into consideration the fact that some of the wealthier parts of town would be opposed to public transit. That's why I didn't really connect the Memorial Villages or River Oaks to even a simple BRT line... chances are they just wouldn't have that. But the Bellaire line passes along a utility ROW that's already pretty well concealed from River Oaks and Afton Oaks, and it's not like it's a particularly attractive stretch of land in the first place. Until recently it seems to have been covered with surface parking. Hopefully that would put off neighborhood opposition, but considering the reception the University Line has gotten over the past few years I could be too optimistic.

oops, yeah i meant the Northwest Station at/near the Northwest Mall. i figured it could serve as a short cut link from the Hempstead line to Uptown.

agreed the "Bellaire line" is pretty important.

what street is the LRT going down to get to Hobby? Broadway? ive always dreamed of rail coming down the median of Broadway straight to the front entrance of Hobby. heh..

Edited July 19, 2014 by cloud713

[lithiumaneurysm]

oops, yeah i meant the Northwest Station at/near the Northwest Mall. i figured it could serve as a short cut link from the Hempstead line to Uptown.

agreed the "Bellaire line" is pretty important.

what street is the LRT going down to get to Hobby? Broadway? ive always dreamed of rail coming down the median of Broadway straight to the front entrance of Hobby. heh..

 

That's a good point. It could just run up that stretch of N. Post Oak. I'll add it to the map.

 

haha yep, the LRT does cut straight down Broadway. Every time I drive down that road I think of how perfect it would be for a light rail connection

[cloud713]

The Upper Kirby subway line - revisited

Ok so now that we have Hanovers new 38ish story tower planned, the proposed Kirby Collection, the rumored redevelopment of the shopping center at Richmond and Kirby, of course along with West Ave I and II, wanting to build a Phase III, 2727 Kirby, The Huntington, ect.. I think it's time to look at a solution to the coming Upper Kirby traffic issues. Mine is a subway from Holcome/Bellaire, through Rice Village, Upper Kirby, and River Oaks, before popping out at/just past Shepherd and linking up with a surface Memorial express rail line, linking the Upper Kirby line (and Post Oak) directly to Downtown. Surface light rail is an option on Kirby I guess, but i don't see River Oaks residents allowing trains to roll up and down the streets, plus Kirby could probably use all the room possible for figure road expansion instead of having rail take up 2-3 lanes.

Edited August 13, 2014 by cloud713

[Sky-guy]

I'd have light rail along Kirby from Reliant/NRG park (where it would intersect with the red line) until Wallenberg Parkway to dountown where it would end where the green/purple lines start. But, if have it go underground while going through West University(?) and river oaks.

[Sky-guy]

I can't edit my post for some reason. I meant Allen PKWY, not Wallenberg.

[nonenadazilch]

Sorry if I'm a bit late to this game, but here's the rail and bus plan I've been working on for the past couple of weeks. Orange is commuter/heavy rail, blue is light rail, yellow is BRT:

 

...

I'll probably be expanding on/rethinking this plan as time goes on. It's always a work in progress!

 

 

Nice to see such an example of thought & foresight concerning rail implementation.  Perhaps someone knowledgeable could augment your excellent post with even rough cost or funding scenarios. 

 

Since there seems to be momentum from the private sector for high-speed rail linking Houston-Dallas, perhaps local officials in Harris County could persuade Texas Central Railway to steer the bullet train from its College Station stop as it enters the Houston metro area and terminate in downtown instead of the Galleria.  State official Todd Houghton suggests the current plan has CS as the bullet train's single stop and the Galleria be the Houston terminus.  Why not steer the bullet train from CS to the Woodlands, into IAH, and continue into downtown instead?  Doing so would serve as the de facto Woodlands-IAH-downtown commuter line.  Imagine the cost savings impact to the entire regional rail plan if TCR offers more consideration of Houston's needs. 

 

Though the outlays to build appear to be 100% private, Houghton's comments appear to indicate that the state advocates it but it seems only fair that the state ought to consider the Houston region once the fast train enters the northern suburbs.  As it currently stands, TCR's scenario excludes this enormous opportunity.  Perhaps a Metro or federal funding component could simultaneously help offset TCR's costs while addressing north Houston rail demand. 

 

Hopefully, local or state officials have sway and insist TCR's plan gives due consideration to Houston as it does for DFW.

 

 

 

 

 

[Luminare]

From what it seems the guy that this reporter with the Telegram talked to is obviously not someone from higher up as it very much conflicts with the President of Texas Central Railway that he was going to pursue a downtown to downtown connection. I don't mind maybe a stop at the galleria or near it, but it's appeal was that you could get from downtown of one city to another downtown! Until the President himself states that it stops at the Galleria then I will believe it. Until then I'm pretty sure the original plan is still going forward.

[Sparrow]

If light rail were to extend from the terminus of the Purple and Green lines westward toward Uptown and the NW Transit Center, which of the two straight forward choices would be most advantageous and why?

 

Just thinking aloud here for a second, but I would foresee a faster and perhaps cheaper build for a Memorial line that would highlight Houston's park system. But at the same time a line down Washington (or even better perhaps Washington and Center Street??) would likely lead to higher ridership potential and more urban development. Let's be realistic here, you can't build both.

 

Does Metro have any info on a future extension into this area of town? Surely one would think if TCR does opt for a Galleria "area" high speed rail station, Metro would seek to establish a direct Downtown connection.

[lithiumaneurysm]

If light rail were to extend from the terminus of the Purple and Green lines westward toward Uptown and the NW Transit Center, which of the two straight forward choices would be most advantageous and why?

 

Just thinking aloud here for a second, but I would foresee a faster and perhaps cheaper build for a Memorial line that would highlight Houston's park system. But at the same time a line down Washington (or even better perhaps Washington and Center Street??) would likely lead to higher ridership potential and more urban development. Let's be realistic here, you can't build both.

 

Does Metro have any info on a future extension into this area of town? Surely one would think if TCR does opt for a Galleria "area" high speed rail station, Metro would seek to establish a direct Downtown connection.

 

I think I remember seeing some discussion about a Memorial parkway line somewhere on the internet. Seems like the consensus was that it's not really feasible because the parkway itself doesn't have good pedestrian connectivity with surrounding development, but the access to the parks would be a huge bonus.

 

I don't think a line down Washington Ave. itself is possible considering how narrow that ROW is, but one running down the freight line ROW parallel to Washington would be absolutely perfect.

 

A few months ago somebody on either Swamplot or HAIF noticed the weird terminus at the west end of Downtown and asked Metro about it, and they explicitly denied any plans to extend the rail in that direction. I don't think it's really on the drawing board for them, but who knows?

 

Also, here's the "completed" version of my rail plan from above. Not too many changes:

 

The news that TCR wants to build its terminus station near the Galleria does mess things up a bit, though...