METRORapid University Corridor

[hindesky]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/Metro-s-next-step-to-a-bigger-transit-system-is-17323310.php

[editor]

In light of the map title, I suggest we now refer to this project as "Big BeRT."

Also, it should be the Yellow Line.

 

[BEES?!]

Metro’s recent virtual meeting about the University corridor line is on youtube:

They are also running a survey (the one shown in the video), but I did not see a link to that. 

[rechlin]

The survey link is here (there was a QR code with this address on the video, and it's also linked from the main project site):

https://ridemetro.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4SJWbsekHAVTR9c

[august948]

Houston METRO to receive over $21 million for electric buses from federal grant program

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/transportation/2022/08/12/430614/houston-metro-to-receive-over-21-million-for-electric-buses-from-federal-grant-program/

 

 

[Texasota]

neat, but seemingly unrelated - these are replacements for the general fleet.

[kennyc05]

Sorry if this has already been answered but will Richmond be rebuilt and on the other BRT routes planned are the streets being rebuilt or is it as needed?

[wilcal]

5 hours ago, kennyc05 said:

Sorry if this has already been answered but will Richmond be rebuilt and on the other BRT routes planned are the streets being rebuilt or is it as needed?

I believe the entire line will end up with a dedicated lane just for the BRT line, so almost all of it will need to be rebuilt. 

If you watch this video it will show you what the configuration is currently planned as: 

 

[j.33]

5 hours ago, kennyc05 said:

Sorry if this has already been answered but will Richmond be rebuilt and on the other BRT routes planned are the streets being rebuilt or is it as needed?

Yes, all the roads and sidewalks along the BRT corridor will be rebuilt. 

[kennyc05]

15 minutes ago, wilcal said:

I believe the entire line will end up with a dedicated lane just for the BRT line, so almost all of it will need to be rebuilt. 

If you watch this video it will show you what the configuration is currently planned as: 

 

 

7 minutes ago, Justin Welling said:

Yes, all the roads and sidewalks along the BRT corridor will be rebuilt. 

Thanks appreciate the responses!

[samagon]

I believe they also rebuild the sidewalks within a specific distance of the lines as well?

[77002er]

On 10/3/2022 at 10:02 PM, Justin Welling said:

Yes, all the roads and sidewalks along the BRT corridor will be rebuilt. 

I wish, but if history has taught me anything, they will rebuild all the sections of the BRT route except the stretch from the spur through Shepherd .... they obviously think that rotten roads and broken sidewalks add "character" to the neighborhood

[Texasota]

Unclear what history you're referring to. When building the red line, green line, purple line, and the Uptown BRT they completely rebuilt the entire street/sidewalks etc.

Now, on Harrisburg that was admittedly to mixed results - the sidewalks are too narrow in some places. But they're definitely new and not "broken".

[Texasota]

On a positive note, from the last Bicycle Advisory Committe meeting slides, it looks like the City *is* coordinating with Metro for bike lanes + BRT on Lockwood.

PowerPoint Presentation (secureserver.net)

[felt38]

From the public meeting posted above, it looks like the schedule is that construction is projected to start in 2025 and finish by 2028.  We all know these things take longer, but at least that's what we're starting with.

Currently METRO is in project development for this route and begins engineering phase in the next year or so.

[004n063]

On 11/12/2022 at 1:15 AM, felt38 said:

From the public meeting posted above, it looks like the schedule is that construction is projected to start in 2025 and finish by 2028.  We all know these things take longer, but at least that's what we're starting with.

Currently METRO is in project development for this route and begins engineering phase in the next year or so.

I remember when the Silver Line was being built the line on BRT over LRT was that BRT was so much quicker to build...

[BeerNut]

[hindesky]

https://www.ridemetro.org/about/metronext/metrorapid/metrorapid-university-corridor-project/#UpcomingEvents

[HouTXRanger]

Attended the Zoom meeting on the 28th. They said they were at 30% design completion. Some interesting tidbits:

• They plan for 6-minute frequency during peak hours, just like the redline (why doesn't the silver line BRT run this frequent?).
• The alignment between the Wheeler Transit Center and UH is now as follows: directly east on Wheeler to Ennis Street, north on Ennis Street to Elgin, east on Elgin Street until it turns into Lockwood when it crosses 45. They said this was changed after feedback to serve the residents of 3rd Ward better instead of just trying to get from Wheeler to UH as directly as possible.
• On Lockwood, there will be a bridge over the rail line between Rusk and Harrisburg.
  • They are committed to doing the bridge because the R in BRT won't work if the bus gets stopped by trains.
  • A tunnel won't work because the rail line currently acts as a makeshift levy for the neighborhoods to the south, and a tunnel would cause all sorts of knock-on flooding concerns they couldn't touch.
  • The bridge will not include space for cars, but they are going to add space for bikes and pedestrians, or at least some way for bikes and pedestrians to use the bridge to cross the tracks.
  • They also made a point of saying they would fund artwork at the bridge on Lockwood to make it suck less, I assume something like what they did for the green line bridge.
• On Lockwood, they said all the older trees on the roadsides should stay, and they only expect to remove the trees in the median.
• Apparently there were actually plans in motion to convert the intersection of Lockwood and Canal into a roundabout, but that won't happen now since they couldn't find a way to make that compatible with the BRT design.
• They are generally trying to avoid ROW eminent domaining wherever they can (of course), only project they often need to do that to make room for stations.
• They are planning on completely rebuilding the street along the entire alignment. So should include utility undergrounding if needed, sidewalk reconstruction, new crossings, better crosswalks, better drains, etc.
• They are taking into account where the project intersects with the high injury network and how to generally design the streets safer since they're rebuilding it all anyway. For instance, on Richmond, you won't be able to cross the BRT lanes at unsignaled intersections, only at intersections with stoplights. They will be adding more signals along that route to make sure the community around Richmond doesn't become too disconnected.
• Claimed plans for security cameras at all stops, and low emission or no emission busses including electric. I personally doubt this one comes to fruition but would be nice.

[trymahjong]

I attended the BRT Metro meeting at HCC-  very informative, great graphics to help with trying to visualize Metros proposal.

[IWantTransit555]

1 hour ago, HouTXRanger said:

They are planning on completely rebuilding the street along the entire alignment. So should include utility undergrounding if needed, sidewalk reconstruction, new crossings, better crosswalks, better drains, etc

Why is this done with all of our major transit projects? Would this not just drive up the price?

[cspwal]

For this project it is probably due to the current condition of the roads. You also need good sidewalks leading to stations for transit to be useful

[004n063]

6 hours ago, cspwal said:

For this project it is probably due to the current condition of the roads. You also need good sidewalks leading to stations for transit to be useful

It's also an investment in the corridor that, done right, could transform or accelerate development patterns for the next few decades.

[004n063]

10 hours ago, HouTXRanger said:

They plan for 6-minute frequency during peak hours, just like the redline (why doesn't the silver line BRT run this frequent?).

Just a guess, but I think the main purpose of the original silver line was more beta (and advertising) for the UL and IK lines than anything else. Make it look nice, test how the signal priority works, etc., but don't piss off too many people by making traffic in the Galleria even worse without providing much of a commute solution (route-wise, at least).

It wouldn't surprise me if they increase the frequency on the silver line once the IK extension is up and running.

Six minutes on the UL is great, though. I hope they're willing to do the signal prioritization necessary to make that work.

[004n063]

10 hours ago, HouTXRanger said:

The alignment between the Wheeler Transit Center and UH is now as follows: directly east on Wheeler to Ennis Street, north on Ennis Street to Elgin, east on Elgin Street until it turns into Lockwood when it crosses 45. They said this was changed after feedback to serve the residents of 3rd Ward better instead of just trying to get from Wheeler to UH as directly as possible.

My understanding is that the previous route proposal went south at Almeda to Blodgett, so Wheeler-to-Ennis actually straightens the line a bit.

[004n063]

University Corridor project awarded $150M in funding from the federal govt

[hindesky]

"Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a Thursday announcement, said the Metropolitan Transit Authority project will receive $150 million in the upcoming budget of the Federal Transit Administration."

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/metro-brt-fta-buttigieg-17830013.php

[samagon]

 

19 hours ago, hindesky said:

"Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, in a Thursday announcement, said the Metropolitan Transit Authority project will receive $150 million in the upcoming budget of the Federal Transit Administration."

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/metro-brt-fta-buttigieg-17830013.php

it's important to note this still needs to pass congress for those funds to get allocated, this is President Biden's proposed budget.

it's great news that we are 1 of 9 transit projects that are part of this budget.

Quote

The approval, subject to Congress passing the overall budget, marks the first federal funds dedicated to the line...

...one of nine chosen nationally for new funding...

anyway, good news, and based on the wording of the bolded section, there is potential for more funding.

[004n063]

2 hours ago, samagon said:

anyway, good news, and based on the wording of the bolded section, there is potential for more funding.

Yeah, to have more than 10% of the expected cost appropriated from a federal budget at this stage seems good to me, though I could be dead wrong as I have absolutely zero expertise in this.

[004n063]

Metro released a video of the virtual meeting on their YouTube channel. Not much in there that hasn't been covered here, but a couple of details stood out to me:

 

1) They were quite firm in stating that BRT could not be converted to rail in the future. They said it was going to be BRT because that's what the voters wanted, which rubbed me the wrong way: the choice presented to voters in 2018 was BRT or nothing, not BRT or rail.

2) Metro will be constructing a 10-ft multiuse pathway along the Westpark segment only. This is not insignificant; it'll connect to the extension of the Braes Bayou trail, and if they can find a way to extend the Newcastle trail a half mile or so, that will form a (very windy, I expect) closed loop. But while the rest of the route will have improved sidewalks at least 6 feet wide (with possible exceptions for tree preservation?), it won't all be very bike-friendly. Oh well.

3) Though they are not yet at 30% designed, they did include some updated renderings that show the medians between regular traffic and the bus lane as either just a painted buffer or a very minor barrier. This isn't shocking: a) 25 miles of pristine landscaping like silver line would be a tall order, b) Richmond doesn't have the ROW that Post Oak has, and c) that will make it easier for emergency vehicles to use the lane, which they mentioned as an added benefit. However, I suspect we'll see more private vehicles in the lanes as well. Enforcement may need to be stepped up.

4) It appears from those same renderings that they will use dual-sided stations, rather than one on each side of the intersection (though that could just be true for some stations and not others; I'm guessing it was a cost-saving measure that they can only apply where the medians are widest).

5) They mentioned multiple times that the line will have 40 stations, but to my knowledge there is not yet a comprehensive list of those stations.

Edited March 14, 2023 by 004n063
Added a bit