Furious Jam

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4113284.html Light rail in a box? Culberson gives Metro only a little wiggle room in choice of a new route By RAD SALLEE Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle U.S. Rep. John Culberson may have put the Metropolitan Transit Authority in a box by announcing his opposition to light rail on Richmond Avenue

And who decided that you and a few hundred bluebloods could block a rail line that will benefit the entire city? Just because it passes somewhere near your lavish estates?

Hear hear! Jolly good! Let them eat cake! Mass transit is for the masses, not the blue bloods of Afton Oaks. Let them run their little train under the Westpark tollway to pick up all of the dirty daylaborers and other rabble, wilst we journey to the golf course in our Escalades. Tip top!

DOOM! http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4095765.html Metro considers new route option for Richmond rail By RAD SALLEE Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle The Metropolitan Transit Authority is considering new route options along the Southwest Freeway for its controversial University light rail line, reducing the length it would travel on Richmond Avenue. Metro made the announcement tonight after a getting a thumbs down from U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, earlier this week on its two other proposed routes, each of which would have traveled on Richmond from Main to Shepherd or farther. Vocal opposition arose from businesses along the route and from Afton Oaks, a subdivision on Richmond near the West Loop. As a result, Tuesday's expected route recommendation by Metro staff has been postponed for several weeks while consultants develop cost and ridership estimates for the proposed alignments, said agency spokeswoman Sandra Salazar. She said an alignment suggested by City Councilwoman Anne Clutterbuck calls for the line to travel west on Richmond from Metro's current Wheeler station near Main, turn south on Mandell or Dunlavy and follow the north side of the Southwest Freeway to Edloe, where it would cross over to Westpark and continue to the Hillcroft Transit Center. Culberson's suggestion, Metro said, would run "from Richmond in the vicinity of the University of St. Thomas to U.S. 59 (Southwest Freeway) to a transition point into the Westpark right-of-way." Other details were not available. Culberson aide Nick Swyka said the congressman only was asking Metro to look at this proposal, which Swyka said he told Culberson about after learning that Afton Oaks resident Ted Richardson had an idea for an elevated rail beside the Southwest Freeway. Because the routes would pass through Councilwoman Ada Edwards' district, Metro said, her approval will be sought. Metro said Clutterbuck's proposed route would pass through the Richwood Place and Castle Court neighborhoods and along the city's Ervan Chew Park at Dunlavy and Castle Court. Laura Mullen, president of the Richwood Place Civic Association, expressed dismay at the news. "They would be condemning properties from Dunlavy to Shepherd," she said. "There are people who have their fences right behind the sound walls (that protect the neighborhood from freeway noise). "Are they going through a Little League field (in Chew Park)?" she asked. "The field abuts the sound wall. "Our neighborhood is split 50-50 on having rail on Richmond, so this is going to be quite explosive," said Mullen, who lives on Lexington. Jim Henley, a Castle Court resident running as a Democrat against Culberson, said Culberson's suggestion sounds like "gerrymandering" around sensitive neighborhoods for political reasons. "What I'm concerned with is, is this the best route for the optimum ridership and the most efficient route for Metro?" Henley said. Other neighborhoods also were unhappy with the proposals. "We've been brushed off because we're not as rich as Afton Oaks," said Kristin Lindquist, rail chairwoman for Sunset Terrace/Montclair on the south side of the freeway. "We are opposed to rail on Westpark from Edloe to the Union Pacific tracks." Allen Ueckert, president of the Neartown Association, said that from what he has heard of Clutterbuck's proposal from Metro, "It looks lke it would have a devastating effect on our community, on homes and businesses and parks." As for putting rail in the Southwest Freeway trench, he said, "we want it to go where the people are, and the people are not in the freeway." Clutterbuck, Culberson and representatives of the city could not immediately be reached for comment. It's obvious what's happening here. These people in AO don't care whether the rail is successful or not - they just want it to go away. And that's exactly what's happening. They keep their SUVs, no one will want rail anywhere, and this city never progresses.

My letter to the Chronicle: On Culberson

The Chronicle weighs in: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/4064512.html Making tracks Running the proposed University light rail line on Richmond makes the most sense, but Metro is offering reasonable alternatives. Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle ON Aug. 8, the board of the Metropolitan Transit Authority will decide the course of its University light rail line. It's time to replace heated rhetoric and scare tactics with a review of the facts regarding how best to secure the greatest good for the greatest number of Houston residents. The detailed plans and options unveiled last week Metro Chairman David Wolff and President Frank Wilson do just that. Of the five proposed new Metro transit lines, only the route linking the University of Houston and Texas Southern University on the east to the Galleria area and beyond has generated significant controversy. Metro's preferred route would run along Richmond from Main Street to South Rice near the Galleria. Some trains would continue north on Post Oak, while others would go west on Westpark to the Hillcroft Transit Center, giving Park 'n Ride patrons access to the expanding rail system. That is the most direct route and the one surveys reveal would attract the most ridership. Without sufficient ridership, the line will not qualify for federal financing. Without federal financing, the line needed to connect all the other transit corridors cannot be built. Metro's president states that no matter what route the University line takes, it will form the key link in a citywide system that eventually will carry 140,000 passengers every work day, removing 35,000 cars from the city's streets. Against the opposition of some residents who don't want to endure the construction, the new line offers a $1.2 billion economic boom that directly and indirectly will generate 60,000 jobs over six years

Excellent observations. You'd like to think that Metro is employing great engineers and designers who are coming up with something that (1) works well and (2) serves the the interests of the city as a whole, then sticking to that plan. But more and more, it looks like Metro is responding ad hoc to whatever is thrown in its path - taking the path of least resistance just to get it over with. That is no way to plan vital infrastructure that will shape this city for at least a century. I wonder if you'd be getting this fight from AO if Metro just wanted to widen and improve Richmond, with no rail at all - the same amount of construction, but only to benefit drivers. I think AO is fighting this because they have no use for public transportation.

I totally understand the Afton Oaks perspective. The rail construction would delay their trips to Nordstrom's by several minutes. And what if it should rain on their Jaguars while they're stuck in traffic? Besides, it's not like they'll ever ride the thing, as they'd have to trade their wood grain, leather appointed luxury rides for sitting next to students, immigrants, and mass transit bohemians like us. Doesn't anyone understand their pain?

A good radar detector, like my Escort Passport, can be programed to eliminate about 95% of false signals. I have virtually no problems with false signals unless I pull into a grocery store parking lot or some other place with automatic doors - the motion detector always causes my unit to scream. See if your unit has a "No X Band" mode - it really helps and X band radar is almost never used by cops anymore. Yeah, that works in a perfect world where everyone can just glide along without stop lights, construction, wrecks, emergency vehicles, etc. Also, there are lots of people (usually old people) who seem to be afraid to drive up to the limit. The point is that it is impossible for your scenario to work even if everyone stuck to the limit - doing so would just lower everyone's average speed and therefore make jams even worse. Any argument where people slow down, and therefore requires more cars to spend more time on the freeway, is counter-intuitive to reducing congestion.

You could buy a radar detector. If you get a really nice one, learn how to properly use it, and pay attention to it, you'll never get a speeding ticket. I speak from experience. BTW: If everyone drove the speed limit everywhere all of the time, traffic would grind to a halt. Putting the law aside, common sense tells you to exceed the limit on most occasions.

That AMC on Dunvale is always flooded with obnoxious teens - the Edwards on the Katy Frwy too. I'm not talking about just another theater. I'm talking about a premium experience where, for a few dollars more, you could have better food, seats, service, etc. Ex: a theater that blocks cell phone signals.

Since it is the Galleria, what about a premium movie theater? Beer, wine, 20 kinds of popcorn, wide seats, reserved seats, etc. Add an extra dollar to every ticket to get ushers stationed in every theater and have them crack down on screaming kids, cell phones, people talking, etc.

I'd build an extensive rail network inside the Beltway, with 2/3 of it being inside the Loop. I'd like to see Uptown, UH, the Heights, Montrose, and Bellaire all connected by light rail. To make it work I'd give tax breaks to people building along the line to create mixed use developments with lots of retail at street level. Also, I like the idea of building a new 45 North underground. The last thing we need is a massive reconstruction like I-10 West. Finally, I'd like to see high speed rail to Galveston, then light rail on the island to help people get around. I think the region would really be helped by solidifying the Houston-Galveston connection.

Sorry. Attorney-client privilege.

An apartment complex will go there.

Link?

I remember reading in the Chronicle a while back that the University Line's route would have to be set by Nov 1st to meet some federal guideline for funding. Can anyone confirm? Also, has anyone ever discussed where stations might be located along that line?