METRO Next - 2040 Vision

[sapo2367]

They really went with the most dismissive headline they could here, glad to see there isn’t an agenda :/

 

[cspwal]

I mean I’m also annoyed that it’s 9 years after the bond passed

[Andrew Ewert]

The article doesn't specifically mention this isn't the case, but why would you not open the line after a few stops are done and expand service incrementally? If they're really waiting for the whole thing to be done in 2028, that's stupid.

[j_cuevas713]

I have no idea why this is going to take so long to actually start. Between this and the Inner Katy officially being announced Metro needs to hit the gas pedal a little harder.

[Houston19514]

35 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I have no idea why this is going to take so long to actually start. Between this and the Inner Katy officially being announced Metro needs to hit the gas pedal a little harder.

That's how things roll when you're using federal money.

[Houston19514]

On 12/10/2021 at 1:50 PM, Andrew Ewert said:

The article doesn't specifically mention this isn't the case, but why would you not open the line after a few stops are done and expand service incrementally? If they're really waiting for the whole thing to be done in 2028, that's stupid.

I believe the plan is for the route to be split up into 5 separate contracts, so that construction will proceed on all 5 segments simultaneously and the entire route will be completed at approximately the same time.

[Andrew Ewert]

Then that's even dumber if it's going to take until 2028 to even complete one segment, even if that means that it will all be done by then.

[Houston19514]

13 minutes ago, Andrew Ewert said:

Then that's even dumber if it's going to take until 2028 to even complete one segment, even if that means that it will all be done by then.

Show me federally funded projects that move significantly faster...   Agree it's dumb, but the complaint is to the federal government, not to Metro. The construction time line does seem a little long, but I know Metro is working on shortening that.  And in fairness this will really be quite a complicated construction project.   I think there's a reasonably good chance this project will be delivered early.

Edited December 15, 2021 by Houston19514

[BEES?!]

Is it likely that those are the final alignments/station choices for the University Corridor? (Sidenote- is it just going to be called the University corridor? Or are they going to give it a color like the Silver line?)

[j_cuevas713]

On 12/18/2021 at 10:13 AM, BEES?! said:

Is it likely that those are the final alignments/station choices for the University Corridor? (Sidenote- is it just going to be called the University corridor? Or are they going to give it a color like the Silver line?)

I believe the University Line is supposed to be blue

[j_cuevas713]

Ok Metro needs to figure out a way to prevent people from crossing the Silver Line at random sections along the street. This is not only dangerous but really annoying.

[cspwal]

13 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Ok Metro needs to figure out a way to prevent people from crossing the Silver Line at random sections along the street. This is not only dangerous but really annoying.

They're solution on the Metrorail stretches was plastic chains that the pedestrians immediately dismantled or just go under.  The real solution is more actual crosswalks 

[Amlaham]

Any word on when they're going to start on the rail extension to Hobby airport? I feel like metro is taking a while to start on any of their projects. 

[j_cuevas713]

2 hours ago, Amlaham said:

Any word on when they're going to start on the rail extension to Hobby airport? I feel like metro is taking a while to start on any of their projects. 

Me too. I remember in previous approved transit projects a shovel was in the ground within a few weeks. Idk why a lot of preplanning wasn't done sooner along with community input. 

[samagon]

3 hours ago, Amlaham said:

Any word on when they're going to start on the rail extension to Hobby airport? I feel like metro is taking a while to start on any of their projects. 

I bet all agencies are dragging their feet right now waiting for the infrastructure thing.

[Houston19514]

2 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Me too. I remember in previous approved transit projects a shovel was in the ground within a few weeks. Idk why a lot of preplanning wasn't done sooner along with community input. 

I think your memory is playing tricks on you.  The very idea of a transit project putting shovels in the ground within a few weeks of a vote is fantasy talk.

[Houston19514]

4 hours ago, Amlaham said:

Any word on when they're going to start on the rail extension to Hobby airport? I feel like metro is taking a while to start on any of their projects. 

There doesn't seem to be any movement at all on the rail portions of MetroNext. Not sure why they are low on the priority list.  But it is unfair to flatly say they are taking a while to start on any of their projects.  Several of the MetroNext projects are well underway and several of the major (non-rail) projects are moving along about as fast as such things can move. (it's an unfortunate fact of life that anything using federal dollars takes a LONG time to get through all of the federal regulatory hurdles).

[Big E]

1 hour ago, Houston19514 said:

There doesn't seem to be any movement at all on the rail portions of MetroNext. Not sure why they are low on the priority list.  But it is unfair to flatly say they are taking a while to start on any of their projects.  Several of the MetroNext projects are well underway and several of the major (non-rail) projects are moving along about as fast as such things can move. (it's an unfortunate fact of life that anything using federal dollars takes a LONG time to get through all of the federal regulatory hurdles).

We all got to remember that Covid is still a thing, and Covid had led to decreased transit ridership nationwide, and is putting transit agencies in the red. I don't expect much to be done transportation wise, for the foreseeable future other than what has already been started. Federal money from that infrastructure bill will help get things off the ground, but we all know how much red tape comes with any kind of federal money.

[j_cuevas713]

1 minute ago, Houston19514 said:

I think your memory is playing tricks on you.  The very idea of a transit project putting shovels in the ground within a few weeks of a vote is fantasy talk.

I mean I remember that for the Red Line. It was just a few weeks after the proposal was approved that construction started. 

[j.33]

The exact alignments for the extensions have not been announced (nor selected). There is still a good amount of things for planners and METRO to do before we will hear more. Plus, we still need to go through the public outreach portion. 

Edited January 4, 2022 by Justin Welling

[Houston19514]

2 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I mean I remember that for the Red Line. It was just a few weeks after the proposal was approved that construction started. 

A few weeks after the proposal was approved by whom?  

I suspect what you are remembering is the final City Council vote granting Metro  rights-of-way to use city streets, which occurred in November 2000. AFTER Metro had spent years planning the line and running it through various other approvals.  Construction started in March 2001, 15 or 16 weeks after the right-of-way approval. (FWIW, the BRT and light rail projects included in MetroNext will also require city council  approvals of rights of way for Metro, which approvals have not yet been sought or received.)

Edited January 5, 2022 by Houston19514

[j_cuevas713]

6 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

A few weeks after the proposal was approved by whom?  

I suspect what you are remembering is the final City Council vote granting Metro  rights-of-way to use city streets, which occurred in November 2000. AFTER Metro had spent years planning the line and running it through various other approvals.  Construction started in March 2001, 15 or 16 weeks after the right-of-way approval. (FWIW, the BRT and light rail projects included in MetroNext will also require city council  approvals of rights of way for Metro, which approvals have not yet been sought or received.)

Yeah it’s been a while lol I guess it just seemed like things moved faster for some reason 

[hindesky]

Got this email for a survey of the Metro University Corridor.

https://www.ridemetro.org/Pages/METRORapid-University-Corridor-Project.aspx

[BEES?!]

There are some renderings of a few different concepts for the Wheeler Transit Center that were shown during the recent Capital & Strategic Planning Committee meeting. 

The section on Wheeler Transit Center starts from page 33 of the PDF here.

 

[Houston19514]

On 4/23/2022 at 11:17 AM, BEES?! said:

There are some renderings of a few different concepts for the Wheeler Transit Center that were shown during the recent Capital & Strategic Planning Committee meeting. 

The section on Wheeler Transit Center starts from page 33 of the PDF here.

 

Very nice. Thanks for posting.  I like the below-grade concept best.

[rechlin]

Very interesting.  Thanks for finding and sharing this.  Just a bit of a summary of the 3 concepts:

• All move the Wheeler light rail station on top of a trenched IH-69.  This, of course, is dependent on the federal government ending its hold on the highway project, caused by a bunch of people who seem to think rebuilding the highways is racist or something
• Two of the options have the BRT line cross with grade separation from the light rail (one above, one below).  The third would have an at-grade crossing, which would mean frequent delays while waiting for the train to cross.  Hopefully the BRT would get signal priority in this third case, because at present, sometimes bus 25 has to wait for several minutes for the lights to cycle after trains cross
• All would add an indoor (or at least covered) transit center for buses, as well as bike storage

I personally think the option with below-grade BRT (confusingly labeled as "At-Grade") would be the best, by far.  The above-grade BRT ("Elevated") would also be OK, but it would involve a bit of a round-about approach at crossing, causing extra turns on and off of Richmond/Wheeler, meaning more delays for BRT riders, whereas the below-grade BRT would be a straight-through route.  Also, elevated infrastructure is visually much more imposing/menacing than trenched infrastructure.  The at-grade BRT ("Transit Mall") seems the worst to me, because of the rail crossing issue I mentioned above.  Of course, the below-grade BRT option probably would be the most expensive too!

I hope that whatever design they pick, the canopies extend between the bus areas and the rail area, so passengers can transfer without getting rained on.

From page 54 of the report:

 

And a few more renderings of the three options from the report:

[BEES?!]

I guess we’ll know for sure in June what the cost and scheduling estimates look like- at least that’s what I took away from the PDF. 

I think I like the below-grade BRT concept, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the most exensive of the three alternatives, though. 

[Houston19514]

It will be interesting to see how the costs stack up.  Not so sure the below-grade will be more expensive than the Elevated concept.  They would have to acquire additional real estate for the elevated concept, plus a lot of structure to be built with the two large bus ramps plus the structure with bus boarding stations on the second level.

[Montrose1100]

Houston, we would never dare consider a subway, but an underground Bus station? Yee-haw!

[Brooklyn173]

"caused by a bunch of people who seem to think rebuilding the highways is racist or something"

Shown to be true nationwide (for example; https://www.history.com/news/interstate-highway-system-infrastructure-construction-segregation) and is an issue rising nationwide. Not simply a Texas problem and hopefully the institutional and private vehicle issues will be addressed soon.