The University/Blue Line (according to Go METRORail) is a planned
METRORail
METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...
light rail route to be designed, constructed, and operated by
METRO
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
.
History
The METRO Solutions Transit System Plan (aka Metro Solutions Plan) was placed before voters on the November 4, 2003 ballot. One of the six proposed light rail segments as a Phase 2 to expand the Main Street line, then under construction, was the "Westpark" corridor, extending from the existing Wheeler station west to Hillcroft; and 4 stations. After the passage of the measure, METRO introduced plans for the University (renamed from Westpark) line as part of Phase 2 of the Metro Solutions Plan in June 2004.
Opposition
Alarmed by the disruption to businesses along Main Street during the construction of the Main Street line,
Richmond Avenue
Richmond Avenue is a major north-south thoroughfare on Staten Island, New York. Measuring approximately , the road runs from the South Shore community of Eltingville to the North Shore community of Graniteville.
Street description
Richmon ...
business owners formed a coalition in 2004 and met with METRO, urging the agency to move the route to
Westheimer Road
Westheimer Road () is an arterial east–west road in Houston, Texas, United States. It runs from Bagby Street in Downtown and terminates at the Westpark Tollway on the southern edge of George Bush Park, stretching about long. The street was n ...
. METRO countered the lessons it had learned while building the Main Street line would be applied to the construction of the University line, and further, the route had not yet been finalized; options included alignment along Westpark, Westheimer, or the Southwest Freeway.
The homeowners of the upper-income
Afton Oaks
Afton Oaks is a deed-restricted "Inner Loop" upscale residential community of approximately 525 homes in Houston, Texas, United States Afton Oaks is located inside Interstate 610 (Texas), Interstate 610 near the Galleria and Highland Village. T ...
subdivision opposed a proposed expansion of the University Line through the neighborhood. Ultimately METRO revised the plans so that the line does not go through the neighborhood.
An opinion was issued August 31, 2010, on an appeal made by Daphne Scarbrough, who owns a business on Richmond Avenue, on a lawsuit she raised May 23, 2007, regarding METRO's jurisdiction and its decision to align the rail down the center of Richmond. The appeal overruled all but one issue raised by Scarbrough (which it modified), upholding the original decision to give METRO jurisdiction on Richmond to lay the rails.
Alignment issues
In a 2007 ''
Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
'' questions and answers page about the proposed University Line, Daphne Scarbrough and Christof Spieler asked why METRO did not include a station to serve
Gulfton
Gulfton is a community in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States that includes a group of apartment complexes that primarily house refugee and immigrant populations. It is located between the 610 Loop and Beltway 8, west of the City of Bellaire ...
, a community of apartment complexes. METRO responded, saying that the agency originally envisioned "more of an express service" in that area. However, the agency stated that it would examine the idea of including a Gulfton Station in the project scope.
Postponement
In 2010, Houston mayor
Annise Parker
Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller fro ...
delayed construction on the University Line in an effort to find a suitable funding source.
However, the line has received some hope: METRO has reported to the local media outlets that it has received a federal Record of Decision, the final approval needed to design and/or construct the line. It is reported in the ''Houston Chronicle'' that METRO anticipates $700 million in federal funding for this line. While Go METRORail has no mention of this, METRO Solutions has posted a .pdf file of the letter from the FTA with all permission, and an inclusion of instructions to ''not'' pursue buying any light rail vehicles for this line (or for any other for that matter) until the investigation regarding the controversy over "Buy America" has concluded.
In May 2016, the project had its federal funding eligibility revoked after a decade of inactivity.
METRONext
Under the METRONext "Moving Forward Plan", a superset of the proposed University METRORail line would be served by a new
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
(BRT) line under the METRORapid brand. A preliminary version of the superset "University Corridor" BRT line, long, would extend to Westchase Park & Ride in the west, pass through the stops proposed for the derelict light rail plan, and continue north past Eastwood Transit Center to Tidwell Transit Center.
Additional BRT lines proposed under "Moving Forward" include:
* "
Interstate 45
Interstate 45 (I-45) is a major Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Texas. While most Interstate routes which have numbers ending in "5" are cross-country north–south routes, I-45 is comparatively short, with the ...
North" from downtown to
George Bush Intercontinental Airport
George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Located about north of Downtown Houston between Interstate 45 and Interstate 69/U.S. Highway 59 ...
via Greenspoint
* "Inner Katy Corridor" to Northwest Transit Center, connecting to METRORail Purple/Green line stations
* "Uptown/Gulfton" extension of the Uptown Line south to Gulfton
* "West Houston Corridor" along
Beltway 8
Beltway 8 (BW8), the Sam Houston Parkway, along with the Sam Houston Tollway, is an beltway around the city of Houston, Texas, United States, lying entirely within Harris County.
Beltway 8, a state highway maintained by the Texas ...
or Gessner Road between West Little York Park & Ride and Missouri City
Route
The route begins in the west at the Hillcroft Transit Center traveling east on the Westpark right-of-way that METRO owns. A stop in the
Gulfton
Gulfton is a community in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States that includes a group of apartment complexes that primarily house refugee and immigrant populations. It is located between the 610 Loop and Beltway 8, west of the City of Bellaire ...
neighborhood (which contains several apartment complexes that primarily house working-class Hispanic and immigrant populations) may be added. Continuing east, it will come to the transfer location with the Uptown/Gold Line at Bellaire/South Rice. Moving eastward will pass stops at Newcastle and Weslayan before crossing over
US 59
U.S. Route 59 (US 59) is a north–south United States highway (though it was signed east–west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, US 59 is now a border-to-border route, part of the NAFTA Corridor Highway Sy ...
to the Cummins Station. Moving onto Richmond Avenue, the University Line will make stops at Greenway Plaza, Kirby Drive, Shepherd Drive, Dunlavy Street, and Montrose Boulevard. Transfers to the Red Line will occur at Wheeler Station. Traveling eastbound on Wheeler, it will approach Almeda Station and then continue to go underneath SH 288. Shortly after, the line will travel northward on Hutchins and make a stop there. After making turns onto Cleburne, Dowling, and then Alabama, the University Line will stop at
Texas Southern University
Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,000 ...
and at Tierwester Street. After approaching Scott Street and turning northward at the
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...
, the line will share tracks with the Purple Line for a short distance before turning onto Elgin, the transfer station to the Purple Line, and then onward to Cullen through the University of Houston and the new terminus, as determined by Go METRORail September 2010, the Eastwood Transit Center. The name of the line is in reference to the fact that the line is planned to go through all of the main universities in Houston (Rice, University of St. Thomas, University of Houston, and Texas Southern).
Stations
The following is a list of proposed stations for the University Line, listed in order from west to east:
*Note: Station shared with Uptown/Gold Line to provide transfers between the two lines
**Note: Station shared with Red Line to provide transfers between the two lines
***Note: Station shared with Southeast/Purple Line to provide transfers between the two lines
Expansion
One possible future expansion would continue westward from the Hillcroft Transit Center along the right-of-way METRO owns just south of the
Westpark Tollway
The Westpark Tollway, also Fort Bend Westpark Tollway, is a limited-access toll road in Texas, serving western Houston and Harris County, and northeastern Fort Bend County. Construction on the facility began in 2001 and portions of the road wer ...
, which would presumably serve the
Sharpstown
Sharpstown is a master-planned community in the Southwest Management District (formerly Greater Sharpstown), Southwest Houston, Texas.Westchase and
Alief
Alief is a working-class suburb in Southwest Harris County, Texas, United States. Most of Alief is within the city limits of Houston, while a portion of the community is in unincorporated Harris County.
First settled in 1894 as a rural farm co ...
districts. The other expansion that is being considered would continue past Elgin to the Eastwood Transit Center.