Metropolitan Transit Authority will take University concerns about safety, traffic, convenience and lack of communication into account as it designs the final stages of the new Southeast Corridor transit service that will run along University property.
"This is pretty much a mid-point as far as the design process," said the corridor’s project director Peter Ubiaro at a meeting Thursday at a university-area apartment complex to discuss the future transit service with UH students and staff.
The Southeast Corridor line, which Metro finalized, will run every six minutes along the UH campus on Scott Street and Wheeler Avenue on its route between downtown Houston and Griggs Road, Ubiaro said.
Metro plans to begin construction at the southernmost point of the bus route on Griggs Road in mid-2008 and complete the line in 2011 or 2012.
Ubiaro said the Southeast Corridor will be a bus rapid transit convertible line – a type of guided transit system that can later be converted into a light rail.
The current plan calls for three stations along University property – two on Scott near Elgin and Cleburne Streets and one on Wheeler near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
More traffic signals and pedestrian crossings will be added to Wheeler as part of the Southeast Corridor’s construction, Ubiaro said. Ubiaro did not have any further details.
Ubiaro said he expected to have more concrete answers to questions about safety and bus routes in December when the design is further along.
Students and staff expressed concerns about pedestrian safety, especially for students who are blind or in wheelchairs.
"We will look at that carefully. That’s all a part of our safety campaign," Ubiaro said. "We’ve already started looking to these safety issues, but it will be fine-tuned."
On the combined impact of the new line and the anticipated closure of Cullen Boulevard as a part of the UH master plan, Ubiaro said that Metro does not have details or timelines about any street closures from the University.
Dave Irvin, associate vice president of plant operations, said otherwise, stating that the University has met with Metro officials regarding the master plan and provided them with written copies.
Approved by the UH-System Board of Regents in May, UH currently plans to close Cullen between Holman and Wheeler in May, Irvin said.
Metro officials also said they will maintain all access points to University facilities during construction. Wheeler is expected to take between nine and 12 months.
Metro will adjust local bus routes after the new line is completed, Ubiaro said.
Representatives from the Student Government Association expressed concern about lack of student input during the selection process of the route for the line.
Ubiaro said that the route was finalized last year "primarily from the community at large," but SGA Vice President Sam Dike said students were not part of that community.
"I don’t know if students would prefer the line to go down Wheeler," he said. "There should have been more of an effort to bring students into that."
The Bayou Oaks and Cambridge Oaks apartments and the Quadrangle residence halls are located on Wheeler, and Moody Towers and Cullen Oaks apartments are in proximity.
Karen Marshall with Metro Community Outreach said the organization conducted hundreds of public meetings during the route selection process, several of which occurred near campus, but she did not recall any being advertised to students specifically.
"It’s hard to keep the students’ interest in a long-range plan," she said after the meeting. "I think the timing (of this meeting) is good – it’s not too late. It’s not too late for input."
Elwyn Lee, vice president of student affairs, said he attended meetings about the line over the past two or three years, and he and Metro officials organized Thursday’s meeting.
He had no comment on why no similar meetings were organized sooner.
"I can’t answer that," he said. "It wasn’t a lack of interest on my part."
History senior Gabriel Konigsberg said he wished the change would have been communicated better, but he is trying to look on the bright side.
"I like the idea of the Metro rail being there. I think it’s going to light up that whole area," he said. Political science sophomore Sebastian Blankson, a Cambridge Oaks resident, expressed frustration with Metro’s lack of detailed answers about safety precautions for pedestrians.
"There were not specific answers," he said. "The things we’re concerned about are the standard issues."
Metro officials said they will continue to communicate with UH students, faculty and staff regarding the new line.
Lee said Metro and students must work together in order to make the line a positive change for everyone.
"I believe in going forward and taking advantage of what we have in front of us. We can’t change the past, but we can control the future," he said.
More information on the Southeast and University corridors is available at www.metrosolutions.org.
