Issues regarding safety, traffic flow, emergency vehicle access and even the playground of the UH Child Care Center were addressed during a packed meeting with Metro representatives on Thursday afternoon.
The meeting covered the Wheeler Street leg of Metro’s Southeast Corridor light rail expansion, and representatives from the City of Houston, Houston Rapid Transit and UH administration were in attendance to answer questions.
“We look forward to going forward with you in this,” Metro Solutions managing director David Couch said. “We look forward to a good interactive dialogue to move forward in this process.”
Metro’s Southeast Program Manager Jose Enriquez presented a slide show of changes to Wheeler under the current plan. One of the main issues discussed was the effect the expansion would have on the child care center.
The tracks, which according to current plans are between 20 to 30 feet away, would not affect the buildings, but it would affect the playground area.
Audience members questioned the effects of possible noise pollution and whether this would be safe for the children.
“We do (think this is safe for the children),” Enriquez said. “And the light rail is actually quite quiet, more than most vehicles out there, more than a bus.”
The current plan has the tracks on the campus side of Scott and Wheeler streets, in effect taking land from the University and affecting traffic flow and entrances along both streets. These particulars created another contentious dialogue and prompted UH System Regent Carroll Ray to address the audience.
“Metro made the request to have the tracks on campus,” Ray said. “We see it as a benefit. We’re trying to work together as partners.”
The plan takes into consideration a possible future expansion of Wheeler into a city boulevard of four lanes by the City of Houston. Several audience members said that Wheeler was a secondary street at best and that there was no need for expansion.
Enriquez said there are current plans, not of Metro’s design, that will bring more traffic to the UH area and that all Metro plans for the expansion could not preclude either future plans by the city or the Texas Department of Transportation.
Provost John Antel told Metro officials that a lack of consideration on how the University moves people around and the possibility of people going across the tracks were concerning, along with the lack of communication between the various entities involved in the project.
“We need to get all the stakeholders at the same table,” Antel said.
The presentation also introduced plans for a multi-modal center to be built in the parking lot behind the Welcome Center. The center would be adjacent to the future light rail stop at Wheeler and Calhoun and would connect with UH shuttle lines as well as Metro bus lines.
The University is currently in the process of hiring a project manager that will oversee the project for the University and whose sole job will be to deal with Metro.