Plans call for bus-only lanes along Post Oak and Loop 610 between the future Westpark Transit Center that Metro’s building and the Northwest Transit Center near Interstate 10. “It really is a transformational project in Houston,” said Metro chairman Gilbert Garcia, noting it allows workers in the Uptown area to avoid some congested parts of their trip. The southern end of the project, widening Post Oak to add bus-only lanes that will pick up passengers and ferry them to the Metro stations, is scheduled to open in 2017. Most of the $147.5 million cost comes from the management district. Houston-area transportation officials are also contributing $61.8 million from locally-controlled federal funds. Metro will operate the buses. Post Oak will remain three lanes in each direction for the driving public, said Kendall Miller, president of the Tanglewood Corporation and an Uptown Houston board member. When the system opens, buses will use Loop 610 north of Post Oak to make the trip back and forth from the transit center. The second phase, which is what state officials approved, is a $45 million project to give the buses a dedicated lane along — or possibly elevated above — Loop 610. Having an all-dedicated route greatly increases the speed of the transit trip, supporters said. The bus line is also an “opportunity to create a flagship bus service that I hope will change the public perception of what public transportation can be,” Metro board member Cindy Siegel said.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 18:26:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015