NO RAIL ON RICHMOND AVENUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : Houston Indymedia

Over 300+ residents, businessowners, and those opposing a section of the METRO Solutions which was approved by voters in November 2003 have decried an alteration - moving the University/Uptown rail line alignment out of its proposed corridor on Westpark.

In July 2005, residents in the Afton Oaks area attended a METRO townhall meeting to which residents in the Afton Oaks area oppose a rail line on Richmond Avenue - this measure was opposed back in 1991 when Mayor Kathy Whitmire was in her last term in office. It seems that METRO is neglecting an environmental impact study to which they are more inclined towards ridership than preserving quality of life issues.

During Monday evening's townhall meeting, those who spoke stated that a rail line down Richmond Avenue is not the solution although METRO considers the alignment on Westpark as nonfeasible since there is no viability for ridership.

Parts of Richmond Avenue between Kirby and South Main (west of Wheeler Avenue across from METRORail's Wheeler Station) has a 100 foot right of way - before the late 1980s, a section of Richmond Avenue had three lanes (with a reversible center lane similar to the one used on Studewood in the Heights and West Alabama in response to the closure of Spur 527 back in February 2004) until the City of Houston widened the street to its 4-lane configuration.

The "Montrose" section of Richmond Avenue is too narrow for incorporating METRORail although the newly-constructed Southwest Freeway trench east of Mandell has a wide footprint for inclusiveness of a METRORail line (the current configuration is designed for a dual barrier-separated HOV lane although a 2004 issue of Cite Magazine had a brief reference of the proposed Uptown rail line).

Some residents consider routing the Uptown rail line west of Wheeler Station into the Southwest Freeway trench although a preliminary study is needed.

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by Montrose Patriot Photography & Promotions Tuesday, Mar. 21, 2006 at 10:19 PM
montrose.patriot@yahoo.com 713-305-3605

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by Montrose Patriot Photography & Promotions Tuesday, Mar. 21, 2006 at 10:19 PM
montrose.patriot@yahoo.com 713-305-3605

The recent townhall meeting was also moderated by the Flutterbug (only one art car artist would appropriate a creation of Konnie May towards a Houston City Councilmember who usually ends up with a VW Beetle with mechanical butterfly wings)

The newly-constructed Southwest Freeway trench (awaiting completion in late 2006) has a 162-foot right-of-way which has replaced the former viaduct which was completed in early 1961. The footprint currently has a barrier-separated dual HOV lane setup although Cite Magazine (Summer 2004) has a preliminary analysis for the Westpark line.

Although the last use of a rail line (as seen in the picture) was in 1955 prior to the construction of the Southwest Freeway when its alignment was finalized in the mid-1950s, the right-of-way where the high-voltage power lines are located is too narrow where one rail line can be incorporated. One concern is that the neighborhood south of the high-voltage right of way - Southampton - consist of $400,000 homes, and residents would oppose a rail line since its last use was in the 1950s. Some of the 'ghost' railroad ROW is visible in a section of Midtown where the US 59/SH288 trench is located (which separates Midtown from Third Ward) - a townhome complex north of Elgin @ the US59/SH288 trench recently constructed is actually located in the former SPRR right of way that actually continues north towards Bastrop Street.

The current location of the northbound SW Freeway lanes (which have been operational since January 2005) has been stated as a possible alignment for METRORail's extension from the Main Street Corridor.

Another proposal is the use of the Southwest Freeway's shoulder lanes for the METRORail alignment although a corridor study should determine if this proposal is feasible.