Richmonders to meet with Metro on proposed rail line

Residents and business owners along the proposed University light rail line will meet with the Metro board today to give their opinions on the line — and it looks like there's a lot of opposition, at least as it's reported in the Chronicle.

"It will destroy small businesses all up and down Richmond that can't survive the construction period, as happened on Main Street," said Chris Seger, of the Afton Oaks Civic Club. "It will also seriously impact Richmond as a boulevard for traffic."

Seger, like many who oppose trains on Richmond, said he likes the idea of light rail transit but wants Metro to use the nearby Westpark alignment specified in the 2003 referendum by which voters narrowly approved MetroRail extensions.

"We think it's bait and switch, or else it's Wilson coming on the scene well after the fact and saying, 'I want it to go down Richmond,'" Seger said, referring to Metro president and CEO Frank Wilson.

People along Richmond worry that a rail line will disrupt access to their homes and businesses, empty Richmond of vehicle traffic (like the Main Street line did) and generally change their way of life. All that's probably true, to some extent, but the same concerns will likely come up anywhere the rail line goes — except on Westpark, an alternative some people are pushing. The problem with putting a rail line along Westpark is that no one will ride it: There aren't many destinations along Westpark (aside from the fancy Kroger at Buffalo Speedway), and once the line reached the Galleria area, it would be too far from the mall and surrounding offices to do any good. Another alternative, putting the rail along Westheimer, presents its own problems: Westheimer is narrower than Richmond and always busy, which makes us think the probability of rail crashes would be much higher.

Metro has said it will make a decision on the route of the University line late this year.