As the debate continues over the alignment of Metro's proposed University light rail line, a calmer discussion is going on in the Third Ward, where the eastern end of the University Line would run. At issue is how the line would get from the University of Houston to Main Street — Third Ward residents want to make sure the line will help the neighborhood, not drive it out of existence.
Planners are looking at three possible routes for the east end of the University Line: from UH west along Wheeler, Alabama or Elgin. There are issues with each of those suggestions:
- Wheeler would allow a straight shot from UH to the current Red Line's Wheeler Station on Main, but along the way it would cut the Texas Southern University campus in half, which doesn't make TSU very happy (though it could mean a whole new set of excuses for students who show up late to class, right?).
- Alabama would serve UH well and would avoid bisecting TSU. But Alabama is a narrow street at its eastern end, and running a rail line along it would almost certainly impact Cuney Homes, a public housing project built right up to the street just west of UH.
- Elgin is already a wide street, with a median along its length through the Third Ward, and it also runs alongside UH. Elgin also runs through "the Bottoms," one of the most economically depressed areas of the Third Ward (and one community leaders would like to see revitalized). However, Elgin is a bit far north to serve TSU particularly well, and there's still the question of how to get a rail line from Elgin to the Wheeler station.
An option suggested by state Rep. Garnet Coleman and Intermodality would involve running the line east from Main Street along Wheeler, then turning north on Ennis at the TSU campus. The line would then head east along Alabama or Elgin to UH. Coleman also suggested a one-way rail loop east from Main along Wheeler to TSU, north along Ennis, east on Alabama to Scott, north to Elgin, west to Crawford and back south to the beginning. It's an interesting idea, sure, but as the Chronicle points out, it means some passengers would have to travel an inordinately long way to get where they wanted to go.
There are other potential issues, too: For several years, property owners in the Third Ward have said they don't want their neighborhood to be revitalized out of existence, like Freedmen's Town was, so any rail-driven development will likely end up being a balance between developers' and residents' interests (and you know how that tends to go). Also, if the disputed western end of the University Line gets held up in court, Metro doesn't think the Third Ward section of the route would qualify for federal funding as a standalone project.
We're still a long way from a decision — a draft environmental impact statement for the University Line, required to ask for federal funding, isn't expected until the end of the year, which means a vote on the route will come even later. But it'll be interesting to see how things shape up in the Third Ward.
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