Pin the tail on the intermodal terminal

An interesting note on Metro's proposed downtown intermodal terminal: Yesterday, the transit authority's board apparently voted to buy land on which the terminal will sit, but Metro officials are refusing to tell anyone exactly where the land is.

The proposed terminal, which has been discussed for months, would connect the Main Street rail line, the northside GRT line, some Metro bus routes and, eventually, a northwest commuter rail line. And though we know it'll be located on North Main Street just north of downtown — adjacent to the Hardy Yards, which are awaiting private development — it's not clear exactly where the terminal's boundaries will be. That's what prompted four Near Northside residents to appeal to the Metro board yesterday for details, saying they love their homes and want to know how the terminal will affect them. "I spent this last year in limbo," Sharon Jacobs, one of the residents, said. "It's stressful. It's torturous."

Though Metro Chairman David Wolff apologized for leaving residents without information, Metro didn't seem to feel the need to give out any specifics just yet: When the Chronicle asked Metro for maps and descriptions of the properties it will purchase for the intermodal terminal and another tract in Midtown, a spokeswoman told the newspaper to file an open records request, which it did. It's not the only property matter about which Metro is keeping tight-lipped: Earlier, the Chronicle filed a records request with Metro about the properties it intends to buy for the construction of the northside light rail bus rapid transit line, and Metro has sought a Texas attorney general's opinion on whether it must give the newspaper the information. We're not transit consultants or anything, but it seems that, if Metro's trying to inspire confidence in its mass transit plan, this kind of activity might not be the best way to do it.