Houston has grown into a wonderful city in my lifetime. We enjoy a great quality of life for a very reasonable price compared to other large cities around the country. We deserve the best opportunities in mobility and transportation for our citizens as well, thus I find myself questioning METRO'S latest Solutions Plan for Houston.
The voter approved East-West Line from the 2003 METRO Solutions Referendum was labeled on the ballot as Westpark and stated the service area to be included as Bellaire and West University. Recently, drawings were obtained of the METRO proposed Edloe Street Station; there were no alternate drawings of Edloe & Westpark or a Wes-theimer intersection. METRO has created a trust issue with all of us along Richmond Avenue as they focus on Richmond and discount Westpark.
I turned to my state representative, Martha Wong, and City Council member, Anne Clutterbuck for assistance in obtaining meetings with METRO, so that those of us directly involved with a proposed rail line running a few feet from our front doors, could educate ourselves as to METRO'S plans. We had a constructive meeting with Mayor Bill White on the rail issue, thus the Mobility Coalition for Quality of Life was formed. The Mobility Coalition is comprised of concerned citizens, businesses and landowners along Richmond Avenue and we have also contacted our Federal representative, John Culberson, for assistance in dealing with METRO. Our elected representatives have given us our only voice in this process.
If a light rail extension is placed on Richmond Avenue it will create congestion for the entire area. METRO has admitted in meetings that there is a possibility of losing at least one lane of traffic in both directions in some areas. Street crossings and left hand turn lanes may also be eliminated in some areas as well. The reality of squeezing Richmond Avenue down to a single lane in the narrower sections will create more backed-up traffic for all the cross streets of Montrose, Shepherd, Kirby, Buffalo Speedway and Weslayan. METRO trains crossing every six minutes will impede the traffic in all directions.
Houston deserves the best in transportation for its future. The current plans are not technologically advanced; it is the same old "at grade rail line' that our great grandmothers would have had. The driving dangers of the line at grade have been proven many times on the existing Main Street Line. The eminent domain needs of the line at grade are also a serious concern for everyone living and working near the line, the loss of property and mobility would be crippling for the entire area. Is this the best we can do for $650 million dollars?
Houston needs increased mobility, not decreased. A rail line that eliminates lanes of traffic is not what we need. The four years of construction is a waste of our tax dollars. If METRO wants to spend this amount of money, they need to choose a route that more people can use to get off the freeways and get to work every day. An occasional excursion to dinner or shopping is not justified for this expensive rail project and the destruction of neighborhoods, trees, businesses and historical architecture.
Richmond Avenue is home for many structures dating to the 1930s. The surrounding neighborhoods are filled with period architecture and the families that live in them. Richmond Avenue is also home to the largest number of modern architecture buildings dating from the 1950s-1970s. The HISD Central Headquarters designed by Neuhaus & Taylor and the Central Presbyterian Church by Wilson, Morris, Grain & Anderson are among 29 modern architecture examples along Richmond Avenue. Couple this with beautiful, old oak trees and you have one of the most scenic areas of Houston. We do not want to lose the architectural charm of our area and end up like the historic Freedman's Town area off of W.Gray, just historic plaques where the buildings used to be and lots of apartments.
We want to keep Richmond Avenue scenic and mobile. The patterned concrete that comes with the proposed rail line is neither scenic nor environmentally friendly. The flooding that affects Richmond will only be exacerbated with the covering of landscaping with concrete and mature tree loss. It will be difficult to tolerate the increase in heat reflecting off the concrete without the shade of the mature tree canopy.
I hope everyone will think about how their hard-earned tax dollars are spent and let METRO know their thoughts as the good people in Afton Oaks, West Lane, Madison Place, Weslayan Plaza North, Weslayan Plaza II, Lynn Park, Lancaster Place, Castle Court and Rich-wood Place have. These residential neighborhoods are the only ones that will have to deal with construction adjoining their homes on a daily basis for four years. Houston needs real mobility solutions, not light rail dropped onto the third busiest transportation artery in the city and the home of 350 small businesses and hundreds of homes. The Mobility Coalition for the Quality of Life has been formed from these interested individuals and businesses that will be the ones to give up their land, their livelihoods, their jobs and their quality of life for the construction of a light rail line. We want a light rail line that will honor the 2003 referendum and place the rail where it will not destroy our neighborhoods and businesses.
Daphne Scarbrough
Mobility Coalition for Quality of Life
Daphne Scarborough is the founder of The Brass Maiden, a twenty-three year old metal design, fabrication and installation business based in Houston. Scarborough has been involved in historic preservation in Houston via her membership in the Rice Design Alliance and the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance. She has served as an officer of Urban Harvest and Photoforum and has been active in organizations such as Trees for Houston, Scenic Houston, Preservation Texas and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
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