This article originally appeared as an Op Ed in the Houston Chronicle
There’s an unjustifiable project afoot in the city that’s somewhat of a solution in search of a problem. The alleged problem: congestion on Post Oak Boulevard near the Galleria. I’m not saying there is no traffic congestion in the area. Any weekday at rush hour proves that there is. But traffic issues in the Galleria are largely caused by commuters trying to enter or leave Loop 610 – the problem is not too many cars on Post Oak Boulevard.
The plan to build dedicated bus lanes up the middle of Post Oak seemingly would alleviate the problem by relieving commuters of their cars. Look more closely, though, and you’ll see that the solution being developed by the city and Metro is not well-considered and needs to be scrapped.
The Uptown TIRZ (Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone) board estimates $200 million dollars will build dedicated bus lanes on Post Oak Boulevard. Plans show them running from the Northwest Mall at Hempstead Road and West Loop 610 to a Metro Park & Ride to be constructed on Westpark (presumably the site of Thompson Hanson nursery). It’s being called the Guide Way. Various sources will fund the Guide Way. State transportation commissioners on Thursday approved the state’s 10-year spending plan with $25 million for the bus lanes included and last month, the Houston City Council approved the TIRZ budget to acquire the necessary rights-of-way. But what’s really known about objectives and details of the plan?
Ridership models developed by the Uptown TIRZ board project that the new bus route will carry 10,000 riders per day in 2018. This estimate is outrageously inflated, given that the more than 30-year-old Park & Ride system only carries 16,000 riders per day, most of whom are downtown-bound. This has been tried before. Since 1985, Metro has rolled out seven Park & Ride routes to the Galleria. Last month, they cancelled the sixth route (Kingsland to NW Transit to Uptown) due to low ridership. The sole surviving Park & Ride route to the Galleria (Kuykendahl to Greenway to Uptown) is classified as “poor-performing,” carrying an average of only 220 people per day to both districts.
Ridership models developed by the Uptown TIRZ board project that the new bus route will carry 10,000 riders per day in 2018. This estimate is outrageously inflated, given that the more than 30-year-old Park & Ride system only carries 16,000 riders per day, most of whom are downtown-bound. This has been tried before. Since 1985, Metro has rolled out seven Park & Ride routes to the Galleria. Last month, they cancelled the sixth route (Kingsland to NW Transit to Uptown) due to low ridership. The sole surviving Park & Ride route to the Galleria (Kuykendahl to Greenway to Uptown) is classified as “poor-performing,” carrying an average of only 220 people per day to both districts.
Major Galleria-area employer Apache, initially in favor of the project, now opposes it. The company surveyed its employees and asked how many would drive to the Northwest Mall and then board a bus to the Post Oak Central offices. Not one Apache employee was interested in doing so. Not one. Why has there never been a well-reasoned, comprehensive survey of Galleria employees as to their expected usage of such a project?
Parking in the Galleria is convenient, readily available and reasonably affordable. This is the complete opposite of the downtown area. Even in the parking-challenged downtown, over the past five years, Park & Ride participation rates are falling, from 38 percent to 28 percent. Metro’s entire Park & Ride system consists of 29 lots. Despite a 30 year-plus operating history, 23 of its 29 lots operate at 55 percent or less of capacity.
What will this Guide Way project do to Post Oak, Houston’s Rodeo Drive? I believe it will ruin it. Look what happened to the merchants on Main Street. Look what’s happened to the Central Business District regarding crosstown traffic.
Why the rush to double down on a bad bet? The $37 million in the budget for eminent-domain “takings” will be woefully short, likely $100 million or more. Only one public meeting has been held by the city of Houston. When I directly asked the mayor’s chief development officer, Andy Icken, who curiously was presenting the Uptown TIRZ’s presentation, as to the size of the necessary takings, he responded, “It’s not much, only 15,000 or 16,000 square feet.” Preliminary estimates are over 160,000 square feet. That’s 10 times larger. Project costs have been grossly understated.
Why the rush to get this project approved and an almost total lack of transparency? Why the failure to have open and honest town hall meetings?
Uptown, Metro and the city are talking about condemnation proceedings taking place before a final plan has been produced. This is par for the course. Another example of Metro’s “Ready. Fire. Aim.” approach: Recently, a long-known environmental hazard interrupted construction of the Harrisburg Line of light rail. Believe it or not, the meandering East Side Metro trains don’t run the full length of the Harrisburg route. When did the poor planning method become an accepted standard?
I am convinced that people decide to work and (increasingly) live in the Galleria area due to the ease of access to retail, including restaurants and grocery stores. Completely dedicated bus lanes/guide ways make no sense to any student of public transportation unless they are of the BRT (bus rapid transit) variety. These lanes are definitely not, despite having been initially designated as such. BRT lanes are dedicated and do not stop for traffic.
Unfortunately, this project will cause long-term interruptions in east/west traffic flow on Richmond, West Alabama, Westheimer and San Felipe. This will cause congestion, which it was supposedly designed to cure.
When the mayor is finally acknowledging the decaying street infrastructure all over Houston by publicly recognizing the “pothole crisis,” why would you want to tear up one of the few streets in Houston in good shape? It’s an example of California-style bullet trains; i.e. projects certain to lose money, but beloved by politicians, pork-barreling interest groups and a handful of property owners masquerading as publicly spirited community servants.
I would argue that (collectively), they resemble booty-hungry pirates. Quite frankly, this will probably prove to be another example of “I told you so.” But the damage will have been done. Merchants/restaurateurs will have been bankrupted and/or have moved, and our Rodeo Drive, perhaps Houston’s best tourist attraction, will be no more.