[CCoE Notice] Commenting on METRO's Plans for Light Rail at UH

[Lewis, Lindsay R]

To All UH Staff,

 

As many of you know, the arrival of light rail onto the University of Houston campus is a reality. Preparations for the Southeast Line along Wheeler Street have already begun and initial construction is planned to begin in a matter of weeks.

 

Due to significant concerns raised by the University community as a whole, the Faculty Senate in partnership with the Student Government Association and Staff Council, hosted a public meeting with METRO officials on January 27th 2010 to discuss the planned foot-print of light rail here on campus. METRO officials have indicated that they are willing to return to campus and provide a much more detailed presentation on their plans for completing both the Southeast and University Lines here on campus, but will be unable to do this until sometime in March.

 

In the mean time, METRO has indicated that we are in a public comment phase with regard to their plans for the University Line, which will close on February 28th. METRO has informed us that all comments/concerns must be made in writing via their website portal.

 

As part of our ongoing efforts to alert METRO to the concerns of the University community we are asking that you as a concerned member of the University community take the time to register your concerns and comments on the proposed route by visiting the METRO comment website.

 

 Listed below in the form of bullets points are four major concerns communicated to METRO by the University community at the January 27th public meeting.

 

Please feel free to include some or all of these points, or to register your own comments/concerns on the METRO website http://www.metrosolutions.org/go/inquiry/1068/.  On the Group Identifier and the Topic/Category drop down menus, please be sure to click on "Academic" and the "University Corridor", respectively.

 

 

Concerns

 

1) Planned locations of light rail stations on the UH campus: Cleburne Station on the South-east line does not serve the University population and will disrupt traffic and shuttle bus flow in this area of campus.

 

2) Planned location of the rail lines themselves on the UH campus: the planned route of the rail lines appears to unnecessarily encroach on areas of campus, particularly the athletic fields, when the tracks could run in the City's right of way instead.

 

3) Planned "tail" along Scott Street, south of Cleburne Street on the UH campus: construction of a dead-end rail line or "tail" in this location is a safety issue being so close to several student housing areas, encroaches on stadium parking, is unsightly, potentially dangerous and disrupts a major campus traffic corridor.

   

4)  General safety and Access Issues on the UH campus: the planned route of the South-east line along Wheeler Street, between Scott and Cullen, encroaches onto the existing site of the Police Station and the Childcare Center, while the overall foot-print of the light rail makes little provision for access for disabled students or general movement around the campus on a daily basis by students, staff and faculty in a safe and convenient way.

  

Anyone interested in the University of Houston's preferred METRO routes and station locations presented to the UH Board of Regents in December 2009, please go to http://www.uhsa.uh.edu/regents/board_meetings/documents/121809Board/BOR1.1.pdf.

 

For those who want to view Metro's general construction information website go to http://www.gometrorail.org/go/site/2491/. This is the site METRO officials recommended the university community visit for further information during the Wednesday, January 27th meeting on campus.

 

PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL STAFF THAT YOU CAN.

 

Ann M. McFarland

UH Staff Council President   

 

 

 

Ann M. McFarland, LMSW-AP

President, UH Staff Council &

Director

Office of Community Projects

Graduate College of Social Work

University of Houston

Houston, TX 77204-4013

Phone: 713-743-8145

Fax:     713-743-8888

Email:  amcfarland at uh.edu

Web:    www.sw.uh.edu/ocp

 

This communication is intended only for information and use of the designated recipient(s).  If you have received this communication in error, please notify this office and return the message to the sender at amcfarland at uh.edu.  Please do not otherwise distribute or share its contents with others.

 

 


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