METRO Board approves Phase II of light rail - Industry Today - Brief Article

Railway Track and Structures, Sept, 2003

The Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Transit Authority in Houston designated Phase II of METRORail part of the METRO Solutions Transit System Plan, which includes buses and bus facilities. Phase II includes 39.7 miles of light rail expansion to the Phase I 7.5-mile line, which opens Jan. 1, 2004.

The METRORail component of the plan will enable METRO's continues distribution of General Mobility funds to member governments through 2014 at 25 per cent of METRO's sales tax proceeds.

Total rail capital costs are $2.826 billion in year-of-expenditure dollars.

Specific elements of Phase I METRORail ate:

Downtown to Northline, 5.4 miles;

Southeast: Dowling to Griggs/610, 5.6 miles;

Downtown Connector, 1.5 miles;

Harrisburg: Dowling to Magnolia TC, 3.0 miles;

Westpark: Wheeler to Hillcroft TC, 6.6 miles;

Uptown/Galleria, 4.4 miles;

Harrisburg: Magnolia TC to Gulf-gate Mall, 3.0 miles;

SE: Cullen Branch: Griggs/610 to Bellfort, 2.8 miles; and

Inner Katy: Bagby to Northwest TC, 7.4 miles.