February-March 2008

In February and March, METRO Solutions will implement a Safety Education Pilot Program in two schools and then extend it to other schools along the light rail corridors.

METRO has been working with the Houston Independent School District for several months and on Monday (Feb. 4) the Pilot Program will be implemented at Roosevelt Elementary (North Corridor).  In March, it will be implemented at Peck Elementary (Southeast Corridor).

The Pilot Program was designed for students from Pre-Kindergarten to Fifth Grade.  The curriculum is aligned with learning and testing objectives of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) and will address construction, rail, pedestrian, and vehicle safety.  The Pilot Program will include training school district staff and community organizations. 

Our objective is to implement the full Safety Education Program in late spring 2008 through 2012 , including elementary, middle, and high schools as well as daycare centers, private schools, charter schools and youth organizations.

January 2008

Ever since we opened the Southeast Corridor Office, communication with our stakeholders has increased.  Now, we've compiled some of their most recent questions and answered them in this fact sheet for your benefit.

Additionally, stakeholders have asked us to produce renderings to help them visualize what the finalized light rail project might look like in the Southeast Corridor.   The ones below are now available (click on each thumbnail to view larger image):

Martin Luther King (MLK)  Blvd. between Old Spanish Trail (OST) and Griggs		MLK near Madalyn Ln.

December 2007

The Southeast Offices will be CLOSED for the holidays starting Monday, Dec. 24^th through Tuesday, Jan. 1^st, 2008.  We will resume our regular business schedule on Wed., January 2^nd. 

November 2007

On November 29, City of Houston Mayor Bill White, METRO Chairman David Wolff, and several elected officials symbolically cut the ribbon to the first of several Office Corridors -one for each corridor where a light rail expansion line will be built. 

The Southeast Corridor Office is located in the Palm Center, 5330 Griggs.  It is open for business Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The telephone number at the Southwest Corridor Office is (713) 343-4350.

October 2007

At the October meeting, METRO's Board of Directors unanimously adopted light-rail technology for the North, East End, Southeast, and Uptown corridors.  These four corridors had previously been planned to begin with Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) technology as an interim step towards Light Rail Transit (LRT).  Read the news release for more details.

February 2007

A Record of Decision (ROD) was granted to the proposed Southeast Corridor project.  The Environmental process in the Southeast Corridor took place concurrently with the North Corridor.

January 2007

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO), advised the public of the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Section 4(f) Evaluation covering the purposed construction of transit improvements in the Southeast Corridor. The corridor is located in a line from downtown Houston to a terminus on Griggs Road at east of Martin Luther King Boulevard in Harris County, Texas, within the City of Houston. The project is sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration.

The project involves the construction of Guided Rapid Transit (GRT) primarily within existing street rights-of-way. This project would improve mobility, accessibility, and system linkages. The corridor is approximately 6.3 miles in length, extending from downtown Houston, following a line on Capitol and Rusk Streets to Polk Street, south on Scott street, east on Wheeler Street, south on Martin Luther King Boulevard, and east on Griggs to Beekman Road. The FEIS includes discussion of the changes since the Draft EIS was distributed in July, 2006, including the selection of the locally preferred alternative (LPA), project impacts and mitigation measures, as well as substantive agency and public comments received on the Draft EIS and the responses to these comments.

Copies of the FEIS and Section 4(f) Statement are also available for review in hard copy format at: Houston Public Library Lonnie E. Smith Branch, 3624 Scott Street, Houston, TX 77004; Houston Public Library Young Branch, 5260 Griggs, Palm Center, Houston, TX 77021; Texas Southern University Campus Library, 3100 Clebrune, Houston, TX 77204; University of Houston M.D. Anderson Mernorial Library (Main), 114 University Libraries, Houston, TX 77008; Center Library (Julia Ideson Building) 500 McKinney, Houston, TX 77002; METRO Offices, 1900 Main Street, Houston, TX 77002; and Houston-Galveston Area Council, 3555 Timmons Lane, Suite 500, Houston, TX 77027.

A bound copy of the FEIS may be purchased for $60.00 (plus $6.00 for shipping and handling) or a CD of the document in Adobe Acrobat format for $4.50 (plus $1.00 for shipping and handling). To purchase a copy, please contact Ms. Rhonda Boyer, METRO P.O. Box 61429, Houston, TX 7208-1429.

July 2006 

METRO began circulation of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)  for a period of 45 days, which ended on September 11, 2006.

METRO and the project team compiled all the DEIS comments received and addressed them in a subsequent document referred to as Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), which began circulation on January 5, 2007, for a period of 30 days. While the FEIS was being prepared, METRO began Preliminary Engineering (PE) on the corridor. The early PE effort provided more refined technical information used to assist with addressing comments received during the DEIS. Final design and right-of-way acquisition is planned for 2007 through 2008. Construction on the corridor is scheduled to begin in mid-2007 and continue through 2010. In 2010 construction should be complete.

Past Meetings

• August 29 - DEIS Open House and Public Hearing - View presentation
• August 17 - DEIS OPen House (Same presentation as above)

Previous actions / information

• August 2006 - Update Southeast Corridor Newsletter (PDF file)
• February 2006 - Update Southeast Corridor Newsletter (PDF file)
• On Tuesday, February 28, and Wednesday, March 1, two Public Workshops were held .  The meetings were identical in content and style.  There were several stations and speakers to address the different aspects of the proposed project.  Click here to view a PDF file of the information boards presented at these Public Workshops.