Metro rethinking shared rail lanes downtown

Traffic woes and collisions along the newest light-rail lines in downtown have Metro leaders toying with the idea of backpedaling on their promise not to close parts of the lanes to cars.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority's new Green and Purple lines in downtown that run eastbound along Capitol and westbound along Rusk for about a mile continue to confuse traffic signal timing and drivers. The trains and vehicles have had several collisions in these shared lanes as drivers make turns, as well as enter and exit parking garages for downtown buildings.

Now Metro is - albeit cautiously - considering ideas to close the lanes to vehicular traffic where practical.

"There is zero intent to change this without getting a lot of input with the stakeholders," board member Christof Spieler said, while acknowledging some changes may be needed to improve timing and safety for trains, drivers and pedestrians.

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City officials, downtown business leaders and drivers, however, remain skeptical that dedicating the lanes to trains is going to be a solution.

"(Former Metropolitan Transit Authority CEO) Frank Wilson promised the community and the City Council that these would 'never' be train-only lanes in order to get agreement to allow them to operate downtown," said Jeff Weatherford, deputy director of Houston Public Works in charge of traffic operations and maintenance.

Transit officials said they want to look at multiple options for correcting the issue, if they can lock onto a solution that could move trains and cars faster and more safely through the central business district.

"The ultimate goal is improving the movement for everyone downtown," Metro CEO Tom Lambert said.

Turning point

When vehicles are in front of the train and turning right or left, they yield to pedestrians and hold up the train, which throws off the timing of traffic signals downtown, meant to help traffic flow across the central business district without stopping at every light. When a stack of cars and trucks is occupying the lane, the trains cannot proceed through intersections. In some cases, especially during peak times, the trains can get caught in intersections, blocking them.

"Oh my god, it's ridiculous," said Stacy Davis, 36, who commutes by car daily to her job in the Chase Tower downtown. "When they block the street, (traffic) just grinds to a halt."

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No timing is going to solve all problems, as downtown simply has gridlocked moments during peak times when everyone streams out of the garages - many across Metro's tracks.

Still, delayed trains and blocked crossings have severely impacted traffic movement, Weatherford said, in some cases worsening matters. Officials continue tweaking the timing, in hopes of getting signals right, but Weatherford said they only can accommodate what's best for traffic.

"We have never discussed re-timing the lights to favor the (light rail) on the east/west streets and PWE would oppose this," Weatherford said in an email. "We explained from the beginning that the trains would need to run like any other vehicle in downtown."

To change the arrangement, Weatherford said Metro "will have to convince the mayor that this is the direction to go."

The Houston Downtown Management District, which has a hand in planning and transportation in the central business district, is talking to Metro about its concerns. Spokeswoman Angie Bertinot said it is premature, however, to say the district had a position on the solutions.

Confusion an issue

Metro, sparked in part by two high-profile fatalities along the Red Line during Super Bowl week in Houston in February, has re-evaluated safety along the tracks.

"We are seeing shared-track accidents," Lambert said.

In an early analysis, Lambert said it appears 30 percent of Metro's rail collisions occur on the shared tracks along Capitol and Rusk and a handful of other spots, notably in the Texas Medical Center. Shared track makes up about 5 percent of the 46 miles Metro operates along the three lines, which has led some Metro critics to call the trains dangerous.

Spieler, who is an engineer and was not on Metro's board when officials promised to keep the lanes open to traffic, said he thinks dedicating the lane and then developing a traffic signal that allows for turns but gives drivers greater warning about the trains could reduce crashes and congestion.

"Getting rid of that confusion ... I think that is a case where we could make everything work better," he said.

Though crashes still occur, Metro's design of a red LED band around traffic lights along the Red Line did give drivers more warning about the trains.

Turn lanes along the Green Line on Harrisburg have traffic signals that warn of approaching trains.

An uphill battle

The lines along Capitol and Rusk, however, are more complicated because of the various mid-block crossings of the tracks. A number of parking lots are accessible only across the tracks.

"Their concerns are the reasons we did what we did in the first place," Spieler said of the pledge to keep the lane open. "The goal is to maintain all of the access."

Any closing of the lanes, however, will face an uphill battle, many said. Asked what reaction to lane changes he predicted, Weatherford was clear.

"Multiple lawsuits being filed within a week of any announced plan," he wrote.