After more than 20 years of discussion, Houston’s first light rail shifted into high gear last month, with the METRO Board breaking ground for the long-awaited project and approving construction contracts for $233 million.
According to Jim Schroeder, facilities engineering design manager of the project, the 7.4-mi (11.84 km) METRORail is on an accelerated, fast track schedule where the final design and construction proceed simultaneously.
“We didn’t go the design/build route. that would have taken too long,” Schroeder said. “This method cut a year off the time frame.”
Once the light rail decision was made in September of 1999, timely construction was an important aspect of the project. The original schedule called for completion of the $300-million rail line in time to transport visitors for the 2004 Super Bowl.
However, the project ran into a roadblock when Houston Councilman Rob Todd filed a lawsuit to force a referendum on the rail line, postponing groundbreaking for six weeks and pushing the projected completion date to early spring of 2004.
But now the project is proceeding rapidly. “In my years in transit, I have never seen a project move so fast,” said Shirley DeLibero, president and CEO of Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority.
Two weeks after contracts were awarded, workers began ripping up pavement and moving underground utilities for the first stage of the light rail construction, which will connect downtown Houston with the Astrodome complex to the south. The 16-station route will serve Houston’s Main Street Corridor, linking Downtown, Midtown, the Museum District, Hermann Park, the Texas Medical Center and the Astrodomain.
STV Group, a veteran of project management for extensive light rail projects in California and New York – where the firm is based – is providing overall project management. Texas companies are doing much of the actual construction of the five line segments making up the 7.4-mi (11.84 km) project.
Line segments 2 (2.4 mi. [3.84 km]), 3 (1.4 mi. [2.24 km]) and 5 (1.4 mi. [2.24 km]) are being built by Houston-based Texas-Sterling Construction for a total of $65.3 million.
Atlanta-based Beers Construction Company, owned by Skanska USA, won a contract for $35.9 million for line section 1, which includes construction of a yard and shop, 0.8 mi. (1.28 km) of light rail route and a test track.
A $13.8-million contract for line section 4 (1.4 mi. [2.24 km]) went to Bencon Management & General Contracting of Houston.
All contractors bid documents that were not complete, providing lump sum bids that will be adjusted if METRO changes any specifications.
Schroeder, who also was project manager for design consultant Carter & Burgess of Denver, said the process was entirely satisfactory. “We got competitive bids. They came in slightly below budget and in line with the engineers’ estimate,” he said.
Overall funding for the project is another reason the Downtown-to-Astrodome light rail is now moving so quickly. Metro will use funds previously earmarked for a west-side high-occupancy vehicle lane and several other projects, including new buses and park and ride lots, which the light rail facilities may render unnecessary.
Reallocation of the transit funds was approved by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) just weeks after the METRO Board voted for the light rail. This funding strategy kept Houston from having to compete with other cities for federal rail money or ask voters for taxing authority.
With funding assured, the light rail contractors now must contend with a variety of challenges, including special construction specifications for historic sites; residential areas and traffic routes; and the sometimes-tricky installation of embedded rails in the roadways.
However, rails in the roadways are not a new idea for Houston. In the early part of the 20th Century, electric trolley vehicles with overhead wires were prominent in Houston’s downtown, including a line that ran along Main Street, the city’s central business thoroughfare.
But Houston grew outward instead of upward, and transportation solutions focused on roadways. As leaders hotly debated the pros and cons of different mass transit approaches, Houston became the only major city in the country without light rail at the turn of the century.
Designers of METRORail have worked to recapture some of the city’s early 1900’s ambience, melding the look of the historic district and the high-tech convenience of the modern system. The old city trolley ran across Main Street Bridge, which was built in 1911 and is a historic landmark.
The half of the bridge deck that will carry the new rail lines will have to be replaced and stronger girders are needed, although the piers and foundation are adequate. But, the overall appearance of the bridge cannot be altered.
Modern-day light rail cars are quiet, but the new system will generate unacceptable levels of vibration where it passes through several residential areas. To mitigate this problem and meet FTA criteria, contractors for those affected areas will install thicker concrete slabs supporting the tracks and heavier rubber sleeves surrounding the track.
These rubber “boots” are one of the unusual requirements of light rail. Since the cars are powered by overhead wires instead of by a third rail, as with heavy rail systems, it is important to maintain electrical isolation of the light rails. This is accomplished with rubber sleeves on the rails.
Trackwork and station construction are scheduled to start in the summer of 2002. In the meantime, street reconstruction and utility relocation will keep contractors busy. Contending with Houston’s downtown traffic will perhaps be their greatest challenge.
“Traffic control is the most challenging aspect of this project and we will hold contractors’ feet to the fire on this,” Schroeder said. “We want minimum disruption of traffic while this project is going on.”
According to Eddie Baaklini of Bencon, the contractor for line section 4, major intersections will be kept open. Contractors for all sections will be required to maintain a minimum of one open traffic lane in each direction. In the Texas Medical Center area, with its congestion and need for emergency access, more lanes will be kept open.
Houston is infamous for its traffic congestion and delays due to ongoing road construction, but METRO is using the media to urge drivers to find alternative routes and to be patient for the next four years. The more motorists avoid the light rail construction zone, the quicker the work will progress, said Tom Davis, Downtown District transportation director.
In the big picture, the new light rail line is not designed to reduce traffic-related problems so much as to revitalize the Main Street corridor—to spur redevelopment to make Main Street a lively and attractive residential, commercial, educational and entertainment area.
Toward this end, the light rails will be embedded in a roadway made of textured, stamped concrete, which will serve the twofold purpose of delineating the no-vehicle areas and providing an attractive surface.
The Downtown Management District is paying the additional cost of using brick pavers in place of stamped concrete along the one mile-long segment with historic structures.
Houston business leaders expect the light rail to more than repay the initial investment of about $40 million per mile. In addition to fare revenues, the project is forecast to create $1 billion in transit-related development, according to the initial investment study by New York City-based Parsons Brinckerhoff.
“Right now, the project looks like a regular street construction project,” Schroeder said. “And basically it is. We’re repaving, but then we’ll be putting rails in the pavement.”
The double track alignment consists almost entirely of in-street, semi-exclusive, at-grade right-of-way, primarily in the median or in the curb lane of city streets. The northbound and southbound track centerlines are a minimum of 14 ft. (4.2 m) apart.
Come the fall of 2002, the project will begin to look like more than street work. That’s when
Siemens Transportation Systems Inc., who won the $117.9 million contract for the light rail systems installation, will begin to put into place the traction power system, signals and communications system.
Siemens will also provide fifteen 200-passenger light rail vehicles to be built in Sacramento, CA, where the company is based. Siemens is one of the leading suppliers of light rail cars in North America and is also a leading supplier of electrification for mass transit.
The Houston project is also designed to reflect the character of the city. Through a public art and design program, local artists are collaborating in the design process with the architects, landscape architects and engineers selected for each of the five line sections.
“METRO has worked with local artists to incorporate their ideas and work into each station so each reflects the neighborhood it serves,” said Patti Muck, public information manager of METRO.
Many of Houston’s leaders hope this Downtown-to-Astrodome Light Rail will be not only a showpiece, but also the beginning of a rapid expansion of light rail in the city.
But, voters will make that decision. In a special meeting before last month’s groundbreaking, the METRORail Board passed a binding resolution pledging any extensions will require voter approval.
“This rail line is viable as a stand-alone line, but it offers great potential for expansion,” DeLibero said. Metro chairman Robert Miller envisions extensions to both major airports as well as to booming suburbs to the west and north.
The discussion that delayed light rail in Houston for more than 20 years continues, however, opponents still think light rail is the wrong direction to take in one of the country’s most sprawling cities.
For now, Houston’s first light rail is sure to be a reality, if not for the 2004 Super Bowl, certainly soon thereafter. And, optimistic city leaders point out that the project will enhance the city’s bid for the 2012 Olympics.
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