Future Expansion
The new North, Southeast and East End lines are tentatively scheduled to be completed sometime during 2015. Fannin Station will also be added to the current Red Line in order to provide transfers to/from both the Southeast/Purple and the East End/Green lines.
In August 2010, a budget shortfall of $49 million was announced by METRO, which has halted progress on the University/Blue Line. The line has already received a final Federal Record of Decision but there are no official words regarding when construction would start or how the line would be funded. METRO previously claimed that the completion of construction and opening of the Red Line Extension would be by 2013 and the East End/Green Line by 2014. However, METRO announced on September 9, 2010 that the opening dates for the North,Southeast, and East End lines had been pushed back to 2014, and by December 2011 the start date had slipped back to 2015.
On December 8, 2011, the FTA announced an award of $900 million, broken into two $450 million grants from the New Starts transit program, to fund construction of the North and Southeast lines, by that time estimated to begin service in 2015.
Following METRO's 2010 annual audit, the agency has decided to cancel the Burnett Plaza project. This is part of a US$168,000,000 asset liquidation. The price of the land US$21,000,000 is valued separately.
METRO offered the public a chance to name stations on its expansion lines.
| Line Name | Distance | Route | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| North / Red Line Extension | 5.3 mi (8.5 km) | UH–Downtown Station to the Northline Transit Center | Under construction |
| Southeast / Purple Line | 6.1 mi (10 km) | Smith Street in Downtown Houston to the Palm Center at MLK & Griggs Street | Under construction |
| University / Blue Line | 11.3 mi (18 km) | Hillcroft Transit Center to the Eastwood Transit Center | Planned |
| Uptown / Gold Line | 4.7 mi (8 km) | Bellaire/South Rice Station on Westpark to the Northwest Transit Center | Planned |
| East End / Green Line | 3.3 mi (5 km) | Smith Street in Downtown Houston to the Magnolia Transit Center | Under construction |
Read more about this topic: METRORail
Famous quotes containing the words future and/or expansion:
“I would sum up my fear about the future in one word: boring. And that’s my one fear: that everything has happened; nothing exciting or new or interesting is ever going to happen again ... the future is just going to be a vast, conforming suburb of the soul.”
—J.G. (James Graham)
“The fundamental steps of expansion that will open a person, over time, to the full flowering of his or her individuality are the same for both genders. But men and women are rarely in the same place struggling with the same questions at the same age.”
—Gail Sheehy (20th century)