Was anyone here in Houston during the time there was a heavy rail proposition? I don't know the details but I believe it covered Westchase, Hobby, Downtown, Greenway Plaza, and IAH. It's a shame that Lanier took the $500 million and gave it to HPD. That could've been the start of something great.
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I remember it being talked about back then. if I remember correctly, it was just going to be inside the loop (remember this was about 3-5 years after Loop 610 was completed). Bottom line is...for decades this city has been run by real estate developers who just want to get more highways and roads built so they can build more subdivisions and shopping centers and keep Houston sprawling. Nothing was ever done about light rail back then, and nothing has changed in 40 years.
Big Auto Killed the Electric Streetcar http://www.cracked.com/article_19884_6-insane-conspiracy-theories-that-actually-happened.html
Yeah my kind of town - disperse em. The last thing I need is a bunch of people around me. Crowded train - eww. Rather sit in traffic solo.
This has been going on a long time. I know Pate Engineers has always been involved. This isn't from 1980 but it is from 1991: http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/a...rail-groups-have-political-ties-to-mayor.html
The more interesting rail proposal for Houston was monorail in the 60's when that technology was first developed in the late 50's: http://blog.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2008/10/when-monorail-came-to-houston/ Few readers may remember it, but for a few months in 1956 a genuine, bonafide, electrified, six-car monorail debuted in Houston. OK, it wasn’t a six-car monorail, but I had to work in a Simpsons reference somehow. This pilot monorail line, organized by Monorail Inc., made its debut (albeit two hours late because of a mechanical holdup) on Feb. 18, 1956, at Arrowhead Park near Old Spanish Trail and Main. A Houston Chronicle article from that day said the 55-passenger coach made three trips at speeds not over 10 mph. Reaction to the trip was varied. The most general comment was that it was interesting and had possibilities, but more investigation into the costs is needed. [...] Supported by 18 standards shaped like an inverted J, the project is the $100,000 pilot model of a system designed to provide express service for commuters. Some people refer to the monorail as Trailblazer. According to an earlier Chronicle article, that name refers to the monorail coach. The name Skyway refers to the 1,600-foot monorail line. Both names were chosen as part of a contest. Although it was studied as an answer to Houston’s traffic headaches, a full-fledged monorail system never took hold. As for the line at Arrowhead Park, Monorail Inc. announced in September 1956 that it would be dismantled and used in a similar line going up at Fair Park in Dallas.
I actually rode the Trailblazer Monorail at Fair Park during the State Fair of Texas, somewhere around 1960. For me then, the future looked like a science fiction wonderland.... we were just getting color TV. What seems to make monorails so sensible is the lack of traffic conflict (unlike our street car) that allows higher speeds between stations. The construction elements can be made cheaply, offsite at a central factory and the only construction conflicts are at the spaced out vertical supports. As I recall the argument against a monorail system was the fact that every loading stations had to be elevated..... maybe not such a dumb idea in a town known for street flooding. I remember a little about the Heavy Rail plan, but it had little appeal to Houstonians in the 80's. Commuter rail was having a resurgence of Federal funding as a response to possible oil embargos.
