Blueprint for Main Street

Man, does THIS sound cool!

Main Street redevelopment plan unveiled
By MIKE SNYDER
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle


Civic leaders Tuesday night released a detailed blueprint of a $200 million Main Street redevelopment project, which is closely tied to a Metro light rail plan now under siege in court.

The 20-year strategic plan envisions an eight-mile-long corridor -- linked by common design elements and public spaces where people can walk and mingle -- from Quitman on the near northside to the South Loop near Reliant Park.

Mayor Lee Brown and other backers said the plan promises to make Main the spine of the vibrant urban center that Houston needs to flourish at a time when talented workers increasingly demand a high quality of life.

"It would be no exaggeration to say that what we're proposing here would have the same impact on Houston as building the Ship Channel did," Brown told participants in a town hall meeting.

Ed Wulfe, chairman of the Main Street Coalition, the group appointed by Brown in 1998 to oversee the effort, said the urban environment it envisions would help to overcome negative perceptions hampering business development.

"Major corporations, even our (Texas) Medical Center, are having trouble recruiting skilled workers because of the so-called perception of the quality of life in Houston," Wulfe said.

The plan, he said, would be viable even if opponents block the proposed rail line mostly along Main from downtown to Reliant Park.

The rail plan has been attacked on several fronts since Metro decided in 1999 that light rail is the best transit technology for the Main Street corridor.

A hearing is under way in state district court on a lawsuit that seeks to force a public vote on use of city right-of-way for the rail line.

"We've always approached it that we would build a grand boulevard with or without rail," Wulfe said, adding that the rail line would be a great enhancement.

Transit stops along the proposed rail line are an important focus of the plan. It says Main's redevelopment "represents a progressive approach to seize opportunities presented by Metro's light rail plan and create the framework for bold achievements that will establish Main Street among the great boulevards of the world."

The rail alignment would follow Main from downtown to Blodgett, near U.S. 59, then veer onto Fannin and San Jacinto parallel to Main.

The plan estimates that achieving its recommendations would require $80 million from local government, $95 million in federal and state funds and $25 million in private, institutional and philanthropic funds.

These investments, it says, would generate an estimated $1 billion in additional private development and lead to increases in the tax base more than offsetting the costs to local government.

The plan recommends:

· That the city create a "Main Street Corridor Design District" to ensure continuity of design in the public right of way, and that the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone board establish private development guidelines in that section of the Main Street corridor for the same purpose.

· That trees, fountains, sidewalks, lighting, public art and other amenities be added throughout the corridor. It recommends that the tree canopy over Main near Rice University be extended to the South Loop. This would require planting about 6,000 trees at an estimated cost of $15 million.

· That residential neighborhoods adjacent to Main, particularly the Third Ward in southeast Houston, be linked to the Main Street corridor.

Barry Goodman, coordinating consultant for the project, said these "linkages" would involve such amenities as signs, lighting and sidewalks to make it easier, safer and more pleasant for people to walk from their neighborhoods to Main.

· That planning continue for previously discussed redevelopment projects in the corridor. These include a "signature arrival element" at the north end of downtown, such as a tower; a "major water element" in the Reliant Park area; a major plaza at Holcombe embracing Main and Fannin; a "diagonal boulevard" linking the George R. Brown Convention Center to the rest of downtown; a central flower market near the existing flower shops on Fannin in Midtown; and moving the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts campus to Main from its Montrose area location.

· That a new off-ramp be built from U.S. 59 to Main, providing an important link from this major freeway to the corridor. The state is incorporating this change into its plans for reconstruction of this part of the freeway, officials said

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