Comments on: West U Residents Voice Stern Opposition to METRO Plan

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 18:19:23 +0000

My son and a neighbor rode the bus when it ran on weslayan. It was great! Then when metro added the rail they stupidly stopped this route so everyone would have to connect to and ride the rail to get around houston. It was ridiculous and made no sense. Now they want to bring it back?? Sounds like most people don’t want it back! We need the bus on weslayan and more bus service so more people don’t have to use their cars. Metro needs to study san francisco to understand how to design good public transportation.

By: Lucille

Lucille — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 18:20:14 +0000

Nice Neighbor: There is a North/South bus route to Greenway Plaza called the 73 Bellfort Crosstown. In West University, it runs on University between Kirby and Buffalo Speedway. Then it runs on Buffalo Speedway between University and Bissonnet. It has many stops outside of West U.

By: Nice Neighbor

Nice Neighbor — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 13:55:56 +0000

Ironic that their ultimate goal to decrease congestion would actually make it worse. What is 20% increase in ridership on an average bus? 4 people?

By: Nice Neighbor

Nice Neighbor — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 13:53:54 +0000

This plan makes me think of Bissonnet near the museum district (thru Ashby high-rise area) It is also one lane each direction, has a bus route, and is a disaster. I used to travel thru there to work, and at peak hours it took me 30 minutes to get from my house to Main St. (which is only a few miles!) Drivers would DEFINITELY cut through on Academy and College.

If they INSIST (and my preference would be NO bus routes) on a North/South bus route to Greenway, why not Buffalo?? At least it is 4 lanes and the houses are set back further.

By: Lucille

Lucille — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 14:46:28 +0000

Resident: I’m not sure there was a Building Code in the 1940s. If Metro gets their way, West U should insist on the smaller busses for the reasons you give above. The Weslayan-Bissonnet intersection has always been a nightmare, so I avoid it. Most of the streets to and from West U seem more crowded now which may be due to recent construction. I think the reason the West U sponsored meetings are held on weekdays and evenings is to accommodate city officials and employees who conduct them.

By: Resident

Resident — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 14:11:21 +0000

I was not able to attend the meeting, as most young professionals with family probably had similar commitments regarding children, school, and work. On a side note, why can’t council meet on the weekends when interested people are able to voice their opinions or even just to witness government in action?

My concerns are similar to all of those opposed, but I have additional concerns that regard the only pedestrian friendly intersection that connects the west side to central west u. University and Weslyan is the only intersection with a light that is lined up on both sides and is safe to cross on foot. Bus drivers will virtually make this intersection impassable.

I realize they have a hard job, but nearly every bus driver I’ve seen in Houston cannot hold their lane and egregiously, even blatantly, run red lights and disregard surrounding traffic and pedestrians. Do we really want this inside our city?

Unless West U wants to buy all the houses with Weslyan frontage, the street won’t be widened. If there were rules in place, Lucille, they’d be documented in the building code – they are not.

I’d also like to point out that taking out these main arteries would make fire and emergency vehicles navigate down more residential streets, which, as we all remember with the charts and parking discussion, can be quite a challenge. Imagine your house on fire, or your parent having a heart attack and two metro busses are blocking traffic in both directions on Weslyan and the emergency vehicle has to go down Rice or Marquette or College or pick your street to work around Weslyan to a house in the 4100 block.

If this is a foregone conclusion and political money is at stake (sad to think that this would be the case) – they need to look at a route that goes down Buffalo. It is straight, wide, and can handle the traffic. Can anyone really envision METRO navigating the curve at Weslyan and Stella Link?

Sorry for the long post.

By: HashtagHarry

HashtagHarry — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 18:23:31 +0000

When has common sense ever been taken into account when Metro and/or politicians are involved? A bus will likely have a route on Weslayan, even though people who live in West U do not ride Metro buses.

By: GoldBacon

GoldBacon — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 15:27:14 +0000

Like I said before, I live on the corner of Weslayan just south of University. My garage opens up to Weslayan, so I’m definitely opposed to the bus line running down this residential street. At the end of the day though, the BIGGER concern is the fact that running a bus 35 times a day in each direction is going to cause traffic congestion, and that will make motorists cut through the neighborhood. Academy and College streets will be the preferred cut-through. Colonial Park is on Academy, and College is a main route for kids walking to/from West U. Elementary.

Anybody with an ounce of common sense knows this is a bad idea. I wasn’t at the council meeting so I can’t speak to the atmosphere in the chamber. Did the mayor and council members seem supportive of their neighbors’ concerns?

By: Lucille

Lucille — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 03:37:07 +0000

Although I am no longer a resident, I would like to comment on this subject. The bus route on Weslayan ran on the section from Bellaire to University. It started a distance from West U so it wasn’t empty when it got to West U. The main complaint is that the new Weslayan route would have the bus continuing to Bissonnet and back during unknown hours. It is irrelevant, but in the early days, it was always understood that building a big house on Weslayan was not a good idea because there was some reason why it could be widened. I don’t know if the rumor was based on local myth or if eminent domain or easement issues could surface. Also, I kind of remember, and Burt Ballanfant’s memory is better than mine, a smaller version of a bus running on Weslayan along the route being discussed. I rode the bus often through the years, and do remember using the smaller bus to and from West U. The smaller bus or shuttle was better in the neighborhoods with narrow streets but they couldn’t carry many riders.

By: MIchaels family

MIchaels family — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 02:37:13 +0000

We are wholly in agreement that a bus route down Weslayan is a very bad idea. It’s already difficult in the morning to turn left onto Weslayan from the College Court area. Also, the lights at Westpark and the SW Freeway are not timed properly at Weslayan and cause back ups blocking the intersection during 5:00 traffic. This plan should not go forward.