Spring Residents Voice Opposition To Houston METRO Lines

SPRING, TX — A public open house meeting hosted by Houston METRO drew hundreds of angry residents to the Klein Multipurpose Center Tuesday night, amid rumors that additional of METRO bus routes were planned along FM 2920 between Interstate 45 and the Tomball City Limits.

A local newsletter in Spring published a notice on July 15, urging residents to attend and let their voices be heard, and to voice their opposition for a proposed bus line along the FM 2920 corridor. (Want to get daily updates about traffic news and other events going on in your area? Sign up for the free Houston Patch morning newsletter.)

“I saw that, and that’s why I came. I thought they already had a plan,” said Dana Winstrome, of Spring, who stood in the crowd and listened.

Tom Lambert, CEO for Houston METRO, was at the meeting and reassured Spring residents that the anticipated appearance of METRO stops along FM 2920 wasn’t part of METRO’s long range transportation plan, and would not be happening any time soon.

Instead, Lambert said the visit to Spring was one of several ongoing open house meetings that he called “a listening tour,” scheduled for various communities in the Greater Houston area.

“There is no plan,” he said. “We have to get voter approval to build whatever we’re going to build...So anybody who thinks today that we have a plan, well there is no plan.”

METRO CEO Tom Lambert speaks with Spring residents about METRO transportation benefits (Image: Bryan Kirk)

Still, residents in Spring are worried that the addition of METRO bus lines near their neighborhoods will serve as a conduit for greater criminal activity, and usher in a larger homeless population — a situation that many believe changed the landscape of nearby FM 1960, when METRO came to the region years ago.

Jay Keating, who now lives in Spring, lived through that change years earlier when he and his family lived along FM 1960.

“We were there when they did this to FM 1960, and we saw what it did,” Keating said.

Keating said the arrival of METRO bus lines to FM 1960 more than 10 years ago dropped property values, and increased crime in the region, and he doesn’t want to see it happen again.

“I don’t need to see their plan,” he said.

METRO has been part of the transportation landscape in Houston since voters approved its creation in 1978.

Since it’s creation, METRO has expanded its fleet to serve areas of southwest Houston in Missouri City, and into the northeast areas of Harris County that include Humble.

The METRO fleet includes more than 1,200 buses, 37 light rail trains that serve downtown, and nearly 150 paratransport vans.

Residents in northwest Houston who want to use the METRO system into downtown Houston for work have to travel to the parking and ride hub on I-45 near FM 2920.

Residents in Spring turned out in droves at the Klein Mutipurpose Center Tuesday night for a METRO open house. (Image: Bryan Kirk/Patch Staff)

With the anticipated growth of the Greater Houston area, and the expectation that Houston will soon surpass Chicago as the third largest city in the U.S., METRO officials said they are taking a forward-looking approach to Houston’s transportation needs.

Jim Robinson, vice-chairman for the METRO board of directors, said METRO was looking at transportation remedies in anticipation of that growth, including transportation options other than buses

“We don’t even have a plan of what we’re going to do,” Robinson said. “(We are working) on a long range transportation plan on what will work best for the Houston region.”

METRO plans a number of community planning meetings with the next taking place at the Humble Civic Center Wednesday night from 6-8 p.m., and a meeting Thursday at Acres Homes Multi-Service Center from 10 a.m. until noon.

Other upcoming METRO public open house meetings scheduled:

• White Oak Conference Center, July 25 6-8 p.m.
• Sagemont Park Community Center, July 26 6:30-8:30 p.m.
• Quail Run Community Center, July 27, 6-8 p.m.
• Magnolia Multi-Service Center, July 29 10 a.m.-noon
• Tracey Gee Community Center, Aug. 1, 6-8 p.m.
• Metropolitan Multi-Service Center, Aug. 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
• Third Ward Multi-Service Center, Aug. 3, 6-8 p.m.
• Houston Community College Brays Bayou, Aug. 7, 6-8 p.m.
• Wyndham Houston West Energy Corridor, Aug. 8, 6-8 p.m.
• Hiram Clarke Multi-Service Center, Aug. 9, 6-8 p.m.
• Judson Robinson Senior Community Center, Aug. 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
• Katy ISD Education Support Center, Aug. 15, 6-8 p.m.
• Lone Star College-University Park, Aug. 16, 6-8 p.m.
• Monte Beach Community Center, Aug. 17, 6-8 p.m.

Can’t make any of the scheduled meetings, and want to leave a comment? Log onto RideMETRO.org

Image: Bryan Kirk/Patch Staff

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