The Devil's in the Details for Houston's Hobby Line Light Rail Planning

Planning for the Hobby Line light rail route in Houston hasn't gone smoothly, and that's before the city's residents vote to weigh in on the larger long-range transit plan of which the route is a component.

Officials with the city of Houston are hammering out details of a proposed light rail route from Houston's East End to Hobby Airport, and finding controversy and disagreement along the way.

"In a sometimes-testy back and forth, District I Councilman Robert Gallegos and Metropolitan Transit Authority Chairwoman Carrin Patman sparred over various scenarios to route rail from the Green Line’s terminus along Harrisburg near 75th to Hobby," according to an article by Dug Begley following a public hearing on Tuesday of this week.

"The route is the most intricately-debated part of a long-range transit plan Metro is scheduled to approve next month. After that, the plan heads to the November ballot, giving Harris County voters their say on whether to allow additional borrowing for most of a $7.5 billion list of projects over the next 20 years," according to Begley.

To be clear, Councilmember Robert Gallegos is against the project, saying the route would destroy neighborhoods by requiring demolition of homes and business. Begley provides additional details of the various routing proposals for the line.