Stimulus money likely to fund HOT lanes after all

Light rail probably ineligible

Steve Hawley, Apr 24, 09.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) will likely use the bulk of its stimulus funds to convert high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, according to a METRO representative who spoke at today’s Transportation Policy Council (TPC) meeting.

John Sedlak, a TPC member, told the council that while the Federal Transit Administration had not made a final ruling, METRO would not likely be able to use the money for the light rail expansion project, its biggest priority. Instead, he said the agency was moving forward with its alternate plan, which would spend the money on the HOT lane conversion and new light rail cars for the existing Main Street line.

The proposal would allow single-passenger cars to use high-occupancy lanes for a toll. The HOT lanes would stretch 83 miles along the North, Northwest, Southwest, Eastex, and Gulf freeways. The project would take two years to complete at a projected cost of $48 million.

The light rail expansion is still eligible for regular federal funding, however, and METRO is in final negotiations with FTA. Under federal guidelines, FTA and METRO would each provide half of the funds. METRO approved a $1.5 billion contract for four of the five light rail lines in March and formally signed the contract earlier Friday.

Initially, FTA ruled that METRO could not use its stimulus money for the light rail expansion because the projects were already included in the new starts program and were not eligible for other funding pots. However, after significant complaints from local elected officials, the agency reversed course and indicated that METRO could use $29 million for utility relocation along the North and Southeast lines, and METRO officials hoped the FTA would soon enable them to use all $92 million for the project.

Now it appears that METRO will move forward with its backup plan.

Also at the TPC meeting, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said that the county was no longer pushing for inclusion in the local-option funding bill, due to opposition from the Harris County senate delegation. “We’re not opposing Sen. [John] Carona’s bill,” he said, “it’s just that our senators don’t always do what we want.” The bill would allow voters in 19 metropolitan counties to fund local transportation projects with additional taxes and fees. The Texas Senate approved the legislation on April 14, and it currently sits before the House Transportation Committee.