Metro to debut Uptown line next month

First rapid bus transit project in Houston comes two years later than initially expected

Rapid bus service is coming to Uptown next month, a couple weeks later than Metro first said this summer and two years later than expected when construction began in 2016.

Service will start along the Silver Line on Aug. 23, along with other bus route changes planned by Metropolitan Transit Authority, CEO Tom Lambert said. Officials pushed back opening day a couple weeks from an earlier estimate to make all the changes at once.

“This allows us to be consistent,” Lambert said.

The line is Houston’s first foray into bus rapid transit, with vehicles using mostly dedicated lanes to ferry riders from the new Westpark/Lower Uptown Transit Center south of Interstate 69 along Post Oak and eventually to the Northwest Transit Center at Loop 610 and Interstate 10.

“There are four critical traffic signals to getting this done,” said Roberto Trevino, Metro’s executive vice president for planning, engineering and construction, outlining the remaining work.

City officials, Trevino said, pledged to have the signals in place by the end of the week. The lights are vital to giving buses their own signal to enter and exit the lanes at key intersections, such as Westpark and the Loop 610 Southbound Frontage Road.

When work started on Post Oak in 2016, officials said it would finish by the end of 2018. Deadlines, however, came and went as a myriad of issues, including weather and having to wait on wiring, delayed progress. Last year, some of the concrete curb along the lane was redone after it failed to meet specifications, as officials planned for work-arounds to the ongoing construction at the I-69 interchange with Loop 610.

Reduced traffic caused by the COVID-19 crisis allowed for some work to accelerate at the intersection, meaning detours once feared were avoided as buses began testing along the route in May.

The opening, however, comes amid the pandemic, which has sharply decreased bus ridership. Metro is currently carrying about half as many riders as it did prepandemic.