Energy Corridor District In Planning Stages Of Transit System Overhaul

The oil downturn may be slowing the office sector, but the Energy Corridor District is still busy. A transit system is in the works for the more than 91,000 employees in the area. Energy Corridor District President David Hightower tells Bisnow the district is looking at a variety of options to bring a transit component to the area.

Addicks Park & Ride will be a key component to the plan. Hightower said a circulator that can pick up employees and go around to the different campuses is crucial. Now that Park Row is open, the circulator can be a full loop, but the district is still considering the best way to do that. The district's master plan offers insight into what is being proposed. 

In its current position and configuration, the Addicks Park & Ride transit station is primarily used as a means of exiting the Energy Corridor. With projections over the next two decades showing substantial increases in jobs and residents within the Energy Corridor, the redevelopment of the Addicks Park & Ride lot into a high-capacity transit hub for West Houston will allow the Energy Corridor to evolve from a point of departure into a true transit hub. 

The site of the proposed transit center development is defined by Interstate 10 to the south, Park Row to the north, the I-10 access ramp to the east, and Park and Ride Drive to the west. The master plan being considered focuses on several key steps that can be taken throughout the next few decades that will enable an economically robust, sustainable and urban redevelopment of the Addicks Park & Ride lot.

By reconfiguring and shortening the I-10 access ramps, introducing a central main street running parallel to I-10 becomes possible. This central street could serve as a primary frontage street for new development north of the highway. The shortened ramp will allow increased access to and from the HOV lanes by creating options for accessing the ramp. The garages, shown here in blue, provide efficient access to the transit center and access ramps. Consolidating the parking lot into garages will allow for substantial mixed-use development potential within Houston METRO’s current landownership. 

The reconfiguration of the transit station and I-10 access ramp provides a more direct means of moving more people efficiently through the site. In addition to the consolidation of cars within garages adjacent to the new transit center (red), the route taken by buses will change to respond to, and improve the street experience of, the newly developed site. In this configuration, express buses remain elevated at the level of the newly shortened transit loop. This loop allows express buses to quickly exit I-10 and queue at level two of the new transit center as passengers load and unload. Remaining elevated will remove express buses from the ground-level traffic, allowing for less congestion among passenger cars and local buses. Local buses also utilize the transit center, with routes that traverse the new main street at ground level.

The Energy Corridor Transit Center, as it will be known, is just one major area the District is working on. Hightower said the district is still looking at several different options on how best to implement the district master plan.  

Hear the latest from David Hightower at Bisnow's fifth annual Impact of Oil & Gas event Sept. 17.