Rad Sallee assesses the current state of the Westpark rail debate in a Chronicle article today.
No excerpt can really do the article justice, so here’s a link.
Earlier today, Ted Richardson (who opposes light rail on Richmond) emailed me, Sallee, and a number of other people a copy of a proposed alignment that he submitted to METRO. Richardson’s proposal was referred to briefly in the confusing reporting from last weekend, but no significant details of the proposal were reported. To summarize, Richardson’s proposal has the line running along the south side of the Southwest Freeway on an elevated track, then eventually working its way to Westpark. Here is the proposal (pdf) Richardson passed along, and here is a rough rendering (pdf) of the “el” that he also sent.
While I’m certainly a proponent of grade-separated rail if we’re going to do rail (and voters decided that we were in 2003), the big concern here is likely to be the cost of elevating a section along the Southwest Freeway, whether on the north or south side. Another potential objection is esthetic, since it will detract visually from the artsy bridges along the freeway.
Getting this line from Wheeler station to Westpark (which begins on Kirby) with minimal use of Richmond (as per Rep. Culberson’s request and the Metro Solutions 2003 vote) is going to be a challenge. Feel free to discuss Richardson’s proposal and other options in the comments.
