HOUSTON -- Transportation officials hope to add dozens of miles to Houston's light rail and commuter rail lines, News2Houston reported Friday.

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Houstonians React To Light Rail Expansion Plan

Officials are hoping to garner support for a plan that would eliminate a fund for local road construction and repair in exchange for the creation of 41 new miles of light rail and 8 miles of commuter rail over the next two decades.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority Board on Thursday unveiled its draft plan, which would build off the 7.5-mile starter rail line that beginning in January will offer service from downtown Houston south to Reliant Stadium.

The proposal would extend light rail with lines to Hobby Airport, the Galleria area, the East End and far north of downtown by 2025.

The draft plan will be refined after public hearings in May, voted on by the board in July and possibly put before voters in November. It also includes a 25-mile commuter train from the southern end of the starter line to Rosenberg, located just southwest of Houston, as well as improved local bus service and nine new transit center, officials said.

"The community needs to consider the cost of not responding to what is going to happen over the next 20 years in Harris County," said METRO Chairman Arthur Schechter. If METRO's plan is rejected by voters or Congress, Schechter warned, "Our community will suffocate under the weight of all the traffic or be choked to death by all the emissions that will take place."

Funding for the $3.3 billion proposal would come from two sources -- hoped-for federal funds and METRO's general mobility fund, which offers money for street repair and construction to Houston, Harris County and 14 smaller area cities through sales tax revenue.

Eliminating the general mobility fund would give METRO an estimated $100 million in extra transit funds each year after 2009, the agency said.

Schechter said the proposed rail expansions will cost $2.5 billion and the other plan elements $800 million. The transit authority said it will not seek a tax increase to pay for the projects. But localities will have to pay for their own street repair.

While some praised the plan, others expressed concern about losing their street funds, and voiced skepticism over funding details and the wisdom of committing to a plan for such a long time period.

Shirley DeLibero, METRO president and CEO, said some local governments will not be happy with the proposal but said the transit projects would better relieve traffic congestion in the region, expected to get much worse over the next 22 years as a projected additional 2 million people move here.

"I'm most proud of the fact that it is an entire system plan. It's not just rail. It's rail, bus, new transit centers, new HOVs," DeLibero said.

Bob Lanier, a former Houston mayor and former METRO chairman who killed the last voter-endorsed rail plan a decade ago, said he'd support some of the rail expansion but wants more details about the financing.

Lanier also said METRO shouldn't plan so far in advance because that will tie the hands of future mayors and METRO leaders. He also worried that eliminating the general mobility fund would lead to deterioration of existing roads.

Jonathan Grella, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, said his office is reviewing the document and "won't stand in the way" if voters approve rail expansion.

DeLay blocked federal funds for METRO's starter line and has vowed to do so for extensions should voters reject the plan.

Houston City Council member Michael Berry, who is running for Houston Mayor, said that he is worried that the plan would not alleviate traffic.

"I'm concerned that moving people from sport stadium to sport stadium is not necessarily traffic congestion reduction," Berry said. "And I'm not convinced yet that this plan is realistic and reasonable."