Subscribe to this blog

  • RSS
    • RSS
    Google Reader or Homepage
    del.icio.us Items
    Add to My Yahoo!
    Subscribe with Bloglines
    Subscribe in NewsGator Online

    myFeedster
    Add to My AOL

Tags

Service Changes Due to Marathon
Friday, January 16, 2009 5:26 PM  

 

Group of male runners- close-up of legs onlyThis Sunday, the Chevron Houston Marathon will attract thousands of runners who will be sprinting through much of downtown.

That means METRO's service will be affected.

From 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., the majority of downtown streets will be closed, north of  Lamar Avenue.  

METRO will be unable to offer bus service during those two hours in that downtown area.

After 8 a.m., we will resume detour service on the north side of downtown, using Franklin and Congress Streets. South of Lamar Avenue, major detour streets will be Pierce and St. Joseph Parkway.

We will also have no rail service between the northbound platform at Main Street Square and the southbound platform at Preston Station until 2 p.m.

Regular rail service will operate between Fannin South and Main Street Square Stations; and Preston and UH Downtown Stations. Trains will run at our normal Sunday frequency of every 18 minutes. Women runners getting water

All buses and trains will resume normal service by 2 p.m.

The following bus routes will be affected by the marathon with detours: 1Hospital ; 3 W. Gray; 3 Langley; 5 Southmore;  5 Kashmere;  6 Jensen; 9 N. Main; 11 Almeda; 11 Nance; 15 Fulton; 20 Canal; 20 Long Point; 24 Northline; 25 Richmond; 26 Outer Loop; 27 Inner Loop; 30 Cullen; 30 Clinton; 33 Post Oak; 36 Lawndale; 40 Pecore; 40 Telephone; 44 Acres Homes; 48 Navigation; 50 Harrisburg; 50 Heights; 52 Scott; 52 Hirsch; 53 Westheimer; 56 Airline; 60 MacGregor.; 66 Yale; 77 MLK; 77 Liberty; 78 Alabama; 78 Irvington; 80 Dowling; 80 Lyons; 81 Westheimer; 82 Westheimer; 163 Fondren.

If you're visiting from out of town for the marathon, there are some wonderful places to visit along our 7.5-mile rail line:  The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Houston Museum of Natural Science; Hermann Park with paddle boats, train and a zoo; and the famed Texas Medical Center - a sprawling campus the size of Akron, Ohio, and home of heart surgeon pioneers,  the late Dr. Michael DeBakey and Dr. Denton Cooley.

 

Posted by Mary Sit
  • back to top

    • Comments

    DominicMazoch said:

    There is good will behind this event.

    I can understand a small part of the Houston, or any city being closed for an event.  In Houston'e case, things like the I Fest (Near City Hall), or the Air Show Ellington Field)

    But this event closes down a lot of the Inner Loop area.  Even with this event on Sunday, I wonder if the cost/benefits are worth it.

    I can see companies helping out.  But one company in particular, is sponsering this, and has its logo seen with the official event logo.

    And this them a tax break?  I can see a mention and thank you, but that should be it.

    I could go farther, but his would be sending this thread away from a transit base.

    # January 16, 2009 7:26 PM

    Royko said:

    Hoping for the day they turn the power off to the boondoggle tram and are not able to restart it.

    # January 17, 2009 9:34 AM

    Todd said:

    Royko,

    Do you realize Houston is a laughing stock when it comes to transportation? Why? Because one we don't have a good trasit mix, this requires more than just "rubbed tired" mobility. It requires , you guessed it...trains, both light rail and commuter. With TXDOT just seeming to focus on roads, roads, roads. They forget that they are the department of TRANSPORTATION, not the department of ROADS ONLY. I for one would finally like to live somewhere that I actually have a choice of transit besides just a bus.

    # January 17, 2009 2:23 PM

    J. Liggins said:

    You might as well shut down this wasteful blog right now. It is complete and utter c...! Why don't you have ANY information about the 82 - Westheimer which is on THREE DIFFERENT DETOURS because of this stupid marathon!? I have to spend $50 out of my own pocket to get to work because of your sorry bus system and your lack of information! I had to speak to someone on Metroline to find out that the buses "are running real behind," (so eloquent) due to three seperate detours.  Why didn't you have that posted somewhere so we could adjust our trips accordingly? It's not like Metro provides alot of different options as is. No use in filing a complaint though as the project babies you hire seem to HATE even hearing from us lowly bus riders. But hey, I guess it's either that job or welfare, eh? You know, this marathon happens every year. You would think, THINK (a foriegn concept to you all I suppose), that you all could get it right! Perhaps have your detours cause as little disruption to the schedule as possible. But here's what I think happened, you just told your drivers what streets will be blocked and to just wing it! And since you all are hiring and not training your drivers they probably got lost! Or perhaps, like what happened in Bellarie last year, you didn't even plan a detour so the buses just sat there waiting for the event to end! To quote the driver I had that day, "We're not paid to think." WOW~! Neither are your service planners either I suppose. And Mary, you're probably thinking, "Wow Jason, these comments are so harsh." Yes, you're right, but that's what happens when you have to deal with the ignorance and incompetence of Metro, you go insane! Next time, instead of publishing useless fluff pieces that have NOTHING TO DO WITH METRO maybe, just maybe, you'll give the public the information they need to get to work. I'm sure not everyone has $50 to waste on Yellow Cab.
    # January 18, 2009 10:27 AM

    Royko said:

    Todd,

    No, we do not have to have urban rail, at grade.

    Buses run rings around rail!

    Is it not a fact that when the "transit backbone" tram is interrupted, METREAUX must call in the buses to rescue the hapless victims?

    # January 18, 2009 5:32 PM

    Robert said:

    Jason:

    Right on to everything you said.

    Robert

    # January 18, 2009 8:11 PM

    C said:

    Well I know that a few routes had to "detour" Saturday because I MISSED my bus

    Theres a King parade Monday and I came to this SITE for more information about detours... Sorry, I still haven't found it. I'll just wait at the St Joseph area for my bus.

    Im with J Liggins...

    # January 19, 2009 1:34 AM

    J. Liggins said:

    Last night after arriving by cab into Downtown from Hobby airport (thanks again Metro for your startling lack of services to out airports), I realized that certain streets near GRB were blocked.  I also realized my 82 was nowhere to be found.  Turns out it was sitting several blocks away out of service.  Since this particular driver doesn't allow people to sit on the bus during her layover I had to wait in a seedy part of downtown after dark.  Fortunately I was actually able to catch the bus this time, no thanks to Metro.

    As far as the MLK day parade, what happened to actually knowing where the buses would be detouring?  Back in the "Golden Age" Metro would either detour all buses via Louisiana/Smith or Fannin/San Jacinto during the parade.  The east/west buses would run north of Preston.  

    And Mary, I don't blame you per se.  You really have no control over what your masters want you to post here and I definitely don't expect you to have accurate info given the horrible state of your agency.  I doubt they even know where they'll be sending the buses today.  It's pathetic and if you're ever unfortunate enough to have to depend on this decrepit bus service, you'll echo these sentiments.

    # January 19, 2009 6:57 AM

    matt said:

    http://www.centsports.com/?opcode=369582

    this is centsports.com....the best and most fun FREE sports gaming site ever!!  enjoy everyone!!!

    # January 19, 2009 5:26 PM

    Cedric Collins said:

    Sorry folks but I just need to respond to this so my humble apologies for going "off the track."

    Royko said:  "Buses run rings around rail!"

    May I ask---WHY are you constantly repeating this statement?  Without the proper maintainence (and all that jazz), buses can't even run rings around themselves.  DUH!

    You may can fully convince the rest of the bloggers on here that (I'm not even going to repeat that statement) but you cannot convince me.  You FAILED in that conquest.

    Why do you even care about saying that over and over and over again?  Just like the Energizing bunny, mind you.

    I know what some people are thinking (especially Mary), "Cedric---don't go that route---if you know what I mean."  I'm sorry but stuff like that just drives me nuts!

    My request to Mr. Royko is---wake up and provide me---Cedric Collins---with enough proof that buses can handle anything---repeat---anything.

    # January 20, 2009 11:36 AM

    Royko said:

    Mr. CoLLins,

    Why do you not acknowledge that when the Utopian, Glorious "Transit Backbone" service is interrupted METREAUX dispatches buses to rescue the passengers?

    Why should we tolerate the waste of so much money on an unsafe, unreliable transit mode?

    Buses are agile, versitile, less expensive to buy and operate, and offer options the tram can not...ergo -Buses run rings around METREAUXRail!

    # January 20, 2009 5:16 PM

    JamesL said:

    I think I understand Rokeaux now! He's arguing we need LOTS more rail. Consider this: when the New York City subway has to close a line for maintenance or something unforeseen, there is enough redundancy in the system to move people around the issue. Now if we only had enough METRORail, there would be multiple routes from A to B and they wouldn't have to crowd people on slow buses if one route were temporarily suspended. Isn't that right, Rokeaux?

    # January 20, 2009 10:00 PM

    Royko said:

    JamesL,

    I think those who demand more urban rail don't care about the enormous, crushing costs they will be burdening future generations with.

    # January 21, 2009 9:14 AM

    Mary Sit said:

    To all who said they could not find detour information on our Web site:

    We had pdf files listing detailed detours of every route affected. On our home page, there's a link that's always there in the center (small writing with a list of other topics). It says "detours." Click that and you would have been brought to the pdf files listing the detailed detours.

    Here are the links where you can find them the next time:

    http://www.ridemetro.org/News/Detours.aspx

    http://www.ridemetro.org/News/Events.aspx

    We are sorry if some of you did not find this information that was posted on our Web site.

    Here's a response from Paul Weisser, METRO's senior transit operations liaison:

    "The Chevron Houston Marathon is a nationally recognized event which occurs the third weekend of January every year.  While METRO does partner with the marathon, we also understand this event causes the greatest disruption to METRO's local bus service and rail service than any other event of this kind.  

    "METRO does its best to continue providing service, but during the hours of 6 a.m. to   2 p.m. on the day of the marathon, we can expect delays to all METRO buses entering downtown, buses in and around the actual race course south and west of downtown and the METRORail line in downtown."

    # January 22, 2009 3:34 PM

    Cedric Collins said:

    Roykeaux,

            When you start using your brain for once, please---give me a holler---either here of via e-mail.

    "Buses are agile, versatile, less expensive to buy and operate, and offer options the tram can not...ergo -Buses run rings around METRORail!"

    Not good enough.  Explain more!

    Since you're saying this=>"I think those who demand more urban rail don't care about the enormous, crushing costs they will be burdening future generations with."=>I guess you can add me onto that list.

    Tell me---would you think the same way for people who use mass transit in NYC?

    # January 24, 2009 2:08 PM
    New Comments to this post are disabled