The Houston Intermodal Transit Center (also known as Burnett Plaza) was a planned hub for local, commuter, and intercity transit in Houston (Texas, USA). The site is located adjacent to the campus of the University of Houston–Downtown (UHD). The center would have eventually replaced the Houston Amtrak station, as well as various bus terminals throughout the city such as Greyhound Lines.[1]
Burnett Plaza | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Intermodal | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| General information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Main Street and Burnett Street, Houston, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 29°46′21″N 95°21′36″W / 29.772432°N 95.359873°W | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Connections | Intercity Bus, Light Rail | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Key dates | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Cancelled | February 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Proposed services | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Design
editThe transit center was designed by EE&K.[2] The plan for the structure would have been a modern glass and steel building surrounding a "great space". Because the facility would have been built over the tracks, one of the dominant features would have been a grand staircase. The center was designed as a multi-level station with heavy rail (commuter, Amtrak, Union Pacific freight) running under a large public space with light rail running via an elevated structure. Main Street would have been split into Upper Main Street, with access to the station at the level of the public space in a loop, and Lower Main Street, which would have gone underneath the entire station and continued on as North Main Street.
Cancellation
editFollowing METRO's 2010 annual audit, the agency decided to cancel the project as part of a US$168 million write-down of worthless or non-existent assets. The value of the land US$21 million was to be recorded separately as a remaining asset.[3]
A smaller light rail station and bus terminal, named Burnett Transit Center, opened in 2013 on the southeast corner of Main and Burnett.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Greyhound's Houston station may move". KHOU. July 17, 2008. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
- ^ "Houston Northern Intermodal Facility / Perkins Eastman". www.perkinseastman.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
- ^ Moran, Chris (February 21, 2016). "Houston transit takes a $168M hit for useless projects". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
- ^ Begley, Dug (December 20, 2013). "North Line latest step, but hardly the last". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 10, 2016.