HOUSTON — Residents of Houston's East End are frustrated over the lack of communication regarding a METRO bus lane project they say will divide the neighborhood.
The rapid bus-only lane down Lockwood would be a part of a bigger project - a 25.3-mile corridor extending from the Westchase Park & Ride to the Tidewell Transit Center.
Some residents who live next to the project said they never heard anything from METRO.
"Man, it doesn't need to be this hard. So, one thing that I would implore this board to think about is the level and the process of community engagement," said Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia.
Many residents in the East End said they just found out in March of METRO's now-scrapped plan to build an overpass for rapid buses as a part of the project to bypass train tracks on Lockwood near Harrisburg.
"This is the most historic Latino, Spanish-speaking neighborhood in the city. And it's about to be split in two," said resident Stephen Quezada.
After pushback from the community, METRO decided to instead build an underpass at the spot of the proposed overpass.
"It's not good, it does divide a community. And it's still divided, in some respects, because the project comes through," said Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia.
The community asked the METRO board to delay a vote on the proposed underpass route, but the board kept pushing an April 30 deadline they said they needed to meet in order to get funding from the federal government.
Congresswoman Sylva Garcia said that isn't the case.
"Much to my surprise, I was told that there was no deadline. That what was in place was an internal deadline," she said.
The congresswoman said the real federal deadline is in September, but METRO argued they need a few months to prepare their engineering work and application for funding.
After opposition even from some METRO board members, there were just enough votes to pass the route and move forward with the plan to create an underpass.
The board's chair vowed to backtrack the plan should an alternative solution be found.
"You have our commitment, congresswoman, that if we are able to find a solution that works, we will work on that," said METRO Board of Directors Chair Sanjay Ramabhadran.