Lynn Walsh

A story written for Texas Watchdog:

Finishing 5 light rail lines will be tough job, Houston Metro transition chief says
Fri Mar 19 23:57:00 2010 CST
By Lynn Walsh

Completing Houston’s five proposed light rail lines is going to be a “very heavy lift.”

That’s the word from James Moncur, the leader of Mayor Annise Parker’s Metro transition committee. “It’s going to be a consistent monitoring analysis process from here on out. It’s going to be a very heavy lift, and I think these board members understand this,” he said.

The board members Moncur is referring to are five nominees Parker named at a press conference on Thursday. The nominees are Gilbert Andrew Garcia, Christof Spieler, Allen Dale Watson, Carrin F. Patman and Dwight E. Jefferson.

Parker said she and the five new board members are committed to building all five of the proposed lines. But both Parker and Moncur said that the time table for completion may have to be adjusted.

Moncur said the completion of the five new rail lines depends on the financial stability of Metro. Financial numbers presented to Moncur and other members of the transition team seem reasonable, Moncur said, but those numbers could change.