There are no plans to build light rail on Richmond, but for the first time in a long time there is nothing stopping Metro from asking for federal funds to help pay for it.

The federal spending bill signed Friday by President Donald Trump, averting a government shutdown, lacks a provision in previous funding plans barring the Federal Transit Administration from funding any part of light rail on Richmond or Post Oak.

The provision was added at least eight years ago by former Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, a fervent opponent of rail plans in the 7th District. Culberson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee that set up the spending bills, added language forbidding use of federal money to “advance in any way a new light or heavy rail project … if the proposed capital project is constructed on or planned to be constructed on Richmond Avenue west of South Shepherd Drive or on Post Oak Boulevard north of Richmond Avenue.”

He was defeated in November by Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, who said last month she aimed to be an advocate for transit.

Friday, she said in a statement she worked with lawmakers “to remove language in the bill that created unnecessary barriers and limited federal funding from coming to Houston for much-needed transportation improvements. Removal of this language will put the power to make decisions about our transit back in the hands of Houstonians.”

The language inserted by Culberson was credited by some for cutting off Metropolitan Transit Authority’s best source of funding for the rail lines, which voters approved in 2003. After years of study and intense public debate — with residents and merchants along Richmond adamantly opposed to the rail plan — Metro shelved plans for the line in 2012. By 2016, citing lack of progress, federal transit officials pulled back from any interest in the project, essentially leaving it for dead.

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“We are pleased that this impediment to federal dollars coming to Houston has finally been removed,” Metro Chairwoman Carrin Patman said of the change.

Removing the language, while symbolic, does little in the near-term to change Metro’s light rail plans. Transit officials are wrapping up meetings on a long-range plan that envisions bus rapid transit — buses using dedicated lanes with rail-like stations — focused not on Richmond but nearby Westpark Drive.

“As I have stated before, our region is growing quickly, and we need more transit and more federal dollars to meet our mobility needs,” Patman said.

While some changes to the plan are likely, Metro spokesman Jerome Gray said it was unlikely something as significant as a light rail project would be added, simply because of the change in federal language.

Nothing in the long-range plan, expected to cost $7.5 billion, calls for rail along Richmond. Voters are expected to approve or reject the long-range plan in November, including specific plans for projects around the region.

The bus rapid transit would connect with another dedicated bus project under construction along Post Oak. Buses for that line are scheduled to start service next year, followed by the opening of a busway built along Loop 610 from Post Oak to the Northwest Transit Center.

That project, overseen by the Texas Department of Transportation, is also under construction.

dug.begley@chron.com

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