The new year will come with a new sight in Houston: Big gray buses bounding along a dedicated lane on Post Oak through Uptown.

For the first few weeks, however, people will not hop aboard, as transit officials test the new buses and routes to ready it for a March 2020 opening.

Testing could start sooner, but Christmastime in Uptown means a slight wait for the debut of bus rapid transit in the region.

“Because of all the activity surrounding the Christmas decorations going up in that area, we can’t begin testing now,” said Tracy Jackson, spokeswoman for Metropolitan Transit Authority. Testing, she said, will start in January.

Workers have spent three years remaking Post Oak, including various sewer and utility upgrades, to add a dedicated bus lane in each direction from Richmond to Loop 610, along with transit stops in the center of the street. The $192.5 million project has been hotly debated since it was proposed six years ago, with supporters saying it delivers a long-awaited improvement in transit for the crowded Uptown area while critics have lambasted it as a boondoggle that would worsen traffic on the street.

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Officials originally predicted the lanes would open by the end of 2018, but lengthy delays in re-routing utilities and some missteps pushed that to next spring.

Among the missteps: some curbs had to be redone because work crews built portions of the dedicated lanes narrower than intended; and plans for decorative lights along the lanes had to be scrapped after officials decided they would interfere with the buses.

“It’s been one thing after another,” said Don Brown, 70, who lives in apartment building just off Post Oak, and uses the street frequently. “I’m just not sure it’s worth it,” he said of all the detours and changes.

Buses parked

One reason transit in Uptown flounders is because it is stuck in the same traffic as solo drivers, supporters say. Separating buses from that may prompt more people to hop aboard.

“I think it is really going to surprise some people,” said Will Lee, 30, who works along Post Oak.

Many of the buses that will run the route are sitting at Metro’s Hiram Clarke bus depot, south of Loop 610. Mechanics at the yard will take them around the lot from time to time to make sure all systems are working and to check their build quality, including some turns in the rain to see if there are any leaks at the doors and windows.

A vendor and Metro staff are adding the MetroRapid logos and required safety stickers such as wheelchair accessible entries in the meantime, said Jose Mora, maintenance superintendent for the Hiram Clarke depot.

From the perspective of the driver, the bus scarcely is different than most of the large buses Metro operates. At 60 feet, they are the same size as Metro’s current articulated buses on many larger routes.

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For riders unaccustomed to bus rapid transit, the bus may feel more like rail. Like the light rail lines, passengers will pay at stations by tapping their Q card or buying a single ticket.

Likewise, the large buses will ferry passengers between dedicated stations, avoiding stops every few blocks like normal bus line does. Stations will allow for elevated boarding, making it easier for those in wheelchairs and with bicycles.

More Work Remains

Getting full use out of the BRT service along Post Oak, however, requires a handful of other projects that will not be finished when buses start rolling. That will lead to detours on the north and south ends of the service for months.

Where the Post Oak lanes end near Loop 610, the Texas Department of Transportation will take over with an elevated busway that rises in the middle of the freeway and then swings over to the southbound side along its own overpass.

The busway, expected to cost $58.4 million, will give the large buses continuous dedicated lanes from Richmond to North Post Oak. It remains on track to open along with the Post Oak lanes because it has not faced the lengthy delays of the street-level work.

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Meanwhile, Metro last month approved a $10.9 million project to connect the end of TxDOT’s busway with the Northwest Transit Center, which also is being rebuilt.

The 1.4 mile extension of the dedicated bus lane along North Post Oak is expected to be completed in about a year, around the same time as the new transit center, said Roberto Trevino, Metro’s executive vice president for planning, engineering and construction.

The new lanes will replace the existing median along North Post Oak on the bridge spanning Interstate 10, then continue south. To fit the lanes on the existing bridge, Metro would take up some of the space now used for a bike lane along the span.

“We are going to come back with a separate structure for that use,” Trevino said, noting TxDOT is still assessing plans for the new pedestrian bridge.

Beginning of BRT

The Post Oak project will be the first bus rapid transit in the Houston area, but likely not the last.

It is a concept Metro is banking on for its future plans, spurred by voter approval last month of $3.5 billion for a first phase of projects. Among the projects likeliest to start next is rapid bus service along Interstate 10 from the Northwest Transit Center to downtown.

Metro Chairwoman Carrin Patman has said that connecting the southern end of downtown to Uptown, along a route similar to that once proposed for the University Line light rail along Richmond and Westpark, is a priority.

Completing those to mostly east-west lines along I-10 and Richmond/Westpark — paired with the new Post Oak BRT and Red Line light rail — will create a transit loop from which other key suburban and local bus routes can expand service.

dug.begley@chron.com