In a meeting July 30 on Metro's planned East End light rail line, one resident asked for a show of hands in support of, and opposed to, having a service facility for light rail vehicles near the route.

All but three or four hands were against it. Metro's project manager, Roberto Treviño, told the audience the other planned lines will have similar facilities.

"You're just getting yours a little earlier," he said.

Actually, three of the five planned lines will share their maintenance facilities, according to Metro.

The North line, being a continuation of the Red Line, will share the current maintenance center across the South Loop from Reliant Park.

Environmental documents for the University line mention such a facility at Renwick, but it won't be there, Metro says. The site has not been determined, but it will be somewhere outside the West Loop and will be shared by the Uptown line.

The Southeast line will have its own facility near the terminus at Palm Center, east of Sunrise and north of Griggs, Metro says.

Meetings for HOV lane toll

Public meetings on the new Katy Freeway managed lanes begin this week. These are the two lanes in each direction down the middle of the freeway between Texas 6 and the West Loop.

Current plans are for them to carry buses, high-occupancy vehicles for free during rush hours and toll-paying drivers with less than two passengers at any time.

All the meetings start at 6 p.m. Here's the schedule:

•Thursday: Kendall Branch Library, 14330 Memorial Drive, Houston
•Aug. 19: Katy Elementary School, 5726 George Bush Ave., Katy
•Aug. 21: Memorial Church of Christ, 900 Echo Lane, Houston
•Aug. 26: Cinco Ranch Library, 2620 Commercial Center, Katy
•Aug. 28: Heights Branch Library, 1302 Heights Blvd., Houston

2 more weeks for HOV lane

On a related note, motorists have another two weeks to use the Katy Freeway High Occupancy Vehicle lane before it closes to all vehicles except buses.

We reported in July that today was the target date for the closing, which will allow the current HOV barriers to be removed and the lanes to be restriped as part of the westbound freeway.

TxDOT says the switchover date has been pushed back to Aug. 25.

From then until the project is completed in October, carpools and vanpools will travel in the main lanes, although Metro buses will be allowed to use the managed lanes during peak hours as construction and testing of the toll equipment continues there.

Don't forget the paperwork

With fuel prices still high, many Texans are looking to sell or trade their cars. Most are probably looking for better mileage, but many will be shopping for a sweet deal on a soft-riding, old-fashioned guzzler.

The Texas Department of Transportation wants to remind all of us not to get so excited about that new ride or handful of cash that we forget the paperwork.

"State law requires buyers and sellers to provide specific information to TxDOT to keep vehicle ownership records correct and up to date," a TxDOT reminder says.

In brief:

•The seller must submit a Vehicle Transfer Notification within 30 days of the sale. It's one page long and can be filled out online. Doing this protects the seller from being dunned automatically for tolls or ticketed for illegal parking, speeding, red-light running and other violations racked up by the new owner.
•The buyer must apply for a new Texas title within 20 days of the purchase and can be fined $25 for each month of procrastination. Because the seller must write the sales price on the application form and sign it, both parties should go to the county tax office together.
•For a $5 fee, the seller may keep the old license plates and transfer them to a new vehicle.

traffic@chron.com

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