A multi-modal hub that improves connectivity between bus, rail, and bicycle networks.
The project created a new central plaza that facilitates the flow of passengers between bus, rail, and bike. It also improved bike storage, including bike racks for short-term parking, bike lockers for long-term parking, and a Houston B-Cycle Bike Share station.
The site incorporated green infrastructure, including bioswales and rain gardens, to manage stormwater, reduce the heat island effect, and facilitate the flow of pedestrian traffic.
The redesign used branding and wayfinding to connect the transit center to the Management District, incorporating its branding to signal cohesiveness with the surrounding areas.
The key spatial element of the design is a new central plaza that acts as a highly-visible, central gathering and connecting space to facilitate the flow of passengers between modes.
The design is centered around improving the user experience in ways that promote multimodal transportation, while also evoking a sense of community and place. To integrate Magnolia Park Transit Center into the larger community context, the design guides pedestrians with key visual connections with unique branding and wayfinding elements that incorporate East End branding. A new central plaza acts as a highly-visible, central gathering space to facilitate the flow of passengers between modes.
Along the perimeter of the site, increased tree coverage is provided along the walkways that offer shade to transit users as they transition between bus, rail, trail, and parking areas. Additional space is available for public art and wayfinding signage to assist in the visual ties between train and bus platforms.
Building upon METRO’s Bike & Ride Access and Implementation Plan (2013), the redesign calls for tying the station into adjacent trail systems, improving bicycle storage and creating easy transfers between METRO’s bus and rail systems and bicycles.
Space is reserved for bike racks for short term parking, bike lockers for long term parking and for a Houston B-Cycle Bike Share station. The path along 70th Street has been reimagined as a 14’ shared use path providing connections between the Harrisburg and Sunset Trail and the Brays Bayou Trails.
