Environmental Commission weighs Project Connect’s environmental impact and federal funding

In light of Donald Trump’s recent effort to freeze federal spending authorized by Congress – swiftly blocked by two federal judges – the question on every local policymaker’s mind is: What’s going to happen to all the local projects that rely on federal funding? There are concerns about the future of Austin’s proposed light rail as well as multiple concurrently built transportation projects.

Austin’s already shaky promise of light rail in Project Connect relies heavily on help from the Federal Transit Administration. ATP released its most comprehensive initial design of the project to the public last month, with its Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Phase One, with a comment period lasting through March 11. Opponents – via a lawsuit and the state Legislature – have long argued against the project’s funding mechanisms, so adding federal troubles could spell doom.

In a presentation on light rail progress to the Environmental Commission on Wednesday, Austin Transit Partnership staff tried to allay these concerns somewhat vaguely, which were brought up by public commenters and commissioners alike.

“This isn’t a process like a college application, where you submit the paperwork and hope you get a good answer,” said ATP’s Lindsay Wood. “It’s a federal process that has very structured milestones all along the way, and we work with the Federal Transit Administration at each of those milestones to avoid any surprises. So it’s very much a partnership.”

The proposed 9.8-mile, 15-station system would extend from 38th and Guadalupe streets, down Guadalupe, through the UT campus and into Downtown, where it turns on Third Street and comes to Trinity Street, passes the Convention Center and crosses Lady Bird Lake on a proposed new bridge that would include bicycle and pedestrian accessibility. South of the river it would split into two branches, one going along South Congress Avenue to Oltorf Street, and one going east on Riverside Drive to the Yellow Jacket station by Texas Highway 71. Community input calls for certain priorities for future extensions after Phase One, including one to the airport from the Yellow Jacket end of the line, and one from the beginning at 38th going north to connect into the Crestview neighborhood. 

In addition to enduring questions about the viability of the project’s funding, commissioners probed ATP staff on its plans to preserve heritage trees and parkland, particularly on the east side. 

ATP is working with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on any property acquisitions, though those would be worked out after approval of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement – any parkland that is removed for light rail construction would have to be made up in parkland purchases elsewhere. For example, at Waller Beach, to make way for Lady Bird Lake bridge construction, Wood said, “that is where we are taking an acre in total for some of the other parks that are along the alignment, including a pocket park on East Riverside and Norwood Park.”

The only public facility to be torn down for the project would be the Waller Creek Boathouse, which would be relocated. Other areas around Riverside, for example, would be more like slivers, sidewalks and trails adjacent to parks, and “almost always less than half an acre. So we’re really not taking a whole lot of park as we do this, but we are trying to be extremely sensitive and careful and reach as many neighbors as we can around those parks and make sure that they are aware of and are able to comment on this,” Wood said.

ATP said it has also been working on developing a comprehensive tree manual to document any heritage and protected tree species within the project area, and would try to work around existing trees. 

Another concern brought up by commissioners and callers was the multiple transportation projects being built at the same time. Construction on MoPac Expressway, the expansion of Interstate 35 and light rail could create substantial traffic delays and possible air-quality impacts for Austinites. In response, Wood said, “we are part of a regional approach to coordinating construction for multiple public infrastructure projects that will occur all in the same time frame, including not only the ones mentioned earlier, but the airport expansion and the convention center redevelopment. There is a construction partnership program that is already active and developing the public communication tools to create a one-stop shop for information on what the construction detours or pathways are on any given day during that time period.”

If the project manages to weather all legal storms from the local to the federal level, construction is anticipated to start in 2027, with the line fully operational in 2033. ATP must respond to every public comment submitted, and residents can make their voices heard at austinlightrail.org/austinlightrailinput.

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