An official with the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan has informed the Texas Department of Transportation that the department is not allowed to participate in the BCCP permit in conjunction with its work on State Highway 45 Southwest. Carlos Swonke, director of the Environmental Affairs Division of TxDOT, sent a letter in late July to Kimberlee […]
Transportation
Posted inTransportation
CAMPO proposal could dilute voices of Austin and Travis County
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt is pushing back against proposed reforms to a key part of regional transportation policy planning that could cost both the county and the city of Austin important seats at the table. At issue is a proposal to rewrite the bylaws of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Technical Advisory Committee. […]
Posted inTransit
Capital Metro embraces frequency as its future
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority unveiled on Tuesday a proposed major overhaul of its entire transit system, and the watchword is “frequency.” The Connections 2025 service plan will be the guiding document for operations at the agency for the next 10 years and beyond. The draft proposal outlined on Tuesday indicated several drastic changes, including […]
Posted inTransportation
Grassroots unrest simmers over mobility bond
Mayor Steve Adler’s titanic $720 million transportation bond proposal is poised for a cakewalk to third-reading approval on Thursday, three days ahead of the state-mandated deadline to set the November ballot. And while it seems that most of the big battles to shape the plan have already been settled on the dais, some grassroots activists […]
Posted inTransportation
Could the mayor’s ‘Go Big’ bond go bigger?
Mayor Steve Adler has christened the $720 million transportation bond as the “Go Big Corridor Plan,” which prompts the question: Is this really that big? Seattle recently placed on a ballot a $54 billion transportation bond. Still, judging by other news reports, a number that large seems like an anomaly among municipal bond programs. Regardless, […]
Posted inTransportation
What does a $720 million transportation bond get us?
Members of the public have weighed in on Mayor Steve Adler’s $720 million transportation bond proposal. While we know generally where the money would go if voters approved the bond, the spending on subcategories is still subject to change, with City Council members having taken the first two of three votes needed to officially place […]
Posted inTransportation
Urban Transportation Commission talks rail, sidewalks, bond dismay
Tuesday’s Urban Transportation Commission meeting provided a stark counterpoint to Mayor Steve Adler’s claim that he has broad community consensus behind his $720 million transportation bond proposal. Members aired frustrations about the process of the proposal’s development, heard from advocates seeking far more money than is planned for sidewalk infrastructure and were divided evenly on […]
Posted inTransportation
Mobility bond talks turn to sidewalk regrets
City Council Member Ora Houston says fatigue, a lack of information and compassion for a colleague led her to a bad decision for her constituents toward the end of a late-night City Council discussion in June over the proposed $720 million transportation bond. Houston now regrets casting the deciding vote to divvy up $27.5 million […]
Posted inTransportation
CAMPO vote signals the oncoming end for Lone Star Rail
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization gave the Lone Star Rail District (LSTAR) an all but fatal kick in the caboose on Monday night. Members of the CAMPO Transportation Policy Board overwhelmingly voted to begin the process that will remove LSTAR from CAMPO’s long-range plan. The resolution also includes a request to the Texas Department […]
Posted inTransportation
Martinez jumps on the mobility bond bus
Former City Council Member Mike Martinez has plunged back into local politics in order to support former rival Mayor Steve Adler’s $720 million transportation bond proposal. Addressing a packed press conference at City Hall on Friday, Martinez said he was fulfilling a promise he had made to Adler during their otherwise contentious mayoral campaign in […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin Monitor Radio: Mayor Steve Adler on a potential 2016 transportation bond
Austin Mayor Steve Adler joins Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to chat about a potential November 2016 City of Austin transportation bond. Post is embedded below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/277212886″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inTransit
PAC’s poll shows big support for light rail
A grassroots effort to put a light rail referendum on the November ballot is adding one more curve to the course as City Council members sprint to decide whether to send Mayor Steve Adler’s $720 million mobility bond proposal to voters. The Our Rail political action committee took it upon itself to personally conduct a […]