State officials expect to have an environmental impact study of the proposed four-lane State Highway 45 Southwest ready for public review within the next two months. Challengers of the toll road plan say it would expose the Barton Springs zone of the Edwards Aquifer and natural features above it to damage and pollutants, and do […]
Transportation
Posted inDevelopment, Transportation
Medical School construction to bring changes to Red River Street
The character of Red River Street as it runs through the new University of Texas Dell Medical School is set to change under current plans for the development of that area. According to Austin Transportation Director Robert Spillar, “The street will change character as it becomes integrated within that piece of the campus.” Spillar […]
Posted inDevelopment, Environment, Local Politics, Transportation
Travis Commissioners vote to spend $15 million on SH45 SW
The Travis County Commissioners Court approved spending $15 million in county funds Tuesday toward a plan to extend the southwest portion of State Highway 45 from the end of MoPac Boulevard to FM 1626. The vote fulfilled Travis County’s part of a plan to accelerate construction of the road by the end of this year […]
Posted inLocal Government, Transportation
Money questions continue to divide members of CAMPO Board
Worries that local funding policies might not meet federal requirements were front and center at the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting Monday night. Earlier this year, CAMPO’s Transportation Policy Board set up a funding mechanism to distribute $104 million between local and regional projects for 2014 through 2018. The local portion of $47.77 […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local Politics, Transportation
SOS files criminal charge against Daugherty over SH45 SW information
Bill Bunch, executive director of the Save Our Springs Alliance, filed a criminal complaint Monday against Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty. The complaint signed by Bunch was filed on behalf of SOS with County Attorney David Escamilla. SOS alleges that the Precinct 3 Commissioner destroyed, removed or altered public information in his possession related […]
Posted inDevelopment, Environment, Local Government, Transportation
Battle over SH45SW features argument between Biscoe and Bunch
The never-ending case of SH 45 Southwest has dogged County Judge Sam Biscoe for the past 25 years of his public life. But at Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting – with his December retirement date in sight – the normally reserved Biscoe publicly engaged several of his critics over the project. The proposed 3.6-mile, four-lane […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Transportation
Leffingwell, Spelman offer different views of city’s rail future
With no firm number yet attached to a potential November 2014 City of Austin transportation bond, two Austin City Council members presented vastly differing visions last week of what it might eventually cost. Meanwhile, the Council members revealed further planning details about what a train system might look like in terms of required infrastructure investments. […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Transportation
Leffingwell: Fixing transportation issues critical to Austin’s future
“Rail or Fail.” That was the message (that may become a bumper sticker) from Mayor Lee Leffingwell as he gave his final State of the City address yesterday. Though Leffingwell hit on many of Austin’s recent and continuing triumphs in his speech, he took the opportunity to address growing transportation problems in the city, […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Government, Transportation
SH45 Southwest gaining steam with federal funding removal
The construction of State Highway 45 Southwest could come sooner rather than later, bypassing lengthy, stringent federal reviews, now that CAMPO, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, has stripped the $100 million project of federal funding. Without federal dollars, the state could move forward with the project, eliminating the federal environmental requirements attached to the […]
Posted inTransportation
Project Connect seeks public input on transit options
On the heels of completing its first study into the Central Corridor, Project Connect has begun exploring and receiving input on viable transit options that it hopes will one day ease traffic congestion in the Austin area. Phase 2 of the project is charged with exploring alternative modes of transportation, as well as the possible […]
Posted inLocal Government, Transportation
Capital Metro endorses Highland-East Riverside rail alignment
The Capital Metro board officially backed the first phase planned by Project Connect Wednesday. The board voted 7-0 on the resolution with Frank Fernandez off the dais. The plan is the same one Project Connect finalized late last year that would connect the Highland Mall area of Austin with downtown and East Riverside by rail. […]
Posted inLocal Government, Transportation
Travis County ponders paying employees to leave car at home
Travis County employees, Pct. 2 Commissioner Bruce Todd wants you to leave your car at home. And if the plan goes through, the county will pay you to do so. In what turned into a long and wide-ranging discussion about transportation maladies throughout Travis County, commissioners heard proposals on ways to reduce congestion and […]