The Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday pitched a second strike against an elaborate plan to build eight new transit-oriented parking lots along Central Texas toll roads. County Judge Sarah Eckhardt’s decision to defer action on the proposal put forward by the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority comes a week after Williamson County Judge Dan […]
CTRMA
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. A governmental agency created, according to its web site, in 2002 to “improve the transportation system in Williamson and Travis counties.” The site also notes that the agency’s “mission is to implement innovative, multi-modal transportation solutions that reduce congestion and create transportation choices that enhance quality of life and economic vitality.” In addition to other responsibilities, the agency oversees a set of toll roads in the region.
Posted inWilliamson County
Williamson County upends park-and-ride plans
The Williamson County Commissioners Court last week refused to go along with an ambitious plan aimed at planting eight new park-and-rides along Central Texas toll roads. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority cooked up the proposal last month in partnership with the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. CTRMA staff […]
Posted inTransportation
CTRMA advances park-and-ride plan
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is charting a path pocked with bureaucracy toward a set of brand new park-and-rides along its toll roads and express lanes. On Tuesday, the agency’s board of directors gave staff the green light to apply to a state agency for unused Qualified Energy Conservation bonds allocated by the federal […]
Posted inRoads
Construction set to start on SH 45 SW
A drawn-out, polarizing political battle that has kept anxious observers on the edges of their seats could be effectively settled for good on Tuesday. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority announced on Monday that crews could begin construction on the controversial State Highway 45 Southwest project this week. Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, perhaps the […]
Posted inRoads
Work on MoPac to last into 2017
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is tooting its horn over the partial opening of a new toll lane on MoPac Expressway while also remaining cagey about the expected completion date of the entire project. At the agency’s monthly board meeting on Wednesday, staff gave a glowing report on the operations of the fresh stretch […]
Posted inCourts
SOS loses bid for MoPac injunction
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel declined to issue a preliminary injunction that would have prevented the beginning of construction on State Highway 45 Southwest. The judge ruled that the Save Our Springs Alliance and other plaintiffs in the lawsuit had failed to prove their case. He ruled that the toll road – which […]
Posted inTransit
CTRMA board gives the go-ahead to gondola study
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is leaving the future of mass transit to hang. On Wednesday, the CTRMA board of directors approved without any dissent a small stipend to study the feasibility of a proposed gondola system in South Austin. “We’re not a pavement company; we’re a mobility company,” said Chair Ray Wilkerson of […]
Posted inCourts
Environmentalists win one round of SH 45 SW suit
Federal Judge Lee Yeakel has rejected arguments from the Texas Department of Transportation and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority that would have ended a lawsuit against the two transportation agencies. The suit was filed by various environmental organizations and individuals who contend that the agencies have failed to follow federal law in their plans […]
Posted inTransit
Turning from toll roads, CTRMA eyes gondolas
A high-flying idea to provide an alternative to driving through Austin could soon get off the ground. Sort of. On Wednesday morning, members of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority board of directors gushed over a proposal to install an aerial tramway that would ferry riders from the University of Texas campus through downtown and […]
Posted inCourts
MoPac construction causing environmental anxiety
Construction has not yet begun, but already the Save Our Springs Alliance, the Save Barton Creek Association and the citizens who filed suit against the Texas Department of Transportation and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority over the expansion and segmented building of MoPac South and State Highway 45 Southwest can point to possible damage […]
Posted inRoads
CTRMA gets tough with tardy MoPac contractor
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is adding some bite to its bark over the delayed MoPac Improvement Project. On Wednesday, the CTRMA’s board of directors voted unanimously to give Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein the authority to start assessing financial penalties against CH2M, the engineering firm in charge of the project. CH2M began the job […]
Posted inTransportation
CTRMA goes shopping for partner to build SH 45 SW
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority on Tuesday took another major step toward the construction of a highly controversial road project in southwestern Travis County. With a vote of 6-0, its board of directors directed CTRMA staff to start shopping for bids from contractors interested in building State Highway 45 Southwest. Director Bob Bennett, a […]