Austin’s Environmental Board is looking at its options after hearing from city staff that the approved environmental impact study, or EIS, for State Highway 45 Southwest is not based on sound science. The EIS was prepared by TxDOT and CTRMA, with assistance from consultants. Chuck Lesniak, environmental officer with the City of Austin, presented the news […]
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 inRoads, Transportation, Travis County
Travis Commissioners split over CAMPO 2040 Plan
Discontent over a landmark transportation plan drove Travis County Commissioners to draw distinct battle lines Tuesday between two competing visions. The hour-long discussion on the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s developing 2040 Regional Transportation Plan featured a rare crack in the court’s usual comity. In the end, the court voted 3-1-1 to ask CAMPO to […]
Posted inEnvironment, Transportation, Travis County
Travis seeks delay in BSEACD-TxDOT agreement
Travis County Commissioners voted Tuesday to ask the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District board for a three-week postponement of a hearing planned this week on an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation over environmental standards for the construction of State Highway 45 Southwest. Commissioners also voted to work with the parties to clear […]
Posted inAustin, Environment, Roads, Transportation, Travis County
County seeks federal guidance on SH45 SW project
Travis County is asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for “guidance” on how to avoid environmental damage to the sensitive Flint Ridge Cave during the construction and operation of the proposed State Highway 45 Southwest toll road. County officials are requesting that representatives from Fish and Wildlife meet in January with the parties responsible […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics
Council members still skeptical about SH45 SW
City Council members raised several questions during Tuesday’s work session about the effectiveness and environmental sensitivity of the Texas Department of Transportation’s recommended route for State Highway 45 Southwest. The conversation took place as part of a joint briefing by the Transportation and Watershed Protection departments on a report that Council requested in a May […]
Posted inDevelopment
Council committee questions plans for Oak Hill Parkway project update
Austin City Council members questioned Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and Texas Department of Transportation representatives last week about their decision not to advance elements of a resident-supported plan to reconstruct the congested U.S. Highway 290 and State Highway 71 intersection in Oak Hill. The discussion took place during the regular meeting of the Council […]
Posted inDevelopment, Environment, Local Government, Transportation
Aquifer district staff critical of SH45 SW environmental study
The staff of the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District is expressing strong doubts about the science and data behind a proposed environmental impact statement for State Highway 45 Southwest. In their review, district staff calls the information in the draft document “incomplete and deficient,” and recommend that state officials go back to the drawing […]
Posted inTransportation
Fix 290 calls CTRMA, TxDOT evaluation of Oak Hill Y plan ‘biased’
A representative of an Oak Hill community group is calling the criteria used to evaluate the Oak Hill Parkway Project – designed to improve the junction of SH 71 and US 290 – “subjective and biased.” Most Austinites know the area as the Oak Hill Y, an intersection with a long and tortured history of […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local Politics, Transportation
Critics say taxpayers, not drivers will have to pay for SH45 SW
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority says a preliminary Traffic and Revenue Forecast for the planned State Highway 45 Southwest it released recently will stand as the final report, showing that the road project is financially feasible. But critics of the project say the numbers in the report just don’t add up. The Capitol Area […]
Posted inDevelopment, Environment, Local Government, Transportation
SH45 SW opponents say roadway would cause damage to aquifer
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 […]
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 inDevelopment, Local Government, Local Politics, Transportation
Despite opposition, Daugherty aiming to get SH45SW back on track today
Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty hopes to take a major step today to get his fellow Commissioners to endorse building the controversial SH45 Southwest roadway between South MoPac Boulevard and FM 1626. The roadway has been in the planning stages for almost 30 years, but has faced repeated roadblocks and delays. The major issue so […]