After voicing their concerns Tuesday afternoon, members of the Travis County Commissioners Court approved by a 3-1 vote the next step for a land, water and transportation plan that’s been two years in the making. The County’s Transportation and Natural Resources Department developed the Growth Guidance Plan. The plan is meant to guide the decisions […]
Gerald Daugherty
Current Travis County Pct. 3 Commissioner. Daugherty was unseated in 2008 by Karen Huber. He returned the favor in 2013, when he ran on a platform nearly entirely focused on a promise to build the controversial SH45 Southwest road project.
Posted inLocal Government
District Attorney tells Commissioners new law adding to workload
District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg asked the Travis County Commissioner’s Court Tuesday for extra funding to help manage attorney workloads under the state’s new Michael Morton Act. The act, passed by the Texas Legislature during the 2013 session, requires all Texas prosecutors to widen their scope of obtaining evidence pertaining to a criminal case. Prosecutors […]
Posted inLocal Government, Local Politics, Public Safety, Uncategorized
Travis County seeks new way to appoint attorneys for poor defendants
Travis County is considering revamping its system to assign court-appointed attorneys. For years, its system was a model for defending the poor. But now, judges and staff are looking west for a new model to adapt to the county’s needs, to of all places, Lubbock County. They are also looking for grant funding in […]
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 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, 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 inDevelopment, Local Government, Local Politics, Transportation
Travis Commissioners finally endorse SH45 SW
Many of the same Austinites made the same arguments they’ve made for decades, but this time, the result was different. At the behest of Pct. 3’s Gerald Daugherty, the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday endorsed construction of the controversial SH45 Southwest roadway. Just three years ago, a somewhat different group of Travis County […]