On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court heard from Texas Department of Transportation engineer Tucker Ferguson, who discussed progress on the state transportation department’s plan to add two managed HOV lanes in each direction on Interstate 35 through downtown Austin. While TxDOT generally contends the expansion is necessary to address Austin’s rising traffic levels and […]
TxDOT
The transportation agency for the State of Texas.
Posted inTransportation
CAMPO approves TxDOT’s transportation plan amendment requests
On Monday, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Board voted to approve two of the Texas Department of Transportation’s requests to amend the 2045 Regional Transportation Plan and the Transportation Improvement Program. The RTP addresses general congestion and transportation needs over the next 25 years, while the TIP addresses shorter-range plans – within […]
Posted inRoads
I-35 plans take center stage at City Council work session
With plans on the table to build a 20-lane road through the heart of the city, Austin City Council took some time during its Tuesday work session to address TxDOT’s vision for the future of Interstate 35. In his presentation to Council, TxDOT district engineer Tucker Ferguson stressed the need to increase capacity on the […]
Posted inRoads
TxDOT and critics at loggerheads over plan to widen I-35
At Friday’s special meeting of the City Council Mobility Committee, residents aired their concerns to a quorum of City Council members about a controversial TxDOT plan to significantly widen the portion of Interstate 35 that runs through Austin. The complaints come as a wave of advocates across the state call on the transportation department to […]
Posted inRoads
TxDOT halts tree-clearing in Oak Hill, pending court hearing
In light of a federal judge’s concerns over the state’s planned removal of nearly 200 trees to make way for a 12-lane road project through Oak Hill, the Texas Department of Transportation last week agreed to temporarily halt its tree-clearing work in southwest Austin. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman will make a final determination on […]
Posted inTransportation
County scrapes together budget for a pass-through project
Last week, the Travis County Commissioners Court fielded a briefing regarding funding for the FM 969 pass-through from the county Public Works Division. David Greear, the assistant public works director, presented an overview of the project to commissioners. Public Works entered a finance agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation to finance the FM 969 […]
Posted inPlanning
Neighbors wary as ACC takes a step back from concrete plant
After hearing numerous complaints from neighbors of Austin Community College’s Pinnacle campus in Oak Hill, the ACC Board of Trustees approved a new resolution Monday night specifically excluding the use of the campus for a concrete batch plant. The board approved a resolution last month that appeared to authorize negotiations for placing the plant on […]
Posted inTransportation
Tell TxDOT what you think about expanding I-35 in South Austin
More than 150,000 vehicles per day, on average, drive the stretch of Interstate 35 between State Highway 45 Southeast and Ben White Boulevard. The Texas Department of Transportation wants to make room for tens of thousands more. TxDOT released the final version of its proposal to do this on Tuesday and is asking the public […]
Posted inRoads
TxDOT wants to add four lanes to I-35, but a citizen work group is pushing ‘BAC’
At the April 5 joint meeting of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory councils (BAC and PAC), members reviewed a Google doc detailing their recommendations to the Texas Department of Transportation regarding the I-35 Capital Express Project. The massive highway project proposes adding two managed lanes, in an attempt to relieve congestion, to each side of Interstate 35, […]
Posted inRoads
Tolls or no tolls? City and state preferences differ for new I-35 lanes
The city of Austin, among other local stakeholders, is at odds with the Texas Department of Transportation and state leaders like Gov. Greg Abbott over the type of managed lanes in TxDOT’s I-35 Capital Express Project. Despite lobbying by the city for variable toll lanes like those on MoPac Expressway, TxDOT remains intent on non-tolled […]
Posted inRoads
City Council critiques TxDOT’s I-35 plans
City Council last Thursday made clear what the city’s goals are for the Texas Department of Transportation’s Interstate 35 expansion, passing a resolution critiquing – though not outright opposing – the preliminary plans presented so far. The resolution together with letters from the mayor, Council members and city staff urge TxDOT to prioritize safety and […]
Posted inEnvironment
Proposed concrete plant at ACC upsets neighbors
When Cynthia Wilcox, president of the Oak Hill Association of Neighborhoods, heard the news that there would soon be a functioning concrete plant at the Austin Community College Pinnacle campus near her home she felt “completely blindsided.” Wilcox reached out to her state representative, Vikki Goodwin, on Sunday. Her neighbors, Paul Robbins and Carol Cespedes, […]