Traffic is terrible. City and state officials are really good at counting cars to see how terrible traffic is and how it got that way, but that sort of data-collection infrastructure doesn’t exist for bike and pedestrian data. New research hopes to change that. The project has a simple goal, but you wouldn’t glean that […]
TxDOT
The transportation agency for the State of Texas.
Posted inRoads
Environmental concerns delay city action on upcoming MoPac project
Several City Council members want more information about the planned expansion of MoPac Expressway before they sign off on a key funding agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation. Council voted 9-2 at its Nov. 9 meeting to postpone an amendment to its year-old partnership with TxDOT that would increase the city’s original $1.8 million […]
Posted inTransportation
Capital Metro no longer counting on ambitious I-35 bus plan
The Texas Department of Transportation’s big new plans for Interstate 35 through Austin may be the end of the road for the local transit agency’s hopes for bus rapid transit on the highway. “We don’t know for sure at this point, but our working assumption is that, given the new proposed design, there would not […]
Posted inRoads
Watson presents a new plan for I-35
State Sen. Kirk Watson unveiled a radical vision for the future of Central Austin on Monday: No more dual decks on Interstate 35. Watson’s speech before the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce marked the debut of a new plan concocted by the Texas Department of Transportation to add two new tolled lanes in each direction […]
Posted inTransit
TxDOT document reveals limp projections for I-35 bus plan
The Texas Department of Transportation has projected less than stellar ridership numbers for a proposed enhanced bus line on I-35, but a top Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority official says he isn’t losing any sleep over it. On Wednesday, Capital Metro Vice President of Strategic Planning and Development Todd Hemingson unloaded on the prediction that the […]
Posted inAustin
Mayor sees collective effort in revitalizing east downtown
Just before the new year, Mayor Steve Adler wrote a lengthy post on the City Council Message Board, titled: “Possible solution to downtown puzzle.” He later said it wasn’t so much a puzzle, but that there were a lot of pieces involved. What he’s referring to is a snaking spine of green space, commercial areas […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Regarding Twitter
Vela to Dukes: Time to go… Embattled state Rep. Dawnna Dukes (Austin) has reneged on her promise to step down from her seat, leaving in limbo those who were hoping to replace her and actively campaigning to do so. One of them, Chito Vela, released a statement Saturday that said Dukes’ indecision “hurts the people she […]
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 inTransportation
TxDOT considers expanding Loop 360
Faced with increasing congestion, the Texas Department of Transportation is narrowing its options for the potential transformation of Loop 360. The agency published on Friday a 50-page study of the highway. It envisions nine separate scenarios that range from doing nothing to expanding the West Austin highway into a four-lane freeway flanked by managed toll […]
Posted inTransportation
Capacity, regional cooperation take center stage at transportation forum
Standing beside four other representatives from local and regional governments on Tuesday, Mike Heiligenstein of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority declared that Central Texas has to build its way out of congestion. “We cannot solve our problem without adding capacity in every sector of the region. Not just Austin, but the entire region,” Heiligenstein […]
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 inRoads
$720 million mobility bond could feature hidden costs
The price tag of Austin’s second-largest transportation bond proposal ever has been pegged at $720 million, but extra costs could pile as high as $20 million if voters approve the package in November. The central piece of the plan calls for $482 million to be spent on projects along seven major corridors in town. Of […]