Southwest Austin - Dripping Springs Edition | March 2022

TRANSPORTATIONUPDATES $150million in transit projects set to start in 2022

ONGOING PROJECTS

HOME DEPOT BLVD.

VIOLET CROWN TRAIL

BY BEN THOMPSON

SOUTHAUSTINMOBILITY BOND PROJECTS Projects on four major South Austin roads will kick o in 2022, including adding or improving bike lanes and sidewalks as well as installing new crossing beacons.

The Austin Corridor Program Oce continues to make progress on the nearly $500 million in transportation upgrades it is overseeing as part of the city’s 2016 mobility bond. Around $150 million in safety and other mobility projects expected to get o the ground in 2022. This year’s planned work along nine segments of the city’s major arterials, such as William Cannon, Slaughter Lane, S. Lamar and Riverside Drive, stems from the $482 million dedicated to corridors out of the total $720 million 2016 bond. Money has already gone toward inter- section and trac signal updates, new sidewalks and bicycle lanes, and other pathways. The corridor oce said it remains on track to have all bond-backed projects completed or underway by 2024. “We have over 20 critical safety and mobility improvements that we’ve already completed as part of this program,” Corridor Program Oce Director Mike Trimble told members of City Council’s Mobility Committee on March 10. “We will also be moving several of our larger design-bid-build projects into bid and construction this year.” Trimble said several projects, including several focused on signals, bike and pedestrian improvements will go through the bid and construc- tion this year. The projects will total about $150 million worth of work. That work is about half of the Corridor Program Oce’s total plan. According to the corridor oce, work on Airport Boulevard north of 55th Street as well as on Burnet

MOPAC

Violet Crown North Construction began in mid-February on the northern section of Violet Crown Trail. The trail will stretch 1 mile from Home Depot Boulevard to MoPac, just north of William Cannon Drive. Timeline: Feb. 2022-Feb. 2023 Cost: $2.9 million Funding sources: 2012 bond, Austin mobility bonds, Capital Area Metro- politan Planning Organization grant

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SOURCE: AUSTIN CORRIDOR PROGRAM OFFICECOMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

between Koenig Lane and White Horse Trail will be the rst on tap in 2022. Trimble said awards for both projects will appear on council’s April 7 agenda for possible approval, along- side a contract for general signal, bike and pedestrian updates on targeted corridors. “It’s a real credit to the team working on these projects that we’re able to say we’ll be delivering these projects in accordance with our eight-year goal,” Trimble said in a statement. “But at the end of the day, the community and the outcomes are the driving force behind what we’re doing, and we’re committed to delivering these improvements as soon as possible.” The work, mainly using 2016 bond money, comes as the city also seeks to build up its mobility spending with

support from the federal infrastructure package passed in 2021. Transporta- tion sta told council they are seeking millions of dollars for additional projects throughout the city as that funding is doled out nationwide. Among the largest projects, the city is eyeing to move on with federal backing is the Southeast Austin Connector, an expansion of the long-awaited Bergstrom Spur urban trail that would connect South Austin to the airport area along an abandoned rail line. Sta said the original spur project proposal also now includes improved connections to the Country Club Creek Trail and South Pleasant Valley Drive. An application for a $20 million federal match on the project is heading to council next month.

Elroy Road A project to widen Elroy Road from a two-lane rural road to a ve-lane artery nished in March. The project also included construction of a bike lane and sidewalk in each direction. The road serves Del Valle schools and Circuit of The Americas. The project also addressed past ooding issues. Timeline: June 2020-March 2022

Estimated cost: $25.9 million Funding Source: 2017 bond

ALL INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE WAS UPDATED AS OF MARCH 16. NEWS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE OR OTHER LOCAL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS? EMAIL US AT SWANEWSCOMMUNITYIMPACT.COM.

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SOUTHWEST AUSTIN DRIPPING SPRINGS EDITION • MARCH 2022