Southwest Austin - Dripping Springs Edition - February 2021

TRANSPORTATIONUPDATES

COMPILED BY JACK FLAGLER & GREG PERLISKI

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183

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REPUBLIC OF TEXAS BLVD.

James Bass will take over as executive director of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority in 2021.

SENDERO DR.

SOUTHWEST PKWY.

MOPAC

COURTESY CENTRAL TEXAS REGIONAL MOBILITY AUTHORITY

MOBILITY AUTHORITY NAMES NEWLEADER For its entirety of its existence from 2003 through 2020, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority had one leader. Mike Heiligenstein was the rst and only executive director for the Mobility Authority for nearly two decades. That will change this year. On Jan. 27, The Mobility Authority’s board of directors approved James Bass, former executive director at the Texas Department of Transportation, to replace Heiligenstein as the next executive director of the organization. Bass will ocially take over later in the year upon the conclusion of the 87th Texas Legislative Session. Until then, according to the Mobility Authority, Chief Financial Ocer Bill Chapman will continue to serve as interim executive director. According to his ocial TxDOT biography, Bass has worked for the state department since 1985. He became TxDOT’s chief nancial ocer in 2005 before being named executive director in 2016.

MISSION OAKS BLVD.

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COMPLETED PROJECTS 1 183 South nishes after ve years of construction The 183 South project, which added tolled express lanes as well as nontolled general lanes to a stretch of US 183 through East Austin, was fully completed in February. Drivers now pay $2.30 to travel the entire section of the toll road. The northern portion of the project, which was already tolled, opened in 2019. The nal pieces of the project to open are the direct connector ramps between 183 Toll and Hwy. 71—those are set to become active in late February. During the time of its construction, the 183 South project was the largest and most expensive project in the area. In addition to the tolled lanes, improvements were made to the nontolled general-purpose lanes, and shared-use paths were added for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Timeline: 2016-21 Cost: $743 million

communities of west Travis County, was completed in February. Crews from Austin Public Works replaced the road base on Southwest between Mission Oaks Boulevard and William Cannon Drive with a denser material, which the city said will last longer and support increased trac. Crosswalk striping and shoulder improvements were also included in the project. In addition, Austin Public Works completed some routine maintenance on a separate stretch of Southwest between William Cannon and Amarra Trail in December. The project was funded by Proposition G, which provided money for transportation projects as part of the $925 million bond package voters passed in 2018. Timeline: November-February 2021 Cost: $7.3 million Funding source: 2018 city of Austin bond

Funding source: Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority toll revenue bonds, federal loans, Texas Department of Transportation loans

COURTESY AUSTIN PUBLIC WORKS

2 Southwest Parkway project wraps up A four-month project to rehabilitate Southwest Parkway, which serves as a connection between Austin and the

ALL INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE WAS UPDATED AS OF FEB. 19. NEWS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE OR OTHER LOCAL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS? EMAIL US AT SWANEWSCOMMUNITYIMPACT.COM.

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SOUTHWEST AUSTIN DRIPPING SPRINGS EDITION • FEBRUARY 2021