TRANSPORTATION UPDATES Officials approve initial Project Connect light rail route
ONGOING PROJECTS
RAIL REVISION The city of Austin, Austin Transit Partnership and Capital Metro officials approved a revised light rail plan. Phase 1
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BY BEN THOMPSON
Austin City Council, the Austin Transit Partnership board and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Author- ity board signed off on a revised plan for Project Connect’s initial light rail lines this spring. The board of the ATP, the entity created in 2020 to manage Project Connect’s rollout, accepted the plans May 24 while council and CapMetro leaders voted in early June. The action clears the way for final development of the transit system outline. “The approval of the Austin light rail implementation plan is a huge step toward getting us to the day when we can start building,” Mayor Kirk Watson said June 1. The inaugural light rail network that local leaders have now accepted is scaled back from the version presented to Austinites in 2020. It includes fewer stations, only one lake crossing, no downtown subway and miles less track overall. It will cover about 10 miles at street level with 15 stations between 38th Street to the north, Yellow Jacket Lane to the east, and Oltorf Street to the south. The initial investment is expected to cost between $4.5 billion and $4.8 billion sourced from local tax collections and anticipated federal funding. If more funds become available in Phase One, rail lines could stretch to the Crestview area and the airport.
AIRPORT BLVD.
Future extension Phase 1 priority extension
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West William Cannon Drive partially closed A six-lane, half-mile stretch of West William Cannon Drive between Men- chaca Road and Woodhue Drive will be down to four lanes—two in each direc- tion—until November. Crews will work on the bridge on both sides of the road, plus resurface the roadway. The work includes stabilizing the retaining walls along the bridge. Timeline: May 30-November 2023 Cost: $4 million Funding Source : Emergency funds from the operating budget of the city’s transportation and public works department
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S. CONGRESS AVE.
COLORADO RIVER
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ALL INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE WAS UPDATED AS OF JUNE 8. NEWS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE OR OTHER LOCAL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS? EMAIL US AT SWANEWS@COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM.
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