Austin’s updated rail plan has 40 stations

Cost remains at $1.3B

Marci Gilbert, Mar 30, 11.

The City of Austin’s latest version of a proposed light rail line shows more than 40 potential stations, some of them only a few blocks apart downtown, as well as a possible spur extending from the University of Texas up Red River Street to Hancock Center, according to a story in the Austin American-Statesman.

And the conceptual map, which will be presented to the public next week at a series of “scoping” meetings for a federal environmental impact study on the project, also narrows river-crossing options to two: Congress Avenue or a new bridge about a quarter mile to the east.

The project retains much of the route and concepts that have been public for some time: 16.5 miles of double-tracked line running electric-powered trains on city streets linking the Mueller neighborhood, the University of Texas, the Capitol complex, downtown and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The estimated cost, which has more than doubled since the project gained public traction in 2007, remains at $1.3 billion.

All of this is subject to change as the city embarks on the environmental study process estimated to take two years. That timetable puts federal approval some months after the November 2012 election, which Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell and other city leaders have said probably will include a bond issue of $200 million or more for the rail project’s first, central phase. City officials have not decided on that first section.

“There are important decisions we will make in the environmental process, and the community input will impact those determinations,” said Karla Villalon , spokeswoman for the city Transportation Department. “And those will affect the ultimate cost.”

The city will host five meetings on the project next week, presenting the plan as it stands now and taking written comments both at the meetings and by mail. The public, aside from discussing the details, can also address the big-picture question of whether to undertake the project at all. The environmental study presents three possible scenarios for Austin’s transit future: “no-build,” essentially the current road network and transit options; “better bus,” which includes the rapid bus technology Capital Metro plans for two busy corridors; and what the city is calling “Urban Rail.”

Source: Austin American-Statesman