Austin: Next Phase of Urban Rail Could Be Decided This Fall

[TexasTowelie]

Capital Metro is holding a series of meetings over the coming month to solicit feedback on where urban rail might travel through Austin, but at a meeting of transit advocates last night, some asked if enough time will be given to incorporate this feedback into the decision process.

Project Connect is the vision for high-capacity transit in Central Texas. Although most people agree that high-capacity transit should exist, there’s historically been quite a bit of debate on what it should look like and where it should go.

There’s been talk of a light rail or some other new form of mass transit in Austin dating back to the 1980s (read a full history from The Overhead Wire here), including a light rail plan that was voted down by citizens in 2000 by a tiny margin. Officials are hopeful that a new plan could go before City Council as soon as November, followed by a bond election next November.

Project Connect’s Central Corridor is bounded by Ranch-to-Market 2222 to the North, Oltorf to the South, Springdale/Grove to the East and MoPac to the West. This is where officials are concentrating the next phase of transit in Austin, focusing on attractions like the University of Texas, Downtown and the Capitol, and with events like SXSW and Austin City Music Festival in mind.

More at http://www.austinpost.org/getting-around/next-phase-high-capacity-transit-could-be-decided-fall .

[Javaman]

1. and we the residents will be on the hook to pay for it...

first they raise our property tax to pay for the med school (which I might add was interesting considering that UT magically found 435 billion dollars in savings AFTER the funding measure was passed)

and god forbid the city actually force any of the condo owners to pay their fair share. They get such sweetheart deals it's amazing the city doesn't collapse from lack of tax revenue, but then again, that's where we the middle and lower class come in. Paying more and more.

ahh yes, texas politics at it's finest.