This is Project Connect's $1.4 Billion Proposal for Austin Urban Rail

[TexasTowelie]

Austin officials unveiled plans today for the city's first urban rail line.

The 9.5 mile long line would run along East Riverside Drive and turn north near the Austin-American Statesman building, cross Lady Bird Lake via bridge, continue through downtown and the University of Texas and end at Highland Mall. The plan also calls for four park & ride areas, two each toward opposite ends of the line.

The project cost is estimated at $1.38 billion. Officials with Project Connect, the working group of city, Capital Metro, and other regional transportation officials that made today's recommendation, say they believe the federal government would pay for half of that estimated cost.

"We've got the best number that we have, given the level of detail that we have," Project Connect head Kyle Keahey said. "We've got a lot of additional design that we have to move forward with."

More at http://kut.org/post/project-connects-14-billion-proposal-austin-urban-rail .

[Gman]

1. That's insane.

1.38B. Red McCombs in an op-ed today said the cost of San Antonio's rail would be enough to coat the entire route in like 4 microns of gold. I wonder what it would do for Austin.

[hobbit709]

2. Doesn't go to the airport and pretty much leaves South Austin out.

It favors the schemes of the developers and nothing for working people who commute.

[TexasTowelie]

3. It does run by employers and shopping centers in mid-Austin.

However, the main population that it would be serving is people in the Riverside and Pleasant Valley areas in south Austin along with a small population located near Highland Mall in north Austin.

Considering the Metro Rail already services people near Highland Mall going to downtown Austin, the route seems somewhat redundant unless going to the state offices on the north side of downtown, the UT area or shopping at the Hancock Center. While there are supposed to be more people going to Highland Mall in the future as it is converted into an ACC campus, the only people that would be using that service are those that live in the apartment complexes along Riverside and Pleasant Valley.

Otherwise, I don't see a lot of benefit in the proposed route for most of the population.

I doubt that it will ever be connected to the airport at Bergstrom since that would cut into taxi service and that coalition lobbied against the expansion to there.