Planners endorse Texas 45 proposal
Panel also supports studying HOV lanes for MoPac south of lake

Swayed by a new study showing that Texas 45 would have minimal impact on MoPac Boulevard traffic, transportation planners on Monday endorsed building the highway through southern Travis County and northern Hays County. The planners also endorsed studying high-occupancy-vehicle lanes for MoPac (Loop 1) south of Town Lake, overriding objections from Austin leaders who objected to taking a piecemeal approach to the north-south highway. The decisions provide the latest twists and turns, but not the final word, on two issues that have been debated for months.

For Texas 45 South, the issue has been whether to build the highway west of Interstate 35 as a connection to RM 1626 and eventually to MoPac. Central Austin neighborhoods fear adding traffic to already congested MoPac lanes -- or worse, requiring Loop 1 to be expanded to meet the added demand. Earlier studies showed that Texas 45 would add thousands of cars to MoPac, but that finding was disputed by new data discussed at Monday's meeting of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board. The board plans local roads and determines how to spend federal transportation money. CAMPO staff members concluded that Texas 45 would add too much distance and travel time to make MoPac an attractive alternate to I-35. However, the staff study found that MoPac traffic rose if Texas 45 were not built east of I-35, allowing traffic to easily merge onto U.S. 183 and the future Texas 130. The added congestion on I-35 would send 4,000 to 5,000 drivers scurrying toward MoPac along Ben White Boulevard, Riverside Drive and Cesar Chavez Street, the study concluded. For that reason, the CAMPO board voted to encourage the Texas Transportation Commission to build the eastern half of Texas 45 first -- and to sweeten the request with an offer of local money. The amount would be determined in the future.

"We need to be partners with the commission, so I suggest we work with them on this rather than tell them what to do," said Michael Aulick, executive director of CAMPO. "We can offer money to accelerate construction east of I-35." Developer Gary Bradley and a group of businesses propose building Texas 45 South as a toll road.

As for MoPac, the CAMPO board voted to ask Austin, Capital Metro and the Texas Department of Transportation to jointly study how much it would cost to build HOV lanes south of Town Lake. Initial estimates are $28 million to $30 million. The study also would identify where that money could be found. Aulick said the southern HOV lanes, which would be restricted to cars with at least two passengers, would be less controversial and require no new new right of way. Earlier plans to build HOV lanes north of Town Lake produced a storm of controversy after the Transportation Department revealed that several hundred Central Austin homes would have to be demolished. CAMPO, working with neighborhood leaders, crafted a compromise for lower-impact HOV lanes. But as the Transportation Department was preparing to conduct an extensive environmental study of the HOV lanes, the agency announced Jan. 30 that it had run out of money, delaying the work until at least September. In the meantime, the CAMPO board voted 10-9 to move forward with the South MoPac HOV lanes.

"I don't believe the public wants to see us sitting on our hands," said state Rep. Mike Krusee, R-Williamson County. But most Austin leaders on the CAMPO board voted against the measure, contending that it disregarded months of work on the entire highway. In addition, the project ignores the difficulty of moving cars from MoPac into downtown, Austin City Council Member Will Wynn said. "It's a big waste if you save time on the commute to Town Lake only to have them tied up for 10 minutes on Cesar Chavez or Fifth Street," Wynn said.