Quote:
Originally Posted by SecretAgentMan
I see. What you are really talking about is the Guadalupe / Lavaca couplet downtown. Previously, the proposal was to have two north-south alignments downtown because of concerns for parades and events closing Congress Avenue. With the north-south spine moving to Trinity, that is not a concern. Also, now that virtually all of the buses have been moved to Guadalupe / Lavaca, it becomes a lot trickier to integrate rail as well.
I haven't seen any discussion on here about the 2014 Strategic Mobility Plan that includes this language:
Lamar Boulevard Development and High Capacity Transit Feasibility Program (Riverside to US 183): Portions of Lamar Boulevard are identified by the state as being among the top 100 most congested roadways in the state. The City of Austin, through the 2010 Mobility Bond, funded a corridor development program for North Lamar (north of US 183). As part of the 2012 Mobility Bond, Austin voters approved a similar corridor development program for South Lamar (south of Riverside drive). The City is also in the process of initiating a Guadalupe Street/West Campus Corridor Program to identify mobility projects that could improve east-west connectivity to the University as well as travel north-south through the district. The proposed Lamar Boulevard Corridor development Program would examine opportunities to improve total mobility on the central portion of the Lamar Corridor, connecting with the recommendations identified in these three other corridor development projects. All modes of transportation will be considered, including high capacity transit options such as both urban rail and bus rapid transit to coordinate and build upon the Urban Rail investment. High capacity transit system elements will be evaluated to their logical destinations beyond the study limits if necessary and both traffic management and new capacity options will be considered for improving vehicle flow through the corridor (The proposed budget for this effort is $5 million).
This is proposed to be included in the November bond election along with urban rail.
http://www.austintexas.gov/sites/def...upalUpload.pdf |
Last sentence eliminates rail from consideration. They have framed the challenge as getting more cars through Lamar rather than people.
"beyond the study limits if necessary and both traffic management and new capacity options will be considered for improving vehicle flow through the corridor"