[WrightCONCEPT]

Originally Posted by electricron

$4.5 to $5 Billion for a 10 mile line seems excessive price wise. But, to lay the tracks in the streets in downtown Austin, and along Guadalupe north and Congress south, they are basically going to have to rebuild all the streets. All the roads are rough, plumbing underneath will have to have cathodic protection installed or strengthened. 3rd Street is fairly small, I would not be surprised to see it turned into a light rail mall. Guadalupe Street downtown is fairly wide, but up by UT campus it is fairly narrow.
I do not mind the line shortness, remember this is a starter line for a longer system. If the original line attracts higher number of passengers than the bus, it would be considered a success.
For those who are still advocating for a subway downtown, it just will not work as I have been writing for almost 10 years. The routes desired climb hills the further away you get from the Colorado River. Considering how deep you must dig under the River, that means a longer dig for tunnels climbing up from the depths to the heights of the hills. Golly, the tunnel heading south on Congress would have to be longer than the at grade proposed line today.
As for using a bridge over the Colorado River, they would need more than three blocks to turn and follow beneath 3rd Street, considering that would be a station location. You never want to place a station on a steep grade.
The only other valid alternate would have been to use elevated guideways downtown Austin, which I am sure the hipsters did not want.
Squeezing a light rail line on Congress, 3rd, and Guadalupe north of downtown will require widening these streets, or completely eliminating traffic lanes. I believe more than many realize of the costs to build the proposed light rail line is to buy properties needed to widening the light rail line and street corridor. These are not 6 or 8 lane boulevards being used, they are 4 and 5 lanes. Installing a light rail line in its own right of way or its own dedicated lanes, requires up to three lanes of the existing streets at station locations.

Spot on, this rail system Austin is thinking about and executing is akin to Portland's MAX in the way it is described and advocated for. In addition, the costs for a starter system if done right will lead to a more expansive system to serve the needs of the region.