The bridge is a key component of Project Connect's Blue Line connecting Austin-Bergstrom International Airport with downtown. As proposed, the rail crossing would link the Blue Line's ground-level Waterfront station off East Riverside Drive with the underground Rainey/Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center station across the water to the north at a cost of at least $150 million.
Transit planners provided an update on the bridge design earlier this year in a memo outlining the engineering challenges related to the structure. On top of a light rail track that changes grades and elevations over a short distance, the bridge will also feature pathways for pedestrians and cyclists with multiple access points on both shores.
In addition to those components, planners are now eyeing the possibility of adding another layer to the bridge that would provide a new bus route over the lake. While the addition of bus service to the Blue Line bridge was not initially part of the Project Connect plan, ongoing community input on the rail system prompted designers to consider whether additional bus access would enhance downtown Austin's public transit options as the city continues to grow.
"We’re going to need all of our bridges to work as hard as possible," said Anna Martin, an Austin Transportation Department assistant director, during a February meeting of City Council's mobility committee.
Ahead of an April 26 community meeting about the bridge planning process, the Project Connect team released new information on what the Blue Line bridge will look like with or without buses. If constructed with no bus access as initially planned, a bridge carrying the rail line, cyclists and pedestrians between Riverside and Trinity Street is expected to cost $150 million. If buses are added, the bridge would require a new guideway connecting the north and south shore roadways and could cost $210 million, or 40% more.
Alongside other Project Connect components, further planning and community engagement is expected to push the bridge to its 30% design threshold this summer. Additional design and assessment work will follow before construction kicks off in the years ahead.
The new bridge concepts were released weeks after Project Connect staff announced that the entire light rail system's cost had jumped several billion dollars since early designs were laid out. Officials said a range of factors contributed to the revised projections, including the red-hot Austin real estate market, rising construction material and labor costs, inflation and revised system outlines.
Despite those increases, including the potential cost of the Blue Line bridge bus lanes, staff also said the voter-approved taxes funding the transit expansion are not expected to rise.
Anyone interested in participating in the April 26 community session may register here. A public hearing on the Blue Line is scheduled for September.
