Editor's note: This story was updated to correct Ken Cartwright's name and the spelling of the Mueller neighborhood.
During the Aug. 29 Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors meeting, Ken Cartwright, the agency's vice president of construction and facilities for CapMetro gave a presentation on the proposed Travis County Expo Center land acquisition.
The land acquisition would be acquired for use with the Expo Center Park and Ride project, which would be a part of the Expo MetroRapid Line. The proposed acquisition includes an 8-acre tract of land out of the Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park.
Cartwright said the purpose of the proposed project is to create a Park & Ride for the Expo Center rapid line. Cartwright said the proposed bus line would be the northern end of the Expo Rapid bus line that is currently under construction.
“So this particular line, the Expo Line, will provide much needed access from the northeast side of Austin through various activity centers including the Delco Activity Center, the Travis County Expo Center itself, as well as the downtown capital and the Mueller neighborhood,” Cartwright said.
Some of the amenities planned for the bus line are 150 parking spaces, dynamic message screens with real time information, eight bus days with connections to other routes, zero emission buses with charging and CCTV cameras.
The current eight acre tract of land proposed to be acquired is owned by the city of Austin and leased to Travis County. The land is also in the process of being rezoned from single family to public use. The rezoning was approved Aug. 16 by the city of Austin Planning and Zoning Commission.
Cartwright said that to acquire the land, the city is seeking to use eminent domain authority due to the land being designated as park land.
