A regional transportation plan designed to manage growth in Central Texas was approved May 11 by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization policy board.

Some of the projects included in CAMPO’s 2040 plan affect Cedar Park and Leander and could begin as early as 2016. Other projects are longer-term in scope and are planned for 2020 and later.

CAMPO is responsible for coordinating transportation planning in six counties: Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson. It also approves use of federal funds in the region. The policy board comprises elected officials from CAMPO’s six counties and cities in the area, and Hays County Commissioner Will Conley serves as board chairman.

Every five years CAMPO is required to approve a new long-range plan, and planning for the 2040 plan began in May 2013. These plans include projects deemed regionally significant and funded with local or regional dollars. Plans also include transit
projects as well as measures to improve transportation choices. The $35.1 billion 2040 plan includes $11.8 billion in local dollars.

“If you look at the local funding total, especially on the 2040 side, you will see that increasingly the local portion of funding has been making up the difference in the gap,” CAMPO Executive Director Ashby Johnson said. “We are anticipating that this financial effort for this [2040] plan will continue until something changes at the Legislature.”

Additional reporting by Stephen Burnett