Residents expressed both opposition and support at a public hearing July 30 for a proposed project to improve mobility on MoPac at its intersections with Slaughter Lane and La Crosse Avenue in Southwest Austin.

Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and Texas Department of Transportation representatives were on hand at Bowie High School for the presentation and public hearing about the MoPac Intersections Environmental Study, which began in May 2013.

If the study is environmentally cleared in 2015, TxDOT would design and construct the project.

Changes to intersections 

Proposed improvements would extend the MoPac main lanes through both intersections by going under Slaughter Lane and La Crosse Avenue. An innovative intersection called a diverging diamond interchange, or DDI, is proposed at MoPac and Slaughter Lane to help address traffic congestion.

From 1990 to 2012 the populations of Travis and Hays Counties have increased by 86 percent; from 2012 to 2035 they are expected to grow by another 61 percent, adding to traffic, according to the presentation.

Before the presentation, attendees pored over maps and asked the project team questions.

Resident Alison Cairns, who has lived in the Circle C Ranch neighborhood for 14 years, said she wanted to learn more about the proposed project’s design.

“I’m glad that it’s not elevated,” she said. An elevated road would affect views from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, where Cairns volunteers. She said another concern with the road is the aesthetic of a proposed sound barrier, a concrete wall that is slated to extend through much of the project area.

“I think that in the long term [concrete barriers] end up looking awful. They don’t look good; they end up covered in graffiti, and they’re a maintenance problem. I don’t think it’s been proven that they actually have a good effect on the sound; I would rather that they did something more natural,” she said.

Another resident, Katherine Francis, said in the 11 years she has lived in Circle C she has not seen much road improvement.

“My biggest concerns are how long it is going to take them to get things resolved,” Francis said. “I hope to hear they’re finished in three years. Road projects take a long time, and [once construction begins] there are usually delays. … I’m trying to be realistic.”

Residents had the opportunity to view the latest schematics for proposed roadwork along MoPac before a public hearing July 30 at Bowie High School.[/caption]

Opposition, support

Bill Bunch, representing the Keep MoPac Local coalition, said that transportation authorities should look at how the MoPac Intersections proposal fits into other regional plans including SH 45 SW, a proposed limited-access, four-lane, 3.6-mile toll road connecting MoPac to FM 1626 in Hays County.

“[The proposed MoPac Intersections changes are] not being done to serve local communities,” he said during the public comment period. “That is being done to accommodate I-35 traffic [and] divert it to MoPac by way of the [SH] 45 SW connection.”

The coalition wants MoPac to operate as primarily a local commuter highway, and Bunch said if TxDOT builds new lanes those will still be overwhelmed. He said the potential changes will endanger city parks, Lady Bird Lake and the wildflower center.

“There are some good reasons to do this, but there are some really good reasons to not do it,” he said. “But it’s fundamentally dishonest to chop it up into four pieces and never look at the whole and pretend like these pieces don’t make a whole, because that whole is a second I-35 through Southwest and North Austin.”

Resident Zach Causey said he thinks neighbors should try to come up with other infrastructure solutions such as carpooling.

Dick Kallerman, transportation chair of local organization Austin Sierra Club, said an environmental study is not enough considering that proposed roadwork extends over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.

“We would like to see an Environmental Impact Statement that tells us the environmental impact of [having] 18 miles of highway over the aquifer recharge zone, what the cultural impact will be and what the social impact will be of a western bypass to I-35,” he said.

Other residents spoke in favor of the project.

Jeremy Martin, senior vice president of governmental relations and regional infrastructure with the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber supports beginning the construction on the project as soon as possible.

Oak Hill resident Jim Schissler said he wants the project to move forward.

“This is the last phase of the design for the highway; its time has come based on the [increased] traffic and the continued growth of Southwest Austin,” he said.

Additional information about the study is available at www.mopacsouth.com.