Transportation Updates

[caption id="attachment_74642" align="alignright" width="220"] Partnering with the city of Austin, the Texas Department of Transportation is constructing a bicycle and pedestrian bridge with a minimum 12-foot-wide shared-use path along northbound Loop 1 lanes over the Barton Creek Greenbelt from one frontage road turnaround to the other near Loop 1’s intersections with Southwest Parkway and Loop 360.[/caption]

2. Bicycle/pedestrian bridge over Barton Creek Greenbelt

Partnering with the city of Austin, the Texas Department of Transportation is constructing a bicycle and pedestrian bridge with a minimum 12-foot-wide shared-use path along northbound Loop 1 lanes over the Barton Creek Greenbelt from one frontage road turnaround to the other near Loop 1’s intersections with Southwest Parkway and Loop 360. Work was delayed because of drilling issues.

Timeline: February 2014-February 2016 Cost: $7.7 million Funding sources: TxDOT, city of Austin

3. Oak Hill Parkway study ongoing

A project team is refining two concepts as part of the ongoing Oak Hill Parkway environmental study on potential solutions to bring traffic relief to the intersection of Hwy. 71 and Hwy. 290. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority hosted a water quality workshop June 16 and will hold an open house this summer.

Timeline: environmental study expected to be complete in 2016 Cost: TBD Funding sources: TBD

4. I-35 expansion

On June 15, state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin unveiled updates to TxDOT’s Mobility35 program to improve traffic congestion on I-35 in the next 10 years. Projects include those being funded by Proposition 1 dollars, including plans to rebuild bridges at Stassney Lane and William Cannon Drive to accommodate new lanes and add turnaround lanes. Frontage roads will be widened at both intersections for dedicated turn lanes. Timeline: improvements to be completed by 2025 Cost: $4.3 billion Funding sources: TxDOT, city of Austin

5. Nearing completion: Hwy. 290 continuous-flow intersections

TxDOT is building continuous-flow intersections on Hwy. 290 between Hwy. 71 and Joe Tanner Lane. The project will officially be completed in August, but TxDOT opened the intersection at Hwy. 290 and Hwy. 71 in May and will open the intersection at Hwy. 290 and William Cannon Drive in June.

Timeline: September 2013-August 2015 Cost: $6.5 million Funding sources: TxDOT, city of Austin, Travis County

6. Violet Crown Trail  from Convict Hill Road to Brush Country Road

The Violet Crown Trail, which began as a plan in 1998 to create the first regional trail system in Central Texas, is composed of multiple sections. For the first phase of the project the city of Austin plans to begin construction this fall on trail sections that will provide a route connecting the Hampton Branch of the Austin Public Library on Convict Hill Road to Brush Country Road. Additionally, the Neighborhood Partnering Program is working with the Hill Country Conservancy to complete a portion of the Violet Crown Trail near Davis Lane by the end of 2015.

Timeline: fall 2015-late spring 2016 Cost: $850,000 Funding sources: city of Austin, Hill Country Conservancy