CAMPO begins study of US 183 corridor in NW AustinA study of the US 183 corridor between MoPac and RM 620 will help identify the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists in Central Texas.

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization approved an agreement Aug. 8 to conduct the study with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, which will provide $136,000 for the study.

The Near Northwest Corridor study will analyze how residents get around in the existing corridor of US 183 and surrounding roadways and recommend projects that could provide more pedestrian, bicycle and transit connections, said Kelly Porter, CAMPO’s senior multimodal planner, who also works on long-range planning.

“[Projects] may not be running along the main highway, but we would be identifying potential parallel facilities that are safer for bicyclists and pedestrians,” he said.

This corridor was chosen because it closely resembles other corridors in CAMPO’s six-county area and could be duplicated, Porter said.

The US 183 study is also being done in coordination with the planning of CAMPO’s first-ever regional active transportation plan, or RATP, which launched in July, he said. Active transportation involves walking, biking and transit as a means of transportation. Porter said CAMPO’s goal is to encourage more active transportation and make it easier for to people to incorporate it into their lives.