MoPac lane expansion may get $130M infusion, officials say

But, says Tom Wald, executive director of the League of Bicycling Voters, a nonprofit advocacy organization, that is not enough.

"One thing that's clear is [the Mobility Authority's] plan is not consistent with public policy at various levels," he said.

The $130 million or so loan would come from a $136.6 million bundle the Texas Department of Transportation is making available for shovel-ready projects in Central Texas. The board of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, composed of elected officials in the five-county Central Texas region, is charged with distributing that money.

For an example of a policy conflict, Wald points to CAMPO's 2035 Regional Transportation Plan, the group's guiding policy document, which says that when some roadways undergo reconstruction, including widening, resources should be allocated to bicycle and pedestrian enhancements as long as those costs are not more than 20 percent of total construction costs.

Wald said that if the Mobility Authority extended the path to run from Parmer Lane to RM 2222 without interruption, the addition would cost about $23 million, according to an estimate by HNTB Corp., the Mobility Authority's outside engineer. Even so, an addition of that magnitude would bring the portion of total costs spent on bicycle and pedestrian facilities to 11 percent, up from about 2 percent now.

A path to consider

Austin City Councilman Chris Riley, a longtime advocate of making the region more bicycle-friendly, is among the CAMPO board members who are encouraging consideration of the path's extension.

"Seems to me that if we are to step in to provide the financing for the project, we can see what we can get in exchange for that. In particular, it seems that there may be opportunities to bring the project more closely into alignment with CAMPO policy and guidelines," Riley said.

For providing the loan, CAMPO could reap up to $70 million in interest over 22 years, according to the Mobility Authority. That money, in addition to the loan repayment, would be reinvested into other transportation improvement projects in the region, such as I-35.

All in the timing

Further complicating matters is that adding the design for the path extension in project plans is a race against time.

The funds must be committed before Sept. 29 or CAMPO risks losing the money, a restrictive timeline given the amount of public input that needs to be gathered in accordance with CAMPO policy.

But if the MoPac plan undergoes major changes, such as a path extension, the project could be set back, said Mario Espinoza, deputy director for the Mobility Authority. If that happens, CAMPO would be left without a local project that meets TxDOT's guidelines for this round of funding.

If all else fails, CAMPO could send the money to another metropolitan planning organization in a different part of the state under the requirement that the money would be paid back.

Cynthia Long, Williamson County commissioner and CAMPO board member, made it clear at an April CAMPO meeting what she thought about that option.

"I'm not a gambling person, but if I were, that'd be real low odds of it coming back in our lifetime," she said.

CAMPO will host three public meetings about the project and proposed loan. The meeting in Austin is tentatively scheduled for May 16 at 5:30 p.m. at O. Henry Middle School, 2610 W. 10th St. Comments may be made online beginning May 7 at www.campotexas.org.

For more information on the MoPac Improvement Project, visit www.mopacexpress.com.