Designs for potential MoPac South Environmental Study projects were displayed as part of an open house Nov. 10 at Palmer Events Center.[/caption]The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and the Texas Department of Transportation are working together to improve safety and mobility on the 8-mile stretch of road. The project team presented a configuration in February and went back to its engineers to develop the new designs based on the public input it received, said Dee Anne Heath, Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority director of external affairs.
“This is an opportunity for us to share the information and the data for each configuration with the community … to get their feedback on features [and] what’s important to them,” she said.
Based on public input, the project team made changes to its original proposal, including shifting a planned direct connection touchdown farther east on Cesar Chavez Street; adding barriers between Austin High School and potential conflict points; separating a shared-use path from traffic; and commissioning a study of potential adverse impacts to downtown Austin. About 180 residents attended the open house Nov. 10 to provide input.
Austin resident Richard Ryon, who is also a Realtor, said he would use the toll lanes but expressed concern that the configurations without direct connections to downtown Austin will present hazards and could add to congestion. However, he said the project team is on the right track.
“I think any of these proposals will benefit the situation,” he said, adding he favors the configurations that include two lanes of traffic in each direction.
Ryon works regularly with new residents moving into Austin as well as with professionals seeking places to open their businesses.
“Austin is a very attractive location, and I know a lot of people would like to say, ‘Well, this is it; [MoPac] is plenty big,’" Ryon said. "That simply isn’t practical. Unless we plan and build for the future growth we will make it unattractive for everybody, including ourselves.”
Residents were able to view potential MoPac South Environmental Study project designs at an open house Nov. 10 at Palmer Events Center.[/caption]Sara Marler, a Central Austin resident and Austin High School parent, said she frequently uses MoPac and is primarily concerned with how the roadwork plans could affect students and their families at the school, located at 1715 W. Cesar Chavez Street.
"We sit at the epicenter of where all of the entrance and exit ramps are,” she said.
Marler said she would like to see planners better review the effects the proposed plans might have on local residents, student safety, environmental preservation and air pollution.
“MoPac is not an interstate," Marler said. "It is a local highway for local commuters and that is a priority that I’m not sure TxDOT or CTRMA are fully understanding.”
She said she does not think many local residents will be able to use the toll lanes.
At a Keep MoPac Local Coalition news conference held Nov. 9, coalition spokesperson Bill Bunch said the transportation authority's plans discourage drivers from using the toll lanes by using prices as high as $13.
But the express lanes proposed will actually be variable tolled lanes, said Heath from the Mobility Authority.
“The more cars that are in the lane, the higher potentially the toll could be. It’s supply and demand,” Heath said. “That $13 number has been floating out there, but that is really more realistic based on the one lane in each direction. I’ve seen an average for two lanes [with a direct connection downtown] would be like $3.50, something like that—but that is an estimated average.”
The Mobility Authority also considered other options, including restriping MoPac to include HOV lanes.
“In response to restriping, the Mobility Authority’s view is that that would be irresponsible and it is not a safe option for drivers,” Heath said.
Some residents and organizations such as the Keep MoPac Local Coalition oppose designs for MoPac South Environmental Study project proposals. Signs displayed outside a MoPac South open house event Nov. 10 read "We vote: None of the above" referencing the proposed configurations.[/caption]Rob McIntire, who lives in the 78704 ZIP code in South Austin, said HOV lanes would be an effective short-term solution for traffic congestion on MoPac.
In the 43 years he has lived in Austin, McIntire has seen some changes when it comes to traffic congestion.
“I gave up driving because it was just an insult to drive around this town,” he said.
McIntire attributes traffic congestion in Austin to neighborhood infill without adding the road infrastructure needed to support such population growth, he said. McIntire said he does not think the configurations presented as part of the MoPac South Environmental Study will help change that.
“I am totally against it,” he said. “They can maybe make some minor improvements to MoPac south, but what they’re proposing, the way I understand it, [is] rerouting I-35 onto MoPac South all the way north and so it’s just going to be another major clog for local folks.”
Heath said residents can continue to provide comments online as part of a virtual open house, which ends Nov. 20. This will not be the final opportunity for residents to provide their input on potential designs, she said.
“Our goal is to take all of this feedback and then to eventually come back to the community with a recommendation,” she said. “We want to make sure the community feels like they are getting the type of project that they need.”
