West Austin Neighborhood Group » MoPac

TxDOT to host public forums on rail plan, seeks input from residents

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:51:51 +0000

On August 10, 2010, the Texas Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting to glean public opinion on the state’s developing rail plan. The meeting will be held in the hearing room of TxDOT’s Austin district office, 7901 N. I-35, from 6-8 p.m., and is one of nine meetings TxDOT will hold across the state in order to obtain rail plan-focused input from Texans.

The rail plan is intended to guide future public and private actions to expand mobility of people and goods on rail and meet federal and state legislative requirements.

Attendees of the August rail meeting will be able to ask rail division staff questions, submit comments and complete brief questionnaires.

“This plan will provide an inventory of all transportation modes and address the need for improvements to roadways, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, transit, freight and passenger rail, airports, water parts, pipelines, and Intelligent Transportation Systems,” said Amadeo Saenz Jr., TxDOT executive director.

TxDOT will be conducting a second set of open house-style public meetings in August to discuss preliminary findings and take additional public input on the state’s long-range transportation plan. The department will host its Austin meeting Aug. 12, also at its Austin district office, from 4–7 p.m.

Public comments on the state’s rail plan may be mailed to the rail division or submitted via its website. Visit Texas Rail Plan’s website (http://www.txdot.gov/public_involvement/rail_plan/) for more information.

Comments will be accepted through Oct. 9, 2010.

MoPac Soundwall Update: Public Input and Design Work To Resume

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:20:15 +0000

TxDOT has finalized the contracts for the restart of the MoPac1 sound wall/managed lane project. The restart Open Houses are planned for September. The NEPA http://www.epa.gov/compliance/nepa/ environmental process will take approximately two years.

From the TxDOT MoPac1 website (http://www.dot.state.tx.us/project_information/projects/austin/mopac1/):

Project Resumes

After a two-year pause due to funding constraints, the MoPac 1 project is about to resume. TxDOT and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) have joined forces to help fund the much needed improvements identified through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.

What’s Next

In the next few months, MoPac 1′s public involvement, preliminary engineering and environmental processes will resume:

TxDOT will complete the schematic design and the NEPA environmental process. These will then be turned over to the CTRMA.
If the NEPA process results in a “Build” alternative, the CTRMA will develop detailed plans and construct the project.

TxDOT to Apply Improved Surface to MoPac/Loop 1

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:18:15 +0000

Work has begun to apply an improved type of surface to MoPac/Loop 1 between Lake Austin and RM 2222. TxDOT crews will apply what is known as a Permeable Friction Course (PFC) that has a number of advantages over standard asphalt concrete pavement surfaces, including reduced risk of hydroplaning, significantly reduced splash and spray during rain events, improved ride quality and the visibility of pavement markings, and LESS NOISE THAN MOST OTHER OPTIONS. If this is the same surface as used on Loop 360, it will be significantly quieter.

Crews will work Monday through Thursday nights the week of June 20, and Sunday through Thursday nights thereafter. TxDOT says the night work, which will be done between 9:00 PM and 5:00 AM, is necessary to avoid interfering with heavier daytime traffic on Loop 1. The $3.5-million project is scheduled to be completed in late September. Motorists are reminded that work zone traffic fines are doubled when crews are present.

Early July Update: Some good progress was made this week , but the rain has slowed things down. TxDOT is still working on the concrete removal on the northbound lanes and needs a few more nights to finish. The plan at this time is to start hot mix operations next week on the southbound side. This work should take most of July to complete and then we will work on the northbound side.

MoPac Expansion Update from MoPac Neighborhood Associations Coalition

admin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:03:52 +0000

At the MoPac Neighborhood Associations Coalition (MoNAC) meeting on October 21, 2009, an update presentation was made by representatives of TxDOT, CTRMA, the City of Austin and Cap Metro concerning on the status of the MoPac expansion plans for adding a managed lane and sound barriers on MoPac (Loop 1).

The consulting firm for the project (Patrick Owens and John Kelly of AECOM (formerly DMJM Harris)) reported the findings of a traffic modeling study showing that the addition of a north and south bound managed lane between Parmer Lane and Lady Bird Lake could yield noticeable travel-time savings for all vehicles. By 2030, during the southbound a.m. peak hour, travel time in general purpose lanes could be reduced by 50 percent and users of the potential managed lane could see a 63 percent travel-time savings compared to a “no-build” scenario. Additionally, northbound in the p.m. peak hour, travel time in general purpose lanes could be reduced by 5 percent and users of the potential managed lane could see a 50 percent travel-time savings compared to a “no-build” scenario.

John Kelly said that the environmental study for the project will consider the impact of a tolled managed lane, a non-tolled managed lane, and the no-build option. He projected a total cost for the entire managed lane project, including sound walls, at $150 million, with $120 million financed with toll-backed bonds, requiring the remainder to be financed with other funds.