AUSTIN | Transportation Updates

[atxsnail]

Originally Posted by The ATX

Assholes:



We have State level conservatives and local Democrats fighting against rail. Almost seems hopeless.

What's different about how Austin is looking to build light rail compared to what Dallas and Houston have done?

Originally Posted by paul78701

Not much that I can see. It's just that the politics have changed.

Local dems are overwhelmingly in favor of light rail in Austin. There is a small, extremely vocal minority of local dems who have framed their entire political existence around opposition to change/development. Being against project connect is pretty consistent with their worldview. If I can editorialize for a moment, I think the world and time have passed them by and they are angrily lashing out at whatever they can, no matter the consequences.

I think I remember reading Houston funded the initial Red Line without a bond election. I think this was intentional after losing a few rail bond elections many years prior.

Dallas also had its own history of failed elections as well.

This state is so stupid sometimes.

[atxsnail]

Originally Posted by atxsnail

Local dems are overwhelmingly in favor of light rail in Austin. There is a small, extremely vocal minority of local dems who have framed their entire political existence around opposition to change/development. Being against project connect is pretty consistent with their worldview. If I can editorialize for a moment, I think the world and time have passed them by and they are angrily lashing out at whatever they can, no matter the consequences.

In related news, Jack Craver reports that Bill Bunch and other Austin olds are supporting Mackenzie Kelley in her re-election bid. NIMBYism falls across party lines, but I personally think it's much more spiritually aligned with conservatism. It's also sort of funny, because Kelley is not really a reliable NIMBY. Her votes on land use are somewhat hard to predict but she doesn't seem to be a development skeptic. It's more a reflection on the pro-housing stance of her challenger, apparently.

[Urbannizer]

Crosswalk signals finally coming to 4th&I-35

https://x.com/marshallgeyer/status/1...KAMHVCgfx518rg

[The ATX]

That's definitely a temporary improvement with the I-35 rebuild looming.

[gillynova]

That took forever lmao

[enragedcamel]

So literally every single person I've talked to over the past two or three months is insanely cynical about the I-35 expansion. It has made me wonder how the hell the project got approved in the first place. I admit I've not followed the drama at all.

Is there a place one can view the "current" status/roadmap/etc.? I'd like to better understand the milestones and whatnot.

[Echostatic]

I-35 Capital Express South is well under construction but still has quite a few years left to go with expected completion in 2028. I-35 Capital Express North is a little further behind but it's a much less significant project. Completion is also expected in 2028. Public construction information on these two projects is very limited.

The part people actually care about is I-35 Capital Express Central, which should be starting within a few months. The project website with phasing information is here: https://my35capex.com/projects/i-35-...xpress-central. Construction will be primarily focused south of the river until 2026. Final completion of this section is expected in 2032.

The most in-depth article that I've seen was published by KUT in February and goes over almost every detail of the Capital Express Central program. https://www.kut.org/transportation/2...central-austin

[Maximusx1]

Originally Posted by Echostatic

I-35 Capital Express South is well under construction but still has quite a few years left to go with expected completion in 2028. I-35 Capital Express North is a little further behind but it's a much less significant project. Completion is also expected in 2028. Public construction information on these two projects is very limited.

The part people actually care about is I-35 Capital Express Central, which should be starting within a few months. The project website with phasing information is here: https://my35capex.com/projects/i-35-...xpress-central. Construction will be primarily focused south of the river until 2026. Final completion of this section is expected in 2032.

The most in-depth article that I've seen was published by KUT in February and goes over almost every detail of the Capital Express Central program. https://www.kut.org/transportation/2...central-austin

Excellent post, thank you.

[gillynova]

Thank you echostatic for all that information!

[atxsnail]

A new passenger rail committee has been formed in central Texas. The Travis and Bexar County Judges are leading this effort. Hopefully something comes out of this some day. It's nice to see serious people taking up the idea of improving San Antonio/Austin rail connection. Of note on the list of committee members is Husein Cumber, Chief Strategy Officer for Florida East Coast Industries, which is the parent company of Brightline. There's also a representative from Amtrak as well.


https://www.austinmonitor.com/storie...ail-committee/

[Tyrone Shoes]

Originally Posted by atxsnail

A new passenger rail committee has been formed in central Texas. The Travis and Bexar County Judges are leading this effort. Hopefully something comes out of this some day. It's nice to see serious people taking up the idea of improving San Antonio/Austin rail connection. Of note on the list of committee members is Husein Cumber, Chief Strategy Officer for Florida East Coast Industries, which is the parent company of Brightline. There's also a representative from Amtrak as well.


https://www.austinmonitor.com/storie...ail-committee/

Not sure what to make of it but at first glance it feels a very heavy San Antonio presence.

Peter Sakai, Bexar County judge
Henry Cisneros, former United States secretary of Housing and Urban Development and mayor of San Antonio
Melissa Cabello Havrda, San Antonio Council Member, District 6, and chair of the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
Dottie Watkins, president and CEO for Capital Metro
Jeff Davis, rail division director for Texas Department of Transportation
Todd Stennis, government affairs director for Amtrak
Amy Rister, committee director, Texas House Transportation Committee
Joe Black, senior vice president for WSP Transit and Rail Operations & Service Planning
Ross Milloy, president of the Greater Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council
Clay Anderson, dxecutive director of Restart Lone Star Rail District
A.J. Bingham, founder and CEO of the Bingham Group
Jay Crossley, executive director of Farm & City
Veronica Davis, director of Cities Program at AtkinsRealis
Gavin Martin, director of Rail & Transit at AtkinsRealis
Karen Kennard, co-managing shareholder for Greenberg Traurig
Peter LeCody, president of Texas Rail Advocates
Bill McCamley, executive director of Transit Forward
Sandy Guzman, CEO, Austin Area Research Organization
Meg Merritt, principal for Movitas Mobility
Jerry Smiley, vice president and senior program manager for AECOM
John Kleinheinz, CEO of Kleinheinz Capital Partners and board member of Texas Central Partners
Andy Jent, private equity and special situations for Kleinheinz Capital Partners
Husein Cumber, chief strategy officer of Florida East Coast Strategies
Javier Dominguez, executive analyst of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council

[LiveattheOasis]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Shoes

Not sure what to make of it but at first glance it feels a very heavy San Antonio presence.

Peter Sakai, Bexar County judge
Henry Cisneros, former United States secretary of Housing and Urban Development and mayor of San Antonio
Melissa Cabello Havrda, San Antonio Council Member, District 6, and chair of the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
Dottie Watkins, president and CEO for Capital Metro
Jeff Davis, rail division director for Texas Department of Transportation
Todd Stennis, government affairs director for Amtrak
Amy Rister, committee director, Texas House Transportation Committee
Joe Black, senior vice president for WSP Transit and Rail Operations & Service Planning
Ross Milloy, president of the Greater Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council
Clay Anderson, dxecutive director of Restart Lone Star Rail District
A.J. Bingham, founder and CEO of the Bingham Group
Jay Crossley, executive director of Farm & City
Veronica Davis, director of Cities Program at AtkinsRealis
Gavin Martin, director of Rail & Transit at AtkinsRealis
Karen Kennard, co-managing shareholder for Greenberg Traurig
Peter LeCody, president of Texas Rail Advocates
Bill McCamley, executive director of Transit Forward
Sandy Guzman, CEO, Austin Area Research Organization
Meg Merritt, principal for Movitas Mobility
Jerry Smiley, vice president and senior program manager for AECOM
John Kleinheinz, CEO of Kleinheinz Capital Partners and board member of Texas Central Partners
Andy Jent, private equity and special situations for Kleinheinz Capital Partners
Husein Cumber, chief strategy officer of Florida East Coast Strategies
Javier Dominguez, executive analyst of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council

San Antonio's economy needs Austin more than the other way around. That said, I love San Antonio and would love to be able to take a train there and back for dinner or for date night with my wife.

[drummer]

I love it. We need to keep the conversation going and get more movers and shakers involved so something may actually happen someday...

[gillynova]

Brightline Texas?! That would be AMAZING. I'm so glad they're making huge moves in America with Florida and Las Vegas -> Los Angeles (Rancho Cucamonga)

I'm not really well versed but where would the potential stops be for this to happen?

--
I would love to take a quick day trip to and from SATX if there was an affordable train option. Especially for going to Spurs or Alamodome events.

[atxsnail]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Shoes

Not sure what to make of it but at first glance it feels a very heavy San Antonio presence.

Peter Sakai, Bexar County judge
Henry Cisneros, former United States secretary of Housing and Urban Development and mayor of San Antonio
Melissa Cabello Havrda, San Antonio Council Member, District 6, and chair of the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
Dottie Watkins, president and CEO for Capital Metro
Jeff Davis, rail division director for Texas Department of Transportation
Todd Stennis, government affairs director for Amtrak
Amy Rister, committee director, Texas House Transportation Committee
Joe Black, senior vice president for WSP Transit and Rail Operations & Service Planning
Ross Milloy, president of the Greater Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council
Clay Anderson, dxecutive director of Restart Lone Star Rail District
A.J. Bingham, founder and CEO of the Bingham Group
Jay Crossley, executive director of Farm & City
Veronica Davis, director of Cities Program at AtkinsRealis
Gavin Martin, director of Rail & Transit at AtkinsRealis
Karen Kennard, co-managing shareholder for Greenberg Traurig
Peter LeCody, president of Texas Rail Advocates
Bill McCamley, executive director of Transit Forward
Sandy Guzman, CEO, Austin Area Research Organization
Meg Merritt, principal for Movitas Mobility
Jerry Smiley, vice president and senior program manager for AECOM
John Kleinheinz, CEO of Kleinheinz Capital Partners and board member of Texas Central Partners
Andy Jent, private equity and special situations for Kleinheinz Capital Partners
Husein Cumber, chief strategy officer of Florida East Coast Strategies
Javier Dominguez, executive analyst of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council

Definitely more involvement on this list from SA. They probably have a lot more to gain economically than Austin would but I think I'm biased. I did think it was odd that Andy Brown himself wasn't directly on the committee but I am guessing that he's effectively a member whether listed or not. CAMPO doesn't seem to be represented on the list either, which I thought was odd given AAMPO is there.

However Judge Brown is a CAMPO board member, along with the Mayors of San Marcos and Kyle. I would expect that at minimum, San Marcos would get a stop on any future line.

This is exciting in a way that Lone Star Rail never was because it actually involves people with influence. It's funny that they even pulled Joe Black (former Lone Star Rail head) back in. There's even a local lobbyist on the list who has lobbied on behalf of a company that builds airports and highways.

IMO the ones to watch are:
Brightline, Amtrak, Texas Central people for national pull
AAMPO/CAMPO involvement for local funding and regional buy-in

[atxsnail]

There is another opportunity to provide input on the Red Line Trail along Capmetro's Red Line. There are updates on possible designs, mostly on the northern end of the trail along with a survey.

The link to the Virtual Open House is below:

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories...32a2f3fbb496e2

[texboy]

Originally Posted by LiveattheOasis

San Antonio's economy needs Austin more than the other way around. That said, I love San Antonio and would love to be able to take a train there and back for dinner or for date night with my wife.

Interesting take. I would think this line would actually entice people that work in Austin to move to SA/San Marcos/New Braunfels (depending on where stops are) and escape Austin real estate prices and taxes. Just a thought. Feels like SA would probably benefit a lot from people just moving away from Austin completely and increasing the tax base in San Antonio.

[urbancore]

This is all nice and good....till UP tells them to pound sand.....again.

UP would probably need a separate line to ensure no disruptions in their work.....can even fathom what that would cost and entail.

Millions were spent on this exercise 10 years ago, and UP said basically, "we are all ears, but we will never allow disruptions to our business". So how would that work? It won't.

[gillynova]

183 Oak Hill coming into the city

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by texboy

Interesting take. I would think this line would actually entice people that work in Austin to move to SA/San Marcos/New Braunfels (depending on where stops are) and escape Austin real estate prices and taxes. Just a thought. Feels like SA would probably benefit a lot from people just moving away from Austin completely and increasing the tax base in San Antonio.

I doubt this is going to cause a huge exodus if built. Basically it sounds like you want Austin to shrink and fail while SA gets all the benefit and growth. Doesn't make sense to me but

I have some friends who live in SA that actually do not want a bunch of Austinites moving down there as it will also inevitably increase property values down there as well.