MoPac expansion faces pushback
There’s pushback against a possible expansion of MoPac in Downtown and South Austin. The Save Our Springs Alliance is protesting the nearly eight-mile long project.
AUSTIN, Texas – There’s pushback against a possible expansion of MoPac in downtown and south Austin.
The Save Our Springs Alliance is protesting the nearly eight-mile-long project and held a townhall Monday night. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority was not in attendance.
“I think they didn’t show up because they can’t answer these questions. It is an absurd claim that a project of this scale is not going to have significant impacts, and that the underlying data shouldn’t be updated,” said Bill Bunch, executive director of Save Our Springs Alliance.
In 2013, CTRMA and TXDOT collaborated to complete an environmental study that would improve safety and mobility for drivers, transit riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians.
The MoPac South project would cover about eight miles, adding two express lanes in both directions, from Cesar Chavez to Slaughter Lane.
“Our organization is mostly concerned about the environmental impact and what this project would mean for barton springs at the top of the list but also Lady Bird Lake and Zilker Park,” said Bunch.
The MoPac expressway south of Cesar Chavez provides a critical link to downtown Austin and other major highways like US 290 and Loop 360.
According to the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, the project will help with emergency response and travel times.
“We have current science that says wider does not work, the traffic fills up the lanes almost immediately when you are expanding a highway or rapidly expanding an area,” said Bunch.
Bunch says there are more affordable and small-scale alternatives that would cost less that would not require toll lanes and still meet the transportation goals of the community.
CTRMA officials did not show up to provide feedback at the townhall, but did provide a statement saying:
“Public input has already helped shape the MoPac South project significantly and we will continue to encourage feedback through this stage of the process”.
“In our view, they are afraid to be on the record in a community meeting like this because they bailed at the 11th hour,” said Bunch.
According to CTRMA without the project, drivers could spend another 35 minutes driving along the corridor by 2035.
The Source: Information in this report comes from reporting and interviews by FOX 7 Austin’s transportation reporter Tan Radford.
