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Originally Posted by freerover
I honestly don't see Austin ever getting a light rail system. The last one didn't fail because it wasn't on Guad Lamar. It failed because it was in the city core so everyone outside the core voted against it. You're only going to pass light rail if it goes outside the core and I can't see Austin passing what would be up to 5 billion dollars. The last rail was relatively short and would have cost 1.5 billion after the federal government matched it. It doesn't help that the corridors people want have very little ROW unless the city is willing to turn 4 lane streets into 2 or build an elevated rail system which is even more expensive.
I think Austin's best chance is to find what the next generation of mass transit is going to be while improving the corridors for cars and buses. I really think Austin would be best served in building the Green Line and finally build transit to complement growth instead of waiting until it's too late. It's just also hard to pass up hard rail that already has its own ROW.
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We'd actually have a near perfect commuter trail system if we 1. could acquire every rail line within the city, 2. double tracked all of it, and 3. did a few key additions to the system in the central city:
#1. extend the red line all the way down 4th until the state parking garage adjacent to the courthouse. Use that block to move onto 3rd street with a station in the middle of a plaza setting. Then continue down 3rd and tie into the existing rail line. This will serve as the E-W spine of downtown.
#2. open the green line, which will have better access to downtown's core because of #1.
#3a. open a blue line (the remnants of LoneStar Rail), but in sole operation. Eminent domain is a thing, so use it. The blue line, as well, will have much better access to downtown's core because of the extension in #1.
#3b. utilize both segments of rail in the north when they diverge in Round Rock: one to the Diamond (a major source of potential riders) and one to Georgetown. Both spurs are important draws for commuters.
#4. utilize the abandoned MoKan railroad as yellow line. I'm aware that there are contrary plans for the ROW, but this would be the smartest use of the space, especially since the corridor fronts the TX-State Round Rock and associated master planned areas for dense development.
#5. make use of the rail spur through St. Elmo and the abandoned railroad tracks and ROW to further foster redevelopment in this area as well as a MUCH easier connection to the airport.
#6. THIS is the piece that, if built or not, would make or break the entire system:
We desperately need UT, the Capitol Complex, Mueller, and Riverside to be tied into the commuter system, as well as needing a north/south spine for downtown. In that vein, create a spur from the red line at 35 and Airport following Airport until Manor, at which time the line would turn toward downtown charting a course down Red River, building a new bridge to the Statesman site at the end of Red River right by MACC would be easy to accomplish is you pitched it to MACC as including a grand new plaza and front seat access to the greatest source of visitors: a rail line. From the Statesman site, turn down Riverside and go down that corridor until the airport.
#7. The only future addition that would make any kind of sense are a western downtown spine splitting off from the red line at N. Lamar and following the 2000 plan exactly by heading down Guadalupe to follow Riverside and then down South Congress in stages but eventually to Slaughter (or further in the median of 35). I'd also build the small bit of rail to allow the South Congress line to cross over the Statesman bridge or the Riverside/Airport corridor to cross over the Guadalupe bridge.
#8. And maybe, after that, an E-W connection thru the Capitol Complex or on MLK (ideally) or 15th between the two N-S spines, so that we could create a downtown circulator of some sort and add more versatility to the system overall.
#9. I'd also maybe throw West Austin a bone by adding a short spur to the former LoneStar down Lake Austin Blvd.
In total, this is probably 8 BIL of work.
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I'm sure of it. But I'm going with the other option: The gridlock will continue for 10 more years because there is now no expansion plan and no proposed funding for the no plan.
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