Transportation: moving right along

Transportation: moving right along

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Written by Tiffany Young and Candace Birkelbach Friday, 26 September 2008

 

How often do you plan to use Capital MetroRail service when it becomes available?







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Moving throughout Northwest Austin could become easier in the next year with passenger rail lines opening and bus services expanding.

 

“In terms of service, Capital Metro is trying to get as much service in Northwest Austin as possible,” said Misty Whited, Capital Metro communications specialist. “That’s the area where we are seeing an increase in ridership, especially in the Tech Ridge, Lakeline and Leander routes. We’re trying to get more buses out there and make them more comfortable with our express routes.”

Proposed stations for area commuter railroads

Rail stations

Capital MetroRail service is scheduled to open the passenger rail on the Austin to Leander line this fall. At its October retreat, the Capital Metro Board will determine whether completed stations will open this fall or if service will be delayed until all stations are ready in early 2009. Nine stops are planned, including two in North Austin: one in the North Burnet/Gateway area near Kramer Lane and another at MoPac and Howard Lane. The Howard Lane station will not be open at least until March. The delay came after a station was planned at McNeil Road, but, according to Capital Metro, the neighborhood fought the station, making Capital Metro scramble for a new location. A park and ride service will also be constructed at the Howard station.

The Kramer station will be located just south of the intersection of the Capital Metro rail line and Kramer Lane, just east of Burnet Road. Capital Metro has begun upgrading those tracks and plans to begin platform construction soon. The station will have two platforms, one with expected completion in December, the other in February 2009. Capital Metro plans to adjust bus routes and schedules to connect the Kramer station to surrounding neighborhoods, major employers and activity centers.

The Kramer Station is also a future stop for Capital MetroRapid service. MetroRapid is a new service offering enhanced passenger amenities, including real-time bus arrival information at all MetroRapid stops, 10-minute frequency during peak hours and 15 minutes during off-peak service, with bus travel times reduced up to 20 percent.Route 101 map

Whited said the opening of the rail line will be a great addition to Capital Metro’s service area as a whole. Weekend routes for the rail station are a possibility for the future, but Capital Metro will assess the demand and services necessary after the rail opening. Most rail stations will have access to existing bus routes, but the MLK and downtown stations will also have direct connector routes to take riders to high employment areas near those stations.

Capital Metro bus service

Route 101 now has all-day service from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. between the North Lamar Transit Center, 8001 US 183, and the South Congress Transit Center, 301 W. Ben White Blvd. During morning and afternoon peak hours, service will be extended from William Cannon at Bluff Springs to the Tech Ridge Park & Ride. Frequency ranges from 15 to 20 minutes weekdays. The 101 no longer offers service along Rundberg and Rutland lanes between Mearns Meadow and North Lamar boulevards, but will be serviced by Route 1M.

The Capital Metro Board of Directors approved a plan to implement a new fare structure beginning Oct. 13.

The new fares will increase from 50 cents to 75 cents; most other fares will also increase. The 75 cent fares will be adjusted to $1 in fall 2010. Visit www.capmetro.org/fares.asp for more information on the new fare structure.

Road updates

In addition to increased Capital Metro services to Northwest Austin, the Texas Department of Transportation is constructing roads for better mobility.

One such project is Parmer Lane/MoPac, contracted in 2007 to the Dan Williams Company for $23.4 million. According to TxDOT engineering specialist Lloyd Chance, phase one is almost complete but still needs a final pavement on some portions of the frontage roads. Work on phase two has begun, with high mast lighting installed, but phases three and four are not yet underway. Estimated completion for this project is early 2009.

Capital MetroRail stationsCapital Metro is preparing for rail from Leander to Austin to run late this year or early 2009, depending on a decision from the Capital Metro Board in October. Meanwhile, the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Commuter Rail District, or ASA, is working with communities along the IH 35 corridor to create what may be the longest stretch of commuter rail in the south, a 112-mile line from San Antonio to Georgetown. Ultimately, the railway may branch out farther, connecting to established lines across the country, but interim service in Central Texas could begin as early as 2012.

Capital MetroRail stations


Howard Station — According to Capital Metro, site work has begun on Howard Station, at Howard Lane and MoPac, in preparation for the track relocation to straighten a section of track where the station platform will be located. This station will include a Park & Ride with 200 spaces and a glass canopy. Expected completion for the station is March 2009.

Kramer Station — This station will have a platform on both sides of the track. The contractor has begun preparing the site for the west platform construction, expected to be completed by December, and the east platform, to be completed by February 2009. A mixed-use development project will be built adjacent to the station. It will be accessible by sidewalks, a kiss-and-ride drop-off and local bus routes.

Parmer Lane

Phase 1A
  • Completed:
    • High mast lighting has been installed
    • Much of the bridge work and retaining work on eastbound Parmer and westbound Parmer and the collector/ distributor bridge between the southbound lanes of MoPac above Waters Park Road and Park Bend Drive
    • Construction of the southbound collector/distributor bridge, which will help reconfigure the ramps on southbound MoPac
    • Widen MoPac southbound main lanes south of the existing Duval exit ramp
  • Near completion:
    • Widen MoPac southbound frontage road to the outside (Still needs final pavement)
    • Widen MoPac northbound frontage road of MoPac between rampsParmer Lane
    • Widen the northbound exit to Parmer Lane
    • Widen the outside of Parmer Lane in both directions, west of MoPac/ (Still needs final pavement)
Phase 1B
  • Complete the southbound collector/distributor bridge (Still needs minor concrete work to be completed)
Phase 2
  • Completed:
    • Install high mast lighting
    • Work in the median (between main lanes) of MoPac
  • Ongoing:
    • Widen the MoPac northbound frontage road south of Parmer Lane to the outside
    • Work on the inside of MoPac southbound frontage road north of Waters Park
    • Install high mast lighting
    • Widen the inside of Parmer Lane in both directions west of MoPac
    • Begin Parmer Lane intersection reconfiguration
Phase 3
  • Complete the Parmer Lane bridge widening
Phase 4
  • Install barriers in the median of MoPac
  • Finish the Parmer Lane intersection reconfiguration
  • Place final overlay and striping
feed2 Comments
AngryCitizen
September 26, 2008
Votes: +2

It's retarded that the areas north of Anderson Lane and south of Ben White are serviced only during weekday business hours. What about people who want to be able to get into the downtown/university/6th Street area in the evenings and weekends for entertainment or shopping?

As it stands now, I have no use for the train. I would use it a lot if it had all day service to those outlying areas where I live.

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Glen Hunt
October 13, 2008
Votes: +1

I greatly enjoy and appreciate your newspaper. In the September issue, there was an article about Capital MetroRail and on page 13 you say "the delay came after a station was planned for McNeill Road, but, according to Capital Metro, the neighborhood fought the station, making Capital Metro scramble for a new location." In the summer of 2006, many of us who live adjacent to Mopac and Howard Lane were invited to a Capital Metro briefing at the Pickle Research Center on plans for a Howard Lane MetroRail station. At that meeting, we were shown detailed plans for a station to be located at Howard Lane and McNeill/Merrilton Road. We heard nothing more for almost two years and then accidently heard that the station location had been moved to the intersection of MOPAC and Scofield Ridge. Neighbors organized a meeting attended my Capital Metro officials as well as several elected officials. At that meeting detailed plans for the new station were unveiled which would have placed the station on a very narrow strip of land between Mopac frontage and the rail line. Plans were for 100 parking spaces with 80 of the accessible only from McNeill-Merriton a two lane almost country road. This access was only a few feet off of Mopac on McNeill-Merrillton and would have required motorists to drive south on MOPAC frontage, turn right on McNeill-Merrillton and then immediately negotiate a left hand turn into the parking area across traffic headed east on McNeill Merrillton to turn right onto the Mopac frontage road. It was evident to everyone at the meeting, except maybe the Capital Metro representatives, that this was an untenable proposal. Within five days after this one meeting Capital Metro pursued other locations.

So, to make a long story short, the delay resulted from Capital Metro changing the location of the Howard Lane station but keeping it secret for many months until it was accidently discovered by a neighbor. These delays could have been avoided if Capital Metro had chosen a more transparent approach which involved neighbors as they did two years ago in the planning stage, rather than changing the location and keeping it secret for a long period of tiem and then coming forward with a plan which was fatally inadequate.

I just wanted to make the point that attributing the delay to "the neighborhood fighting the station" is totally incomplete. There was no fighting of the station but rather a justified reaction to poor planning and secrecy which the elected officials on Capital Metro's board saw and responded to by directing the staff to rethink their plan.

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