Access the Domain

Access the Domain

Written by Tiffany Young Monday, 07 January 2008

Access to The Domain can be difficult from MoPac because of the Union Pacific rail line that crosses under MoPac. The access road going north u-turns right before The Domain.

“In our North Burnet/Gateway Plan we looked at a number of ways to improve access around the area,” said Molly Scarbrough, senior planner with the urban design division of the Neighborhood Planning and Zoning. “It seems like it would be easy, but when you actually get engineers looking at it, it’s not as easy as you would think.”

One solution proposed was building a bridge over the rail, but because of the federally mandated height requirement above rail cars, the bridge would be going up at the same point as MoPac. Even if it were possible, said Scarbrough, it would be very expensive for very little benefit.

The city is also working with the Texas Department of Transportation to see if it could do a more intensive study of the on- and off-ramps for Braker and Duval that would make access easier, but TxDOT has not yet committed to the study.

However, the City of Austin is hoping that less people will use their cars to visit The Domain, and even allowed less parking space than normal in the development, because of future public transportation in the area.

A commuter rail station is proposed at Braker Lane on the south side of The Domain, and a MetroRail station is planned a few blocks east of The Domain. Both would open up another transportation option to The Domain, making it ideal for a transit-oriented development. Transit-oriented development is land near transit stations intended for mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented environment where people can live, work, shop and be entertained within easy access to transit facilities.

“What they’re [Simon property Group and Endeavor Real Estate Group] doing really allows them to create this walkable environment where, if you live there, you can also shop there and work there, and it has the potential of reducing your footprints,” Katie Jensen of Austin Energy said.