Stories by Tyler Whitson
Council debates city's state legislative policies
With the 84th session of the Texas Legislature set to end June 1, the city’s Government Relations Office has kicked its lobbying efforts into overdrive. At the same time, City Council has opened a discussion about how the city determines…
City Council • By Tyler Whitson • May 13, 2015
City's 2014 heritage tree results a mixed bag
Austin’s heritage tree ordinance is effectively protecting the city’s healthy historical trees, though last year saw the loss of a considerable number of them due to poor health and related issues. That sums up what Keith Mars, environmental coordinator for…
Environment • By Tyler Whitson • May 13, 2015
CAMPO adopts 2040 Regional Transportation Plan
Austin’s history of doubling its population every 25 years or so presents a huge challenge to regional elected officials trying to predict the area’s future transportation needs. Despite this issue, the Transportation Policy Board of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning…
Roads • By Tyler Whitson • May 12, 2015
Council tentatively extends large energy contracts
Austin Energy is stuck between a rock and a hard place, with the rock being the Texas Legislature and the hard place being the utility’s exhausted reserve funds. City Council is now working to wriggle the municipal energy provider out…
Energy • By Tyler Whitson • May 11, 2015
Council formally weighs in on MoPac South plan
After weeks of mounting tension over what many call a “double-decking” of MoPac Expressway over Lady Bird Lake, City Council has formally asked the regional transportation planning body to modify a proposal to add four express lanes to a section…
Roads • By Tyler Whitson • May 8, 2015
Council may revise Mueller Commission eligibility
Though residents of any Austin neighborhood can currently join the commission that guides City Council on the Mueller development, a proposed ordinance would limit membership to those who live in that community and 24 surrounding neighborhoods. Council members debated the…
Development • By Tyler Whitson • May 7, 2015
Subscribe to our newsletter
Council debates MoPac express lane resolution
Amid mounting opposition to a proposal to add four tolled express lanes to a section of South MoPac Expressway, City Council is considering a resolution that would ask the region’s planning organization to cut the project from its 2040 Regional…
Roads • By Tyler Whitson • May 6, 2015
Barbecue smoke ordinance continues to sizzle
Though City Council turned down the heat on a controversial barbecue smoke mitigation ordinance last month, it did refer the issue to committees for vetting. The Council Health and Human Services Committee took the issue off the back burner Monday,…
Austin • By Tyler Whitson • May 5, 2015
Redbud, Barton Springs bridge fixes move ahead
As Public Works Department Director Howard Lazarus said at Wednesday’s City Council Mobility Committee meeting in regard to improving the Barton Springs Road and Redbud Trail bridges, “If you never get started, you’ll never get finished.” Those projects, it appears,…
Transportation • By Tyler Whitson • May 1, 2015
Council committee wants co-op taxicab proposal
While City Council mulls over ways to renew the city’s contracts with its three existing taxicab franchises, the drivers who contract with those companies appear to be inching closer to their dream of a fourth, a worker-owned cooperative. The Council Mobility…
Transportation • By Tyler Whitson • Apr 30, 2015
Austin representative takes on transportation
As the only member of the Texas House Transportation Committee hailing from Austin, freshman Democratic Rep. Celia Israel has vowed to bring the region’s gridlock woes to the Capitol. She recently told the Austin Monitor about a few of the…
Texas State Legislature • By Tyler Whitson • Apr 27, 2015
Why Texas isn’t paying for what it wants from Austin’s classrooms
Travis County and the City of Austin take part in a regular fiscal dance with the State of Texas over who pays the costs of government. Over the next three days, KUT News and the Austin Monitor will look at…
