This past year was a dynamic one in Austin, and though the future promises to be just as interesting, at the close of 2014 we invite you to take a trip back over the past 12 months. Though a lot went on in the city and this list is far from comprehensive, from our ever-particular […]
Urban Rail 2014
An effort undertaken to secure funding for the first leg of what would more-or-less be a light rail system for the City of Austin. It marked the third such major attempt in a decade.
Posted inElections, Local Politics, Transportation
Northwest candidates talk transportation, affordability
Urban planning, pod transportation and green energy peppered Tuesday’s debate among City Council candidates vying to represent District 6 in Northwest Austin. All six candidates attended the forum, hosted by the Austin Monitor KUT News, KXAN and Univision at the Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline, off U.S. 183. Jimmy Flannigan, 36, owns Site Street, an online marketing […]
Posted inDevelopment, Elections, Environment, Local Politics, Transportation
East Austin candidates pack stage at North Door
Candidates went head-to-head in the race to represent East Austin voters in District 3 at the latest in a series of community forums hosted by the Austin Monitor and KUT News. All of the district’s 12 candidates attended Monday’s question and answer session at the North Door on Brushy Street to talk about affordability and […]
Posted inElections, Local Politics, Transportation
District 2 candidates battle to champion Southeast
Three candidates vying to represent Southeast Austin agree — the district has long been ignored and needs a voice on City Council. District 2 covers much of Southeast Austin, including the Dove Springs and Onion Creek neighborhoods and the area surrounding Austin Bergstrom International Airport. The district is unique in that more than 60 percent […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Transportation
Council OKs rail ballot tweak; foes protest
Austin City Council members Thursday approved what they called a clarifying language change to what is now a November mobility bond ballot question. As they did so, they continued to hear vocal opposition from a handful of opponents to the item, which is set as a $600 million bond question and a “covenant” to construct […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics, Transportation
Council OKs $1 billion transportation bond measure
The Austin City Council unanimously approved a $600 million bond proposition Thursday on the Nov. 4 ballot to help fund a rail initiative, while promising to put an additional $400 million into roadway improvements through other means, probably certificates of obligation or similar financial instruments. Through its bond language, the city is also attempting to promise […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Transportation
Neighborhood group considers opposition to city transportation bonds
Some members of the politically powerful Austin Neighborhoods Council are threatening to withhold support for Austin’s $1 billion Strategic Mobility Plan unless it is significantly changed. Those behind the plan want the U.S. Department of Transportation to freeze federal matching funds for major Central Texas transportation projects if they do not get their way. At […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin Monitor Radio, Show 6
The Monitor’s Mike Kanin, Council Member Bill Spelman, AURA Co-Founder and Austin Urban Transportation Commissioner Jace Deloney, and CapMetro’s Javier Arguello talk Urban Rail. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/158002848″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inTransportation
Under fire, Council approves $1 billion Strategic Mobility Plan
Austin City Council members unanimously approved what city staff is calling the Strategic Mobility Plan Thursday. The plan, which contains roughly $1 billion in various transportation projects, includes $600 million for a potential urban rail line. The approval of the plan marks a direct step toward what is shaping up to be a massive […]
Posted inTransportation
Council to vote on mobility plan that includes road projects
A recommendation from City Manager Marc Ott means that City Council members will vote Thursday on what Mayor Lee Leffingwell calls “a strategic mobility plan” that ultimately could lead to a $1 billion November transportation bond election. The numbers, hinted at for some time, include $400 million in road projects and $600 million for […]
Posted inTransportation
Central Corridor Group endorses Project Connect plan for urban rail
Urban rail in Austin rolled closer to reality Friday. By a 13-1 vote, the Central Corridor Advisory Group put its stamp of approval on Project Connect’s Locally Preferred Alternative, or LPA, for Austin’s future transportation project. The Locally Preferred Alternative describes an urban rail line that would run through the East Riverside corridor, cross […]
Posted inTransportation
Transportation staff puts $400 million in road projects on the table
Austin Transportation Department Director Robert Spillar Tuesday presented Austin City Council members with a menu of options for road improvement projects that might grace a potential November 2014 city transportation bond. The full price of all the projects – much of it for Interstate 35 – mentioned by Spillar amounts to more than $400 million […]