TxDOT and deadly criticism of I-35 expansion plan

[ad_1]

At Friday’s special city council mobility committee meeting, residents raised concerns to a quorum of city council members over a controversial TxDOT plan to significantly expand the portion of the Interstate 35 which runs through Austin. The complaints come as a wave of activists across the state calls on the transportation department to be more transparent, engage with local residents and consider options with respect to the expansion plan .

While TxDOT argues the expansion would improve Austin’s growing traffic problem and improve safety, critics criticize the plan as unnecessary and unsightly. Critics say TxDOT’s traffic projections are gross overestimates to justify adding additional lanes and point to discrepancies between TxDOT’s past traffic flow forecasts and the traffic data available today.

Then there is the issue of “induced demand,” referring to the tendency of people to drive more as the number of lanes increases, resulting in larger, noisier highways that are no less congested.

Despite TxDOT’s stated commitment to listening to the public, many community members involved in the process feel the ministry is taking them around the world. They claim that their contribution has no real weight, because at the end of the day, they will have to choose between three less than ideal options.

Diann Hodges, spokesperson for TxDOT, encouraged interested parties to come today to an open house hosted by TxDOT, where members of the project team will answer questions from the audience. It is an opportunity for the public to examine the criteria used to evaluate these three alternatives, she explained.

When the Austin Monitor asked if TxDOT would consider a fourth option not to widen the lanes, if that’s what the public wants, Hodges suggested that option was not considered.

There is nothing we can do and be responsible stewards of the freeways in Texas, Hodges said. We have a lot of people using it. This is how they get to work, how they get home, how goods and services get to people. How the food gets to your table is probably by a truck that uses I-35, so it would be irresponsible of us not to make the necessary improvements to I-35.

Hodges added that the TxDOT plan would increase east-west connectivity to Austin, one of the common requests from community advocates. Removed much of the blocked views by removing these bridges; it’s going to drastically change the way you can see across the freeway, she told The Monitor.

A public interlocutor, Heyden Black Walker, executive director of core group Reconnect Austin, said that TxDOT offers the illusion of multiple alternatives when in fact the three choices are essentially only slight variations on the same theme, which involve all “a 20-lane highway. Walker also pointed out that TxDOT only allows a 30-day public comment period, despite the mobility committees’ prior request for a 60-day comment period.

Each of the three alternatives described by Hodges involves lowering the main lanes of I-35 through downtown Austin, removing the upper bridges, and adding two HOV-only lanes on either side of the freeway.

I would really encourage us somehow to figure out how we can put in place a process that builds this from the ground up which is not just your 20 lane highway. How do you want to decorate it? But instead, what does the community really want? Walker said.

Another speaker, Nancy Crozer, detailed her experience of attending many meetings and witnessing TxDOT’s continued failure to deliver on its commitments.

I walked around, saw plans go into effect. They said “Yes, we will” in the meetings, and no, they didn’t. We had to fight with them, as citizens, to gain better access. Crozer cited TxDOT’s broken promise not to take land via a prominent domain. I have no animosity towards TxDOT. It’s just that what I see happening and what I know is happening are two different things.

The work of Austin Monitors is made possible through donations from the community. While our reports cover donors from time to time, we make sure to separate commercial and editorial efforts while maintaining transparency. A full list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.

Go back to today’s headlines

Read the latest whispers ›

[ad_2]