Residents get first look at portion of Project Connect Orange Line
Written by RT&S Staff
The design phase of the Orange Line is now 15% complete.
A virtual discussion was held to unveil how a portion of the Orange Line of Project Connect in Austin, Texas, would look like.
The Orange Line will run north and south for 20 miles and will travel along Lamar Boulevard and Congress Avenue from the Tech Ridge Park & Ride at Howard Lane to Slaughter Lane. The April 12 workshop focused on the southern edge of the line between the William Cannon Station and the Slaughter Transit Center.
Most of the area will have dedicated bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the road. Areas with trees and furniture will be located between the bike lanes and sidewalks. There will be two travel lanes in each direction on both sides of the light-rail line.
A light-rail station will be built north of Ralph Ablanedo Drive and it will service both northbound and southbound trains. A CapMetro Park & Ride is planned near Hubach Lane. A signalized intersection and shared-use paths will be built along Ralph Ablanedo.
There will be two light-rail platforms, one serving northbound trains and one serving southbound trains, on either side of the intersection of William Cannon and Congress. Planners said this design decision would minimize right-of-way impacts.
There also will be a station at Stassney Lane and Congress.
The designs of the Orange and Blue lines are 15% complete and are in the early stages of the Federal Transit Authority project development, which include environmental reviews and preliminary engineering plans. The environmental impact statement for the Orange Line is expected to be drafted by this summer, when designs are expected to be 30% complete.
Earlier in the week it was reported that the cost of Project Connect had increased 77% from original estimates. Representatives from Project Connect at the virtual meeting assured the audience that residents would not have to pay anything more to cover the inflated cost.
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