New light rail lines, dedicated busways, and expanded bus and commuter rail service are on the Project Connect menu.
Samuel King reports on a big reveal for Project Connect, the new transit plan in early stages of development by Capital Metro in Austin. So far, the plan includes the construction of two light rail lines, and a downtown tunnel to keep them out of traffic.
The two train lines would run in dedicated transitways, so they wouldn’t mix with traffic. The Orange Line would run from the North Lamar Transit Center through the UT campus corridor and downtown, ending at Stassney Lane. The Blue Line would run along East Riverside out to the airport, sharing the Orange Line tracks between the North Lamar Transit Center and downtown. The process is called interlining.
King adds more:
Another dedicated transitway would be built for the Gold Line, which would run from the ACC Highland campus to the Austin Convention Center and Republic Square. Unlike the other lines, it would use buses, but that could change later.
The plan also calls for expanded bus and commuter rail service, according to King.
A follow up article, also written by King, digs into more details on the plan's expected costs to implement. Planetizen shared preview coverage of this week's big reveal in January 2020 and November 2019. Capital Metro will be conducting public hearings on Project Connect throughout April, before an anticipated vote by the Capital Metro board in May.
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