Austin’s Project Connect Under Fire From State Attorney General

Austin’s Project Connect may never get built, in part thanks to a new legal challenge supported by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

As Lina Fisher reports in the Austin Chronicle, “In 2022, ATP had to halve their planned 20.2 miles of light rail, subway, and new rapid bus routes to a now 9.8-mile line, with no subway and no lines to the airport, all thanks to climbing costs from design changes and inflation.” Now, the lawsuit argues that voters did not approve the revised design, thus making the city unable to issue debt or spend property taxes on the project.

“The A.G. must approve any entity that wants to issue debt in the state, but ATP has asked for a bond validation election in Travis County district court that can override the A.G.’s disapproval and expedite the legal process, which could have otherwise taken two years.” A trial is set for the end of May, but there are multiple ways for the plaintiffs and Paxton to delay the process into the next legislative session, “which may prove the biggest threat to Project Connect.”