A consultant hired by the city is recommending a 14-mile light rail or "ultra-light rail" system for Central Austin, not streetcars as proposed earlier by Capital Metro, according to Austin City Council Member Brewster McCracken. The system would run from the airport to downtown, through the University of Texas and then east to the emerging Mueller development.The route is essentially the same one that McCracken and Austin Mayor Will Wynn have been talking about over the past six months or so. The proposal comes as a "transit task force" formed by Wynn and state Sen. Kirk Watson moves into the final stages of creating a "decision tree" to analyze rail proposals.
That group would almost surely analyze this proposal. But it is not clear if such an examination could occur quickly enough for the light rail proposal -- assuming it passes muster with the Wynn-Watson group and then the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization -- to be put before voters in November. Wynn has said he would like to have a rail election this year.
McCracken, at least, believes that the proposal can quickly make it through that gauntlet to a public vote in November.
"Yes, I think that's likely," he said.
The recommendation, to be released this evening at a community forum, will not include a specific cost estimate, McCracken said. However, McCracken said that the cost would be somewhere in the broad range between $5 million a mile and $30 million a mile, depending mostly on how many underground utility lines would have to be relocated for such a project. That would put it between $70 million and $420 million.
Those figures, he said, likely do not include the cost of the cars.
The diesel-powered cars Capital Metro has purchased for its "red line" commuter service from Leander to downtown, set to open in a few months, cost about $6 million apiece and the agency bought six of them to start with. But light rail cars typically cost less than that.
According to McCracken, the recommendation from the ROMA Design Group will propose putting double tracks (allowing travel in both directions simultaneously) from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and then heading west on Riverside Drive. The route would turn north at Congress Avenue (although there could be a spur to the parking-poor Long Center, McCracken said), cross the Ann Richards Bridge and then go through downtown either on Congress or San Jacinto Street.
Then it would pass through UT, turning east at Dean Keeton Street and going along Manor Road to the Mueller development.
A major criticism of the light rail plan that voters rejected in 2000 was that it would take street lanes away from car traffic. Not so, in this case, McCracken said, although the tracks would be in "dedicated lanes" segregated from cars. The space for the tracks, McCracken said, would come from available right of way on Riverside east of Interstate 35. Then, downtown, the tracks would run on pavement currently occupied by parked cars, he said.
The tracks, McCracken said, might take two lanes from the bridge over Lady Bird Lake, he said, although alternatively it could use the bridge space now taken up by sidewalks. In that case, a sidewalk alternative bridge, such as was added to the South First Street bridge, would continue pedestrian and bicycle access across the lake on Congress.
Light rail, as opposed to the commuter rail opening late this year or early next year, is generally powered by electricity and has a system or overhead wires that connect to devices on the top of the cars called "catenaries." Light rail cars run faster than streetcars, but at speeds comparable to the car traffic around them.
Although having dedicated lanes would spare the light rail cars from delay associated with car traffic, they would still have to stop for red lights on city streets.
Capital Metro officials have said they have no money left in the kitty to pay for more rail. So where would the money come from to build this?
McCracken said that ROMA will outline a funding scenario that includes taking about a quarter of Capital Metro's 1 percent sales tax (although the agency has indicated it needs it all for current bus and rail expenses), contributions from the city and other local government, from property taxes likely to be generated by new development along the line and potentially from airport bonds.
"We think it is possible to build this with no new taxes," McCracken said.