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This is disappointing - much like most Austin transportation news.  The proposed Lone Star commuter rail line running between the Austin and San Antonio metros appears to be dead.  Union Pacific who owns the tracks has backed out of the negotiations.  No tracks = no commuter rail line.  With an ongoing (and apparently accelerating) population increase of 1,200 people a week all things transportation related are going downhill in Austin.   

Austin American Statesman Article

 

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There is finally some relief in sight for the I-35 congestion tragedy through Austin.  The first two of many piecemeal projects that are part of a $4.3 billion expansion got underway in June.  The projects as planned are expected to take nine years, and that is if they stay on schedule and all of the funding is allocated on time.  TxDot gets a significant chunk of their money from the State's oil revenue which has been greatly reduced with the collapse of oil prices.  

Ultimately the plan calls for a tolled express/bus lane in each direction through Travis Country as well as an additional "free" lane in each direction through Downtown.  These first two projects involve the demolition and rebuilding/expanding capacity of overpasses to make room for more lanes on I-35.  The frontage roads and entrances and exits will be improved as well.

Demolition of the first overpass south of Downtown was completed this week, and the groundbreaking for another project that includes the demolition and rebuilding of two more South Austin overpasses was held a couple days ago.  Here's the link to an article about it:  Statesman Article 

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ABIA has been under going constant expansion for years.  One of the latest projects is for the addition of nine gates.  Austin's airport will probably never be a hub with DFW and Houston relatively close by.  But it's one of the nation's busiest non-hub airports.  The link under the rendering has info about recent and future projects.

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There is an unused Cold War era terminal at ABIA that is left over from when ABIA was Bergstrom Air Force Base.  It's referred to as the "South Terminal" and is separate from the main terminal that is under going expansion as highlighted in my previous post.

This is the South Terminal in its current sad condition.  It was briefly used by a Mexican airline last decade.

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KXAN Article with Video

 

It is now going to be renovated into a "Mid-Century" style terminal.  Since this is separate from the main terminal, it will be like a small airport inside a large airport as well as a step back in time.  Allegiant and Frontier airlines are planning on using the new terminal. 

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ABIA Information Release

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Since people in Austin constantly complain (and rightfully so) about the horrible traffic congestion but continue to vote down rail projects, a local State Rep. has filed a bill that would allow Capitol Metro to expand the commuter rail system without voter approval.

Austin Monitor Article

Here's a photo from the article showing our starter train set that's been operating for several years:  

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Hopefully we can move beyond this:  

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A small convoy of new train cars for the 32 mile Metrorail Red Line arrived in Austin yesterday.  The voters have made it clear that they don't want to expand local rail service.  So Cap Metro is adding more cars to the one rail line in place.  Trains will now run every 15 minutes.

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I-35 runs north/south on the east side of downtown, and the MoPac expressway runs north/south to the west of downtown.  MoPac is worse than I-35 IMO during rush hour.  Outside of rush hour, I-35 is the most congested.  MoPac has been undergoing an expansion for a couple years, and the both the exit to downtown and the entrance from downtown, will be via tunnels.  Here are some shots of the tunnel construction:  

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Austin American-Statesman

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Capitol Metro's new trains will finally come on line in January.  This will double the capacity and allow for stops every 15 minutes at each station during the day along the 32 mile Red Line.  Station upgrades and some double tracking (i.e. passing lanes) are part of the project.  This is commuter rail, not light rail.  So passenger services is a day time operation (except for special events downtown like SXSW) because freight trains run on the tracks at night.

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Community Impact Article

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There is a Delta announcement at a presser at the airport this week.  There has been a lot of talk over the past few months about Delta wanting a Texas hub and wants it to be in Austin.  Delta eliminated their only Texas  hub (DFW) in 2004 and moved most of that hub activity to Salt Lake City and Cincinnati I believe.

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Big airport announcements this week.  It appears Frontier has made Austin a focus city and Via Air has made Austin a hub.  Wikipedia says so anyway. :)  Delta's "big" announcement was that they are building a Skylounge at their Austin terminal.  Delta Skylounges are mainly at their focus cities and hubs.  After ABIA's current expansion which includes nine gates - that were mostly if not all taken by Delta - wraps up in early 2019, ABIA will under go another major expansion that may include a huge terminal expansion and an additional runway.  There is a lot of speculation that Delta will announce Austin as a hub during that next phase of expansion.   

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The city is preparing for another attempt at light rail.  This plan is in its very early stages and is rather extensive with an $8 billion price tag.  Good luck with getting the voters to go along with this.  Word of this leaked out of a city meeting via Twitter which  is the reason for the fuzzy photo.

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The most likely rail expansion to happen sooner rather than later IMO will be the commuter rail Green Line.  The tracks already exist and it would split from the current Red Line at the Pleasant Valley station and head to the NE suburbs.  It would not be as expensive as a new light rail system, so it's more likely to pass a vote.

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In addition to the possible new commuter rail to the suburb of Manor called the Green Line, the American-Statesman has an article that says the city is the early stages of planning three new light rail lines: 

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...a blue line from downtown Austin to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport along East Riverside Drive, a brown line on South Congress Avenue from downtown to Slaughter Lane and an orange line on Lavaca and Guadalupe streets and North Lamar Boulevard to far North Austin.

  

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