Austin Light Rail is underway, and Austin Transit Partnership (ATP) is bringing additional opportunities to learn about ATP’s progress as the organization continues to implement the Austin Light Rail plan.
Austin Transit Partnership, the local government corporation charged with implementing Austin’s first light rail system, will host a series of public meetings to update the community on the Austin Light Rail design progress.
The nearly 10-mile, expandable, all-electric system will offer Austinites an all-new transit experience with trains running reliably every 5-10 minutes to connect people to major job centers, education hubs and iconic destinations. Designed to make it easier to get around the city, Austin Light Rail will be integrated with bike lanes, bus routes, urban trails, sidewalks, and park-and-rides to create a wide range of new ways to navigate Austin. The line will allow riders to travel through the heart of Austin and avoid traffic delays — significantly reducing travel times to key destinations.
The public is invited to attend the public meetings to learn more about the project’s progress, speak with ATP staff and review updated project analysis. The four public meetings this month are:
- Thursday, Jan. 16 at Lively Middle School from 4:30-7:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Jan. 22 at the Baker Center from 4:30-7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Montopolis Recreation Center from 2:30-5:30 p.m.
- Tuesday, Jan. 28 at the University of Texas at Austin in the Texas Union Building Quadrangle Room from 1-4 p.m.
As part of the project update, ATP will share its recommendations for key design options. These design recommendations include:
- Creating an urban greenway along East Riverside to provide continuous, shaded pedestrian and bike paths in an historically underserved area.
- Elevating the Waterfront Station and extending the light rail bridge to improve the ability of the train and cars to move around the East Riverside area and enhance system reliability at a critical rail junction point.
- Refining East Riverside station locations by moving the Faro station closer to Grove Boulevard to better serve the ACC Riverside campus and residents of the City’s 107-acre planned affordable housing project nearby.
- Adding a new downtown station at Wooldridge Square to improve access throughout downtown and reduce the distance between stations.
“ATP has made significant design progress on Austin Light Rail, which will transform how we move around our city as well as bring thousands of jobs to Texas,” said ATP Executive Director Greg Canally. “Our goal in these meetings is to highlight where we are with our work as we move closer to construction. We’re excited to offer another opportunity for the community to ask questions and provide input that will continue to inform our work.”
ATP has also taken important steps related to identifying a Delivery Partner – a milestone in building out the team that is bringing light rail to Austin. Last month, ATP selected AECOM Technical Services, Inc. as its Delivery Partner, augmenting ATP’s staff of experts and providing a wide range of professional services during final design, construction and launch of service. This month, ATP will initiate procurement of final design and construction contracts valued at more than $4 billion, as a key part of moving to construction.
The public meetings also serve to highlight the progress in ATP’s federal funding process. The most recent action is the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) today, Jan 10, that meets the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA guides the public planning process for projects involving federal funds. The DEIS presents an extensive study of the project and provides ATP with an opportunity to highlight the design work in-depth, which continues to evolve. Today’s release of the DEIS marks the beginning of a 60-day comment period, which is 15 days longer than NEPA requires. The public comment period ends March 11. All substantive comments received during the comment period will be responded to in the Final EIS, which will be released in late 2025.
For more about the upcoming public meetings and federal progress, visit www.atptx.org/milestones/austin-light-rail-progress-update.