CapMetro considering transit plans that would remove cars from The Drag
AUSTIN, Texas - Sam Computers has sat on The Drag for 20 years and counting, and business has overall, been great for the owner Muhammad Imran.
"It's crazy, it's up and down always but I’m used to it," he said.
A few days ago, he got a visit from the Austin Transportation Partnership, inviting him to an upcoming meeting about Project Connect and what it could mean for his business. "They have a couple suggestions, one of them was like no public cars," said Imran.
Imran is referring to one of the options for the Orange Line to be placed on the Drag. The Orange would run 20 miles north and south. The coalition overseeing the project, Austin Transit Partnership, said they have a couple of options.
One would be one lane for cars going in each direction and a rail line in the middle, or a another option that would take cars off the road.
"Then one is what we call the transit mall where it'll be pedestrian, dedicated bike lanes, street trees. There are pros and cons of both," said Peter Mullan, chief of architecture and urban design for Austin Transit Partnership.
"We would have a wider space for sidewalks, bike lanes, street trees. It's a more generous human environment. It's more different from what's there now because we wouldn’t have general purpose traffic lanes," said Mullan.
Imran sees a problem with that. "As a business owner, if there are no public cars, there is no business. They should think about having the public cars and the rail, altogether, then it's going to work," said Imran.
Mullan believes it actually could benefit small businesses on The Drag. "We think that's a potential huge enhancement to businesses, to really make The Drag a destination," he said.
ATP has reached out to all businesses along the Orange Line and more meetings will happen, so the public can be aware of big changes that could happen within the next five years.
"I know this is not going to be an easy sell for a lot of people because we are used to riding in our cars everywhere we want," said Mullan.
But Mullan said the city of Austin is growing, and if ATP can present an attractive transit system/plan, more people may jump on board with the plans.
For information on upcoming meetings, visit here.
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