CapMetro transit tunnel will bring rebuild of 4th Street
AUSTIN, Texas - A portion of an old railroad along 4th Street in downtown Austin may become a key part of a transit tunnel for light rail trains.
On Tuesday, planners with CapMetro held an online community meeting to discuss how building the underground system may change things above ground.
"This is where we are starting, this is not the design, right. Just to be clear. We are starting that process and so this is why we want to get your feedback, how can we make this even better," said Peter Mullan, the Chief of Architecture and Design at Austin Transit Partnership.
The concept involves creating what’s called a green spine, which is a pedestrian friendly Texas-sized "T" with the main section on 4th that crosses over a landscaped Congress Ave from the Capitol. Under the Austin skyline will be the massive transit tunnel with an entrance at Guadalupe, turns at 4th, then heads south under and out of the Rainey St District.
The plan is to put several access points to the tunnel on 4th between Republic Square and Brush Square near I-35.
"Project Connect is just going to be transformative for our community and really enable people to get around so much more efficiently without cars so much healthier for our environment," said Council member Kathie Tovo (District 9).
Rebuilding 4th Street is a big part of making the downtown vision for Project Connect happen, with the focus being on people and not vehicles.
"So what we are proposing as a starting point is using what the great streets program called the pedestrian-dominant street type," said Jana McCann with McCann – Adams Studio.
Designs from Charlottesville, Denver, Santa Monica, and Philly were shown as examples of what could be modified for Austin. The plan right now is to provide only one lane for vehicles, parking spots, with a smaller lane for bicycle traffic, both bordered by two pedestrian zones.
"So this actually would be pushing it out into very high visible zone where we have those station entrances all along the North edge of 4th St," said McCann.
Jim Adams noted the function of the 32’ wide north side pedestrian areas would still allow vehicles to move through. "We could create or maintain a very generous promenade access down to the subway concourse, and maintaining a 22' roadway in that configuration," said Adams.
It was emphasized several times the plan is not set in stone, including how the underground transit tunnel will be built. It was revealed that drilling out the limestone rock may not be possible along 4th, which means it may be necessary to do a cut out and cover process.
Comments collected now will be used to help draft an environmental impact statement and cost estimates. That process is set to begin next spring. Building the entire light rail is still expected to take about 9 years.
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Project Connect receives $900K grant for anti-displacement efforts
Prop A passes, allowing CapMetro to move forward with Project Connect
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