New stations, urban greenway detailed in Austin's Project Connect light rail impact draft

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- New station locations, an extended light rail bridge and an urban greenway on the eastside are some of the design recommendations incorporated into Project Connect's draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) released Friday.

The DEIS is a document required by the National Environmental Policy Act for major infrastructure projects that incorporate federal funding or federal involvement. It evaluates all the potential impacts due to both the construction and operations of the light rail, as well as ways to try and mitigate said impacts. Analysis areas include effects on biological and natural resources, neighborhoods, and socio-economic impacts as well as both cultural and historical ones.

On Friday, the Austin Transit Partnership submitted its DEIS for the first phase of light rail to the Federal Transit Administration. Its release comes after ATP announced last May the phase one light rail project had been accepted into the FTA's project development phase, paving the way for federal funding.

New light rail project features, DEIS details

Austin's first phase of light rail is a 9.8-mile route running from 38th Street to Oltorf Street and Yellow Jacket Lane, with 15 stations planned along the line. Priority extensions to both the Crestview neighborhood and the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport are being considered, but weren't evaluated as part of the DEIS.

"This is the first phase, and it is part of an expandable system, and we'll continue to build upon that," said Lindsay Wood, executive vice president of engineering and construction.

Recommendations within the DEIS include:

• New downtown station near Wooldridge Square
• Extended transit-only bridge across Lady Bird Lake with a bike and pedestrian component
• Elevated Waterfront Station
• Removal of Travis Heights Station due to potential impacts to Norwood Park, lower ridership data and grade challenges with neighboring hills
• Updated station locations on East Riverside, with a new site at the Grove as opposed to Faro
• Development of an urban greenway along East Riverside with a tree canopy corridor and bike and pedestrian access

"I just imagine that light rail on this new bridge is going to be one of the new, iconic images of Austin," said Jennifer Pyne, ATP's executive vice president for planning, community and federal programs.

That East Riverside corridor near Pleasant Valley Road is a key component of the system, given its proximity to a 107-acre plot of land purchased by the city last March for an affordable housing development.

"If you look along East Riverside, there's some modifications to the station locations there -- the main one being the Grove station, which is a little bit of an adjustment and is moved a little bit farther east," Pyne said. "Part of the logic there is a few things: One, to have slightly better access to ACC. Also, the city has purchased land right in that area, and they're looking to build a new affordable housing development, so it would provide access to these future developments that are contemplated."

ATP officials said the recommendations blended community feedback in late 2023 along with continual progression on design work.

When considering potential impacts, the DEIS noted less than 3% of land neighboring the light rail corridor would need to be acquired. The bulk of acquisitions centered around smaller parcels of land to aid with expanding sidewalks and streets.

Construction impacts include dust, noise and traffic detours. ATP and its contractors will work with stakeholders on sending out communications on those potential impacts, as well as develop a Business Assistance Program to aid businesses located along the project corridor.

The DEIS also incorporates behavioral research ATP did a little over a year ago on how people use and interact with public transportation. That analysis factored into design components in the DEIS and the system as a whole, she said.

"One of the major things that we learned there was about reliability and making sure that the train is going to come on time," said Lisa Storer, ATP's vice president of architecture, urban design and sustainability. "The fact that light rail will be a quick, predictable system -- so if you miss one train, the next one will be there within five to 10 minutes, gives users a big choice of transportation options when they're planning their routes."

Next steps, ways to weigh in

Additional community engagement events are planned to review the DEIS, with a public review and comment period running from Friday through March 11. Comments given will factor into the final EIS, which will be released in late 2025.

Public events are planned for the following dates and locations:

• Jan. 16, 4:30-7:30 p.m.: Lively Middle School at 201 E. Mary St.
• Jan. 22, 4:30-7:30 p.m.: Baker Center at 3908 Avenue B, Ste. 105
• Jan. 25, 2:30-5 p.m.: Montopolis Rec Center at 1200 Montopolis Drive
• Jan. 28, 1-4 p.m.: UT Quadrangle Room at 2308 Whitis Ave.

At these events, people will be able to analyze the entire alignment, block by block, in addition to potential impacts and mitigation tools, Storer added.

Construction on the light rail is projected to begin in 2027 before opening to the public come 2033.