Manor Expressway OK, Feds Say

The Federal Highway Administration has rejected a claim by several Austin nonprofits that the planned Manor Expressway would impose financial and environmental hardships on East Austin's low-income and minority communities in violation of the Civil Rights Act. The complainants – including Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Save Our Springs Alliance, and the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environ­ment – presented an alternate plan that would have, among other measures, reduced toll rates based on federal poverty program eligibility, created buffers between the tollway and nearby populations, banned heavy vehicles from feeder streets, and added dedicated bus lanes, but the recommendations went nowhere. "This important decision by the Federal Highway Admin-istration directly dispels the myth that toll road projects like the Manor Expressway are in any way unfair," said Mike Heiligenstein, executive director of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. "This decision makes clear that the Manor Expressway will benefit the entire community, improving mobility and quality of life for everyone." D'Ann Johnson of TRLA disagreed. "What the FHA did was say there's a 'separate but equal' theory for toll roads," said Johnson. "As long as there's a feeder road for poor people to get on, they can build any toll road they want to as long as they say the reason was to improve mobility. It is frustrating that they didn't look at the three pages of alternatives we gave them."