Wherever it’s routed, SH130 will likely remain unpopular with Austin residents who thought the point was to get rid of suburban sprawl, not to relocate it into the Eastside Blackland prairies.
The highway has always been incompatible with the vision of Austin as a “city within a park.” And now, right along Sprinkle Road, the highway and the park are on a collision course — and surprisingly, the park might very well win this game of chicken.
Last November, as part of Proposition 2’s many millions in bonds devoted to parks, Austin voters approved $15 million to acquire four roughly 1,000-acre tracts of undeveloped East Austin land to be set aside for future greenways and “destination parks,” as well as Traditional Neighborhood Districts (TNDs). While the actual parcels have not yet been selected, the city has identified target areas for these acquisitions, and two of them are located along Walnut Creek, on either side of US 290, and almost directly in the path of the SH130 preferred alternative (see map). Last month, the City Council went a step further in marking its turf by appropriating $50,000 toward carving a TND out of 250 acres of property bounded by Loyola Lane, East 51st, Springdale Road, and Johnny Morris Road. (City staff members are scouting for a lead developer on the mixed-use residential project, where affordability will be the operative word.)
After the destination park and greenway plan was folded into the bond ballot, but shortly before the election, the City Council received a letter from TxDOT saying that the two target areas near US 290 would stand directly in the path of one of their preferred routes for SH130. But TxDOT’s preference is not the city’s preference. Local authorities have always favored an SH130 route that would truly bypass Austin — running east of Lake Walter E. Long — and wouldn’t hinder the goals of what we now call Smart Growth by clogging up the Eastside with dumb sprawl. In fact, last year, on the community’s behest, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett tried to get an east-of-the-lake routing written into the federal highway legislation that will in large part fund SH130. Doggett’s amendment was stripped out by U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm.
TxDOT believes that a route west of the lake, along and across Walnut Creek, would be more efficient, bring people closer to downtown, and be more cost-effective for a toll road. They also feel that such a route would not only relieve traffic on I-35, but would also create a better thoroughfare from outlying communities such as Round Rock, Pflugerville, and Georgetown. But what works best for one purpose may not work best for another. According to TxDOT studies, over 200,000 cars cross Town Lake on I-35 per day, the highest traffic count at any point on the entire interstate, which stretches 1,500 miles from Laredo to Duluth and runs through six metro areas larger than Austin. But another TxDOT study conducted last year shows that the agency’s preferred SH130 route would only absorb 5% of the I-35 traffic on the south edge of downtown.
Kay Plavidal, chair of the Austin Sierra Club, said the group is asking the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) — the former Austin Transportation Study, responsible for planning and signing off on all local highway projects — to snuff SH130 because of the impact it will have on East Austin neighborhoods. She cited a study conducted on similar projects in California that found when a highway like SH130 is built, it generates 90% of its own traffic. The Sierra Club has launched a campaign, entitled “Sprawl Costs Us All,” asking lawmakers to forgo any new highways, which it feels will only invite more traffic and sprawl, and consider alternative transportation routes, such as light and commuter rail systems, instead.
“What we’re asking is that we don’t move forward until we’ve tried alternatives,” said Plavidal. “In general, the highway would impact East Austin with through traffic; not the kind of traffic you want, but commuter traffic. It won’t promote business; it’ll just send cars zooming through there.”
Al Dotson lives near Springdale Road and US183, near TxDOT’s preferred route. Dotson says residents in his community do not want a highway spilling into their streets. “Anything on the west side of the lake will expose us to undue traffic,” said Dotson, former president of the Springdale/Pecan Springs Neighborhood Association. “And if they’re talking a toll road, it’ll have accesses to and off this neighborhood and that’ll only mean higher traffic density.”
In addition to traffic concerns, opponents say the western route could also wipe out a section of rare Blackland prairie just southeast of Round Rock. Although a majority of East Austin is developed Blackland prairie, composed of abundantly fertile, black gumbo soil, there still remains a 30-acre plot of “remnant” prairie that remains undisturbed and contains the same ecosystems found hundreds of years ago. The Austin Parks and Recreation Department estimates that only one-tenth of 1% of the original Blackland prairie still remains in Texas.
The Upper Hand
As determined as TxDOT may be, the law ultimately may be on the city’s side, says Maggie Armstrong, former Austin planning commissioner. According to state law, she says, once land is bought by the city using bonds the public has approved for one purpose, it takes another public vote to use the land for something else. So if the city pulls the trigger first and purchases the land in question, the city could effectively drive SH130 eastward. If TxDOT happens to act first, the situation could get legal.
“I feel the citizens should know that is an option,” said Armstrong, who currently works with the Austin Neighborhoods Council. “Because I would hope that with great public demand for the city to take bold action, they would do it. That money is already there, so stand by your resolution. And why not use part of $45 million to stop this?”
The state isn’t expected to make a decision until December, after public feedback and debate is solicited, and after CAMPO finalizes the latest revision to its long-range Austin transportation plan. Will Cross, spokesperson for the Texas Turnpike Authority, a division of TxDOT now presiding over SH130, said that if parkland is designated where the preferred route would run, the state would be forced to work around it. But if TxDOT gets there first, “then we’d have to mitigate.”
Bruce Byron, executive director of the Capital Area Transportation Coalition (CATC), an interest group composed of area corporations who advise the state on transportation issues, said his group favors the western route because it’s closer to I-35, quicker to build, and would be more cost-effective as a toll. In response to the Sierra Club’s request, he said western route backers would like to see light and commuter rail in the long term, but they just don’t make sense at the moment.
“We need to look at the real options,” said Byron. “A lot of people look for alternate systems to replace major highways, which just isn’t realistic right now. People just prefer to get in their cars and drive. And the best kind of road is one that goes through a scenic area.”
|
SH130 could conflict with the city’s proposed greenways, destination parks, and traditional neighborhood districts if TxDOT marches ahead with its preferred route west of Lake Walter E. Long. The city and county want the route |
Staff writer Mike Clark-Madison contributed to this story.
This article appears in June 11 • 1999 and June 11 • 1999 (Cover).