The aesthetics of potential improvements to MoPac were the point of an open house at Gullet Elementary School in north Austin Thursday night.
The event was hosted by the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA), who is working with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration on future improvements to MoPac.
“We've been meeting with leaders of the community to get their input that have helped guide the general look and feel that we've come up with. Now we want to know what the average person out there thinks who has an interest in the corridor,” said Steve Pustelynk with CTRMA.
Local and federal authorities began looking at MoPac improvements in the summer of 2010, and they’re looking at four options. Make no improvements to MoPac, add an extra lane, add an HOV lane or add an express/toll lane.
One of the many facets of proposed improvements include a possible pedestrian and bicycle path from Parmer Lane to Lady Bird Lake.
“We have a very narrow corridor, so there's some areas where it may not be physically possible a contiguous bicycle or pedestrian facility, but in those areas where we think improvements can be made, absolutely,” added Pustelynk.
A couple of dozen Austin cyclists met on the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge Thursday night to ride to the MoPac improvements open house to show support for the proposed pedestrian/bicycle path.
“Overall in Austin, as in most of the U.S., there are about half the people who would like to bike to work sometime, so we're trying to meet that unmet demand,” said Tom Wald, Executive Director of the League of Bicycling Voters.
The entire proposed MoPac Improvements Project could cost $250 million if local and federal authorities approve; a decision expected to be made in late 2012.
