July 3, 2009 - The Austin Chronicle

NEWSManor Expressway:Oh, the VehicleMiles You’ll Travel!The Manor Expressway, now projectedto cost more than $623 million, received a$31.6 million loan from the StateInfrastructure Bank last week. The loan tothe Central Texas Regional MobilityAuthority is a stop-gap measure; the6.1-mile toll road will be funded primarilythrough the sale of toll revenue bonds, butthey have yet to be sold. The loan will allowconstruction to start on an initial 1.4-milesegment between U.S. 183 and SpringdaleRoad. The project also includes nontolledfrontage roads and a bicycle and pedestriantrail. To ease traffic congestion, the firstsegment plus a new 183 flyover interchange(to start later this year) are scheduledto open by 2013; the two projectsalone cost $245 million. Ultimately theManor Expressway toll road will intersectwith the SH 130 toll road, linking the eversprawlingmetro area toCentral Austin.Meanwhile, the proposedGreen Line commuterrail transit for thesame Elgin-Manor-Austincorridor isn’t moving forward– a political casualty,at least for now, ofCapital Met ro’s failureto open the Red Linefrom Downtown Austinto Leander. Adding theGreen Line was citedlast year by the TransitWorking Group (now inactive)of the Capital AreaMetropolitan PlanningOrganization as an effectivelong-term strategy toreduce the region’s vehiclemiles traveled (VMT) –and thereby reduce Central Texans’ cost ofliving, air pollution, and greenhouse-gasemissions. The Central Texas RegionalMobility Authority, which also operates the183A toll road in Williamson County, saysthat by moving cars more quickly, the ManorExpressway also will cut vehicle emissionsand fuel consumption.Travis County Commissioner SarahEckhardt disagrees. Via e-mail, she said:“Making mostly single-occupant car commutesfrom farther away more convenient =higher per-capita VMT. Although it could havebeen mitigated, the current plan for the290E toll road will act like MiracleGro on percapitaVMT – no dedicated bus lane, no HOV[high-occupancy vehicle] incentive, no contributionto Manor/Elgin rail which exists withinthe same corridor, no plan for park-and-ride,no near-term plan for congestion pricing.While CAMPO paid lip service to such mitigatingpolicies with regard to toll roads (theunanimously adopted “toll road covenants”),CAMPO flaked at the first opportunity in failingto require VMT-reducing elements on the290E toll project.” – Katherine GregorOtt Tackles Austin’s Racial DivideAt a June 26 PeopleTalk luncheon, CityMan ager Marc Ott addressed a range oftopics – the city budget, affordable housing,small businesses and job creation, Austin’sgrowth and the comprehensive plan – andcompanionably tag-teamed with City CouncilMember Randi Shade in fielding questionsfrom the audience. But in closing, Ott issueda strong challenge to Austinites to publiclyaddress the racial divide in Austin. “In my 27years in this business, and in all the placesI’ve been, I’ve never seen as hard a demographicline,” he said, referring to the racialbarrier embodied by I-35. “Why is East Austinsequestered?” As Austin’s first African-American city manager, he said when he hasraised the issue, “people’s expressionschanged. They found polite ways to changethe subject.”The biannual PeopleTalk SpeakerSeries is presented by PeopleFund, a nonprofitdedicated to improving economicDistrict Court Judge Darlene Byrne (r) greets Lamont Fisherand his daughter, Tiana, at a June 24 open house for two newTravis County offices – one representing children and the otherrepresenting parents. The new departments, which representfamilies involved in Child Protective Services court cases,draw initial funding from a three-year grant from the CourtImprovement Program of the Texas Supreme Court. Leslie Hillheads the child representation office, while Stephanie SmithLedesma leads the office representing parents.opportunity, particularly on the Eastside.“Are we what we say we are, given ourheightened level of sophisticated sensibilities?”Ott asked, gently provoking the progressiveseating pizza at the AlamoDrafthouse South Lamar. “We don’t want totalk about it.”The city manager then asserted withsome heat: “Well, I intend to talk about it!And I intend to do something about it.”After describing “you need not apply” racialdiscrimination that he personally encounteredearly in his career, he said that now,as Austin’s city manager, he believes he’sfinally in the right place, at the right time,to speak out. “I’m not going to be silentabout it. And to the extent that I can redirectresources to do something about it, Iwill.” Gesturing toward Shade, he added,“The only way I’m going to stop is if theseven of them stop me!” He receivedenthusiastic applause.– K.G.JOHN ANDERSONis the Chronicle’s two-month-long digital battle of local Austin bands competing for notoriety, exposure,and a chance to play the 19th annual Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival in August.Thebattle...ISON!READYBATTLECONGRATULATIONS,SARAH SHARPWinner of theChronicle’s SOUNDWARS June BattleSarah will take on the winner ofthe July battle beginning Monday,July 27.Find out more about Sarah Sharpat www.myspace.com/sarahsharp.austinchronicle.com/soundwarsa u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m JULY 3, 2009 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 19