What's the latest on Project Connect's light rail design work?

Design work continues as Project Connect leaders hone in on finite details for the first phase of light rail in Austin.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Design work continues as Project Connect leaders hone in on finite details for the first phase of light rail in Austin.

The Austin Transit Partnership hosted a virtual open house Thursday evening to walk through some of the design considerations underway as project heads complete a comprehensive review of the light rail system's first phase. Among those discussions include the number of stations and station locations to be solidified, as well as how other forms of transit interact along the light rail corridor.

Phase 1 of Austin's light rail system includes a 9.8-mile transit line branching from 38th Street in Austin down to Oltorf Street in south Austin and Yellow Jacket Lane in southeast Austin. Under current plans, the light rail system will be embedded into the center of the street.

Fifteen station locations are expected in the north, south and southeast portions of the corridor.

Here's a segment breakdown of different portions of the first phase and what considerations are being factored into final decisions.

North section

The northern portion of Phase 1 runs from 38th Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Peter Mullan, ATP's executive vice president of architecture and urban design, said Project Connect leaders are looking for ways to provide end-of-line services at 38th Street, such as a possible Park and Ride.

Three stations are earmarked right now in the northern corridor, starting at 38th Street, Mullan said. He added officials are looking at the possibility of not having passenger vehicles on Guadalupe Street between 22nd and 29th Streets in order to accommodate the light rail, pedestrians and cyclists.

Closer to UT, officials anticipate two stations: one near 29th Street and a second closer to the West Mall. With this area being a high pedestrian volume zone, Mullan said that activity will be factored into decisions on station locations and how the light rail interacts with other transit modes.

Downtown section

The downtown portion of light rail will run from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Lady Bird Lake, with new traffic patterns anticipated along the corridor for vehicular and multimodal traffic. There will be three or four stations in this segment and dedicated bikeway relocations to neighboring streets.

Possible station sites include 15th Street, Congress Avenue and Third Street as well as Cesar Chavez Street. Project leaders are considering a potential fourth location near Wooldridge Square for an extra stop and connection between 15th Street and Congress Avenue.

Under consideration are two possibilities for the Cesar Chavez station's exact site. One option officials floated is constructing it along Trinity Street, while a second possibility looked at incorporating it into a joint development underway between Second and Third Streets as well as San Jacinto Boulevard and Trinity Street.

Officials stressed the importance of the Cesar Chavez station's proximity to both the Austin Convention Center and CapMetro's downtown Red Line station. A more informed and concrete decision on the number of stations and their locations is expected in the fall.

South section

The southern portion runs from Lady Bird Lake to Oltorf Street and Interstate 35, with between three and four stations expected. Officials are looking into the possibility of a Park and Ride or similar accommodation near the Oltorf Street end-of-line stop, and are also considering foregoing the Travis Heights station stop due to some geographic constraints and unique surrounding elements.

Project Connect leaders have planned a new bridge to run over Lady Bird Lake carrying the light rail line, with two possibilities for connecting with the Waterfront area:

• Landing the bridge just south of Lady Bird Lake and bringing it to ground level before reaching the Waterfront station
• Extending the new bridge over Lady Bird Lake to connect into the surrounding hills to the south of the water, with an elevated station and light rail junction situated on the bridge

Southeast section

The southeastern portion runs from I-35 to Yellow Jacket Lane, with four or five stations expected along this stretch. Similar to other portions of Phase 1, officials are looking into end-of-line services like Park and Rides to accommodate transit users.

One possible station tweak under consideration is combining the Montopolis and Faro stations to instead build a single station at Grove. Officials said this consideration came via public feedback, with some community members calling for a more seamless connection to Austin Community College's Riverside campus and a planned affordable housing development in the works at Grove and Riverside.

When figuring out the street-level alignment, project heads are weighing two options:

• Evaluating center-running light rail with outside bike and pedestrian facilities
• Analyzing bike and pedestrian facilities located next to center-running light rail, combined with outside shared-use paths

The southeastern portion is also expected to include the light rail's operations and maintenance facility. This site is where trains and related light rail vehicles would be stored and maintained, as well as would house control and dispatch activities.

Project leaders are reviewing one remaining operations and maintenance site under consideration, located near U.S. Hwy. 183 and State Hwy. 71.

Next steps for Austin light rail

Any projects receiving federal funding or that involve the federal government must complete a comprehensive analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Project Connect officials are crafting a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) document that analyzes the environmental, human and cultural impacts both the proposed project or a "no action alternative" would pose.

That draft document is expected to be released in the fall, allowing community members and key stakeholders to review and give feedback on that document. A final EIS report is expected in 2025.

ATP is collecting public feedback on the virtual open house through March 4. Two more in-person open-house events are planned for February:

• Feb. 27: 4:30-7:30 p.m. at Twin Oaks Library
• Feb. 29: 7:30-9 a.m. at St. David's Episcopal Church

More details on those events are available online.