Transportation Update: Ramps to Nowhere

Transportation Update: Ramps to Nowhere

Written by Christi Covington Friday, 26 September 2008

Several ramp bases at the intersections of Ben White Boulevard and IH 35 and Hwy. 290 and MoPac shoot toward empty space.

Ramps to nowhere

Several ramp bases at the intersections of Ben White Boulevard and IH 35 and Hwy. 290 and MoPac shoot toward empty space. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, that probably will not change any time soon.

During construction, TxDOT used available state funding to develop the roadway system based on traffic flow. The bases of the ramps were built at the same time with the future in mind, although limited funds prevented their completion.

Now, the Capital Area Metro Planning Organization is responsible for deciding which projects get money for capacity expansion. With toll roads high on the priority list and limited transportation dollars, the ramps are not scheduled to receive any funding in the foreseeable future. Each ramp would cost an estimated $40 million to $50 million to complete.

CAMPO to determine region’s priority transportation projects, asks for community involvement

In the next few months, Central Texans can give input for what major transportation projects they want built in their communities.

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is developing its next Transportation Improvement Program, a short-range budgeting document that will prioritize construction on everything from roads to rails to be built in 2010 through 2013. CAMPO is a federally mandated, transportation planning entity that determines where federal dollars are spent.

“We want people to watch over our shoulder and ask questions,” CAMPO Executive Director Joe Cantalupo said. “We do this on their behalf. I would rather have people say what they don’t want than not have them show up.”

Starting in late September, CAMPO will host workshops to explain how residents can get transportation projects included or adjusted in the future plans.

Proposals for projects will be due Oct. 31, so by December and January, CAMPO can host public workshops where the TIP draft will be presented. When going through project requests, Cantalupo said the staff will look at fiscal restraints and if they are in compliance with the current long-term plan.

Then by February, the TIP will go to CAMPO’s Transportation Policy Board for adoption because it must be adopted by May by the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT compiles similar documents from all the metropolitan planning organizations in Texas and creates the State Transportation Improvement Plan. That plan goes to the Federal Highway Administration for approval, so federal funding can be determined by the beginning of the 2010 fiscal year, which starts in October 2009.

Every five years CAMPO also updates its long-term plan, and the next one is due in June 2010. A formal kickoff of the planning process will take place in January. Cantalupo describes the long-term plan as the “philosophy of transportation” for the region. For the first time, CAMPO will also take future land use into consideration. Cantalupo said that it is not because the organization is interested in getting involved with project development, but it does want to make sure the needed infrastructure will be available.

For more information, visit www.campotexas.org.

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