CATC Mobility Headlines

Senator-elect Kirk Watson, shortly to take a seat on the CAMPO Boards (and expected to be elected Chair) sent an e-mail to CAMPO Board members Wednesday recommending the board delay a decision on the area’s second wave of toll roads for at least six months. The toll road vote - which was expected to fund improvements The plans for Phase 2 include tolling the “Y” in Oak Hill at Highway 71 and 290, SH-45 south, Highway 71 from Interstate 35 to the airport, Highway 183 in East Austin and part of 290 towards Manor - was planned for February.

Watson recently served as Chair of the Greater Austin Chamber, which is issuing a report calling for significant changes to CAMPO’s structure. The Chamber report recommends reducing the board from 23 to 18 members, including slashing the number of state legislators from ten to three.

New CAMPO member wants to hold off on toll plans - News 8 Austin

Watson seeks delay on toll road vote - Austin American-Statesman

Backed by a report by Cambridge Systematics, which performed the original Peer Review study in 2001, the Chamber recommends CAMPO’s Board cut its members from 23 to 18. This reduction would come from the elimination of seven state legislators from the CAMPO Transportation Policy Board and increasing elected officials from local governments. The suggested change would make the CAMPO Board’s composition more in line with the rest of the state’s MPOs.

Other recommendations:

- Establish an attendance policy requiring a new representative to be named if a Board members misses more than half of the meetings and proxies should be a similarly-functioning representatives, not staff members.

- Hold regular public meetings at regional locations to get citizen input

- Strengthen Technical Committee

The Task Force report is available at CAMPO GOVERNANCE TASK FORCE.

Austin Business Journal article

A 14-mile segment of State Highway 130, running from 79 in Round Rock to the north end of Georgetown, opened today eight months ahead of schedule and under budget. This section connects to the already open section from 79 to US 290.

New section of toll road opens - KVUE