Plans For $435M MoPac South Expansion Resume After Delays

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) has resumed work on Mopac South to add one or two toll lanes in each direction from Cesar Chavez Street to Slaughter Lane after pausing the project for several years.

A lawsuit against CTRMA accounted for the delay as did a state prohibition in 2017 on certain road projects that attempted to combine funding from propositions 1 and 7 with toll features. That moratorium has been lifted to allow authority staff to focus on the design and environmental study phases of the project that is expected to cost between $435 million and $540 million.

Staff members plan to work on the project timeline, design, and cost projections with Texas Department of Transportation officials and other partners. A fifth public hearing is scheduled for early 2020.

Previous public hearings presented concept options that included elevated “downtown access” flyovers at the Lady Bird Lake Crossing. The current environmental study identified the “Express Lanes Alternative” as the recommended build option to add toll lanes between existing northbound and southbound lanes.

Construction could begin in 2023 on the roadway that transports up to 130,000 vehicles per day. According to CTRMA’s website, if no improvements are made to address congestion, a trip along the corridor could take up to an additional 35 minutes.

Source: Strategic Partnerships, Inc.