Public Notice: Life Goes On

CAMPO, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, is moving ahead with its $42 billion long-range Austin transportation plan, the CAMPO 2045 Regional Transportation Plan, with a heavy focus on improving throughout on I-35 – but they put off deciding on Monday what parts of the plan they intend to delete in order to fund the I-35 improvements.

Critics of the draft plan say it lacks any traffic modeling and puts too many “new, expensive roads located in the Edwards Aquifer recharge and contributing zones,” to quote one part of a press statement from the SOS Alliance. And other area environmentalists were concerned about Monday’s action, with the board set to commit $633 million in funding for the I-35 Capital Express Central project, a $4.3 billion plan to add managed lanes on I-35 through Downtown Austin, from U.S. 290 to Highway 71, by cutting that amount from elsewhere in the plan – cuts that were expected to heavily impact trails, transit, and smart traffic solutions. On Monday, the CAMPO board voted to commit the $633 million but put off until June 8 a decision on what to cut to pay for it. In the end, the resolution passed 19-1-1, with City Council Member Jimmy Flannigan opposed and County Commissioner Brigid Shea abstaining.

The Texas Transportation Commission is set to vote on the Express Central project on April 30, and the CAMPO board is currently set to vote on the 2045 plan on May 4.

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The consultant firm hired by the Austin Independent School District to lead the search for a new Superintendent, JG Consulting of San Antonio, is expected to present a preliminary plan of action to the AISD board on Monday, April 27, despite the acknowledged difficulties in doing that work under the current conditions. But then, public process has notoriously never been a strong point for the district – the most notable recent failure being last year’s school closure debacle, which included a scathing report on the process from the administration’s own equity officer and which left the current lame-duck board of trustees deeply divided and deeply unpopular.

One might think that’s reason to wait until there’s a new board after November. But then, one might also think that the district would’ve hired another consultant by now – the one who would have been doing the proposed district equity audit, which you would think might provide very useful insight into a superintendent search. One would be wrong. “Forget it Jake. It’s Chinatown.”