_______________Austin Rail Now

By Lyndon Henry, Editor

In my December 18^th ARN article, “Downtown Light Rail Plan Needs More Stations”, I explained the need to include additional downtown stations in Project Connect’s revised surface-routed light rail transit (LRT) plan, and specifically recommended adding stations on the Guadalupe St. alignment at Republic Square (W. 4^th St.) and W. 10^th St. (Wooldridge Square). As I noted, these proposals were developed via my discussions in the previous spring and summer of 2023 with ATP staff and technical advisory committee members; they were eventually presented in a June memo.

As it turns out, the Downtown Austin Alliance (DAA, a consortium of downtown businesses, real estate interests, developers, and related interests) had also perceived the need for at least one additional station – at Wooldridge Square, just as I have also recommended – and included a proposal for such within a memo dated 10 May 2023 to Austin Transit Partnership (ATP) Executive Director Greg Canally. (This is contained in ATP’s Austin Light Rail: Community Engagement Report, a document released publicly in May 2023.)

The Wooldridge Square Station proposal is shown in a graphic map appendix, labeled “Wooldridge Station Connectivity”, illustrating the additional coverage that the station would provide within a ¼-mile radius, and sites of key interest made more accessible by such a station (this is the head map-graphic at top of this post).

As I had pointed out in my own June 2023 memo, Project Connect’s revised plan for downtown was proposing “exceptionally long spacing between stations for a major dense central area, and I believe it is inconsistent with Best Practices ….” DAA’s memo seems to provide some corroboration for this assessment, while emphasizing the enhanced accessibility provided by a Wooldridge Square station:

As currently proposed, the distance between the Congress and 15th Street stations is approximately one mile. We recommend adding an additional station in the vicinity of Wooldridge Square and Sweatt Travis County Courthouse. This would lessen the distance between the Congress and 15th Street stations to less than half a mile and would provide much needed access to courthouses (federal and state), Austin Community College, Pease School redevelopment, Austin History Center, the Paramount and the Old Bakery. It would also facilitate east-west transfers to frequent bus routes at 7th/8th Streets, providing potential congestion relief at Republic Square.

For sure, DAA’s proposal to add a Wooldridge Station represents an important and crucial improvement for the planned downtown LRT alignment. So far, Project Connect and Austin Transit Partnership have presented this as a possible design “option”. Hopefully this will be accepted as a definite element of the plan.

But a Republic Square station is also essential for adequate connectivity and accessibility in Austin’s downtown. The case for this will be presented in a subsequent analysis to be posted shortly. ■