Mopac upgrades may help hike and bikers

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Progress continues in the planning for the $250 million Mopac Improvement Project, which now appears to factor in pedestrians and bicyclists.

"We have a road that splits neighborhoods right now. We want to make sure there is good bicycle and pedestrian connectivity between those neighborhoods," says Steve Pustelnyk with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority .

The CTRMA and Texas Department of Transportation held an open house Thursday night at Gullet Elementary School at 6310 Treadwell Boulevard so the community could take a look at the new possible additions.

"It sounds like we're kind of early in the game, but getting to the point where decisions need to start happening," said nearby resident Ken McHenry. "I love the aesthetic stuff going through the corridor. It enhances any project. And so anytime they can put sound walls or aesthetics, I'm for it."

The project is about halfway through the environmental study, which should wrap up near the end of 2012. That's when the two transportation agencies will decide on what the final look of Mopac will be.

The idea is to possibly add an additional North and Southbound lane along Mopac from Parmer Lane to Lady Bird Lake. The new lanes would either be an HOV lane or an express/tolled lane.

Sound walls would also run on both sides of Mopac from Parmer Lane to Lady Bird Lake. The walls would match the aesthetics for the new road signs.

And the most recent addition to the plan would add pedestrian and bicycle lanes along 45th Street, Westover and Enfield Roads running under Mopac. New landscaping would also be added.

"One element we're looking heavily at, is how we're going to improve bicycle and pedestrian movement, both north and south along the corridor as well as crossing the corridor downtown between the various neighborhoods," Pustelnyk said.

TxDOT and the CTRMA are still looking at how to fund the quarter of a billion dollar project, which could break ground in the next two years.