AUSTIN (KXAN) – The Capital Metro Board of Directors unanimously approved Friday Austin Transit Partnership’s pick for the first Project Connect rail line, making it one stop closer to being adopted.  

The recommendation for the initial light rail system, which runs from 38th Street down south to Oltorf St and southeast to Yellow Jacket Lane, already has the approvals of the ATP Board of Directory and the Austin City Council.

This was the last approval needed before the plan will be reviewed and formally adopted in a joint meeting between ATP, CapMetro and the City of Austin on June 6. 

“It’s been a long road,” District 7 Council Member Leslie Pool, who sits on the board, said. “This isn’t a valedictory because we were at the very beginning, but it is a moment,” Pool continued. 

Transit officials estimate the rail line will serve just under 30,000 riders daily and will provide access to over 136,000 jobs. The project is expected to cost up to $4.5 billion and will use both local and federal funds to pay for it.

You can see the plan here.