AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Austin transportation leadership is working with the federal government to identify possible financing options to connect the city's future light rail system to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), Mayor Kirk Watson said during KXAN News' mayoral debate Thursday.
A KXAN viewer-submitted question asked candidates how they planned to deliver and move the Project Connect program forward amid legal challenges and past financial hardships. Last June, Austin City Council, CapMetro and the Austin Transit Partnership (ATP) adopted the first phase of its light rail plan, a scaled-down, 9.8-mile route running from 38th Street to Oltorf Street before heading out to Yellow Jacket Lane and stopping just shy of the airport.
The question of when the light rail will reach the airport is one that has been continuously asked of project leadership since. Project Connect officials marked it as a "priority extension" for Phase 1, saying it would be considered as an add-on if additional funds become available.
Likewise, airport leaders have previously said they have the right of way saved and ready for use, whenever the light rail system expands to AUS. On Thursday, Watson said AUS, ATP and the federal government have been in talks about advancing that portion of work forward.
"I've worked very closely with the federal government to talk about the fact that we have two major transportation projects that ought to mesh together, and that is the airport and Project Connect and the rail line," he said. "And I've even convened the federal government and our professionals here in Austin to talk about financing mechanisms to be able to connect us to the airport."
When asked by KXAN moderators what's come of those meetings, he said the Build America Bureau -- a subset of the U.S. Department of Transportation that focuses on financial and technical assistance for investments in transportation infrastructure -- have convened with airport and Project Connect officials to discuss those financing options.
Watson shared similar comments at his State of the City address earlier this week, where he tasked ATP with being poised and ready for that extension, should those funds become available.
Bill McCamley, executive director of the Austin-based transportation organization Transit Forward, highlighted his support for the endeavor in a letter shared with ATP and AUS leaders Tuesday.
We wish to thank you for the real progress being made on your respective projects, the expansion of [AUS] and implementation of the light rail piece of Project Connect. That these two, huge infrastructure improvements are being completed at the same time speaks volumes to the need for connection in our growing area. Additionally, thank you for all of your recent efforts to find a financial solution to assure Austin that a light rail line to the airport can be completed in the first phase of Project Connect. This is why we write today.
Bill McCamley, executive director, Transit Forward
Earlier this year, Project Connect officials said they're eyeing a 2027 construction start date for the first phase of light rail, with trains expected to be running in Austin come 2033. The project officially entered the Federal Transit Administration's project development phase in May, paving the way for future federal funding allocations.
