by VERONICA GORDON
Could regional rail line become a reality from San Antonio to Georgetown? That’s what local officials would like to see.
The future of commuter rail was one of the items on the agenda at last week’s joint meeting of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and the San Antonio/Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization in San Marcos.
According to the MPOs, the purpose of the Lone Star rail project (LSTAR) is to improve mobility for an expanding population of commuters throughout the corridor that includes cities, counties and transportation agencies in the five-county corridor region.
During the presentation of the Lone Star Rail District initiatives, SA-BC MPO board of directors chairman Sid Covington announced the “potential showstopper” of the recent partnership with Union Pacific Railroad. Covington said railroad representatives recently sent a letter of support to the organization.
“They’re very much on board with what we’re trying to do,” Covington said. “It’s one of those situations that benefits them and it benefits us. Everybody wins from it. It’s the kind of partnership we really like to see. They have been very actively working and lending resources to this project.”
Covington said some preliminary planning and environmental work has started on the passenger rail project. The freight bypass line is another part of the project that will have different requirements.
“There’s lots of moving parts with this project and it takes a lot of coordination,” Covington said. “These partnerships and relationships are really important to us. We’re one of the few entities that has jurisdiction in all the counties, so we’re trying to partner with all the entities up and down the counties. Without the other entities we couldn’t get anywhere.”
Covington explained that the project adds capacity to the regional transportation system without the disruption and expense of highway expansion.
“Increasing rail capacity is as simple as adding another rail car or providing more frequent service,” Covington said. “At peak hours LSTAR service can carry the equivalent of two additional lanes on IH-35.”
Covington said the district is securing funding and soliciting interest from private sector partners. But the first step is local funding, thus cities are being asked to contribute funds for the operations and management of the project. Cities in the Austin region, San Antonio region and other corridor partners outside of those two regions are being asked to share in the $30 million annual cost.
MPO members and local leaders in attendance were asked to champion the benefits of the proposed rail line in their local communities and to their lawmakers.
“The legislature is going to meet in a couple of months and they’ll be saying yes and no to a whole bunch of stuff that you think is important and, if your region is not weighing in, then they may send you something you didn’t want built instead of something you want,” said Tommy Adkisson, SABC MPO transportation policy board chairman. “So, I think it behooves us to be diligent and not turn our back on a very important body such as the Texas Legislature.”
“Rail is way overdue; there’s no excuse (for not funding it),” Adkisson added. “Are we going to sit here and watch this corridor lock up or are we going to knock some heads if we have to in Austin and say ‘we better get this thing done and we mean business?’ I implore everybody to bear down on the Legislature. It’s time to do something. We need to tell the legislators to quit their lollygagging.”
Hays County Pct. 3 Commissioner Will Conley, who is also the chair of CAMPO, expressed his concern about the future of the project.
“LSTAR is very important to our collective interests,” Conley said. “We are all being asked to carry the burden locally and we share that common thread. It’s something we all have in common. I think there’s potential and if we can speak with one voice we may have some movement in the right direction in trying to persuade our Legislature to make a greater investment on the issues that we’re dealing with on a day-to-day basis.”
The MPOs plan to meet together at least once a year to share information on regional transportation projects that impact the IH-35 corridor.
The LSTAR details include:
• 120 miles from Georgetown to south San Antonio
• Up to 16 stations serving communities and destinations all along the corridor.
• Primarily routed on Union Pacific rail right-of-way.
• Up to 12 trains a day, seven days a week, in each direction, including midday and evening service
• 90 minutes from downtown Austin to downtown San Antonio, via San Marcos and New Braunfels.
