ADDITIONAL ITEMS RAISED BY RESIDENTS FOR BOARD CONSIDERATION
POSSIBLE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF MOKAN RAILWAY EASEMENT THROUGH VIZCAYA - The Board is advising residents who want to express their concerns about this potential future project, that has recently become active again and is being evaluated for feasibility, to reach out to the Texas Department of Transportation, City and County representatives as tax-paying and voting residents of the City of Round Rock and Williamson County.
Below, for your information, are extracts from a recent letter from Akila Thiamizharasan, the Director, Advance Project Development, Austin District for the Texas Department of Transportation, in response to enquiries about the project:
Throughout the past few months, TxDOT has been evaluating the feasibility of using the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MoKan) corridor to develop a connected and automated vehicle (CAV) pilot corridor. This pilot corridor could facilitate the use of CAV technologies to design the next generation of roadway infrastructure to ensure we continue to provide safety, mobility, connectivity and sustainability benefits for our communities.
The MoKan corridor is an abandoned railway that extends approximately 28 miles from Georgetown to east Austin. This north-south corridor is located between and runs parallel to I-35 and SH 130, and connects the cities of Georgetown, Round Rock, Pflugerville and Austin
The MoCAV Feasibility Study is considering various alternative alignments and typical sections, and it plans to include shared-use paths providing for regional north-south pedestrian and bicycle use throughout the 28-mile-long corridor.
TxDOT is very early in the project development process and will be working with the communities to further refine alignments and receive feedback. As the study progresses, TxDOT seeks to partner with stakeholders and develop an optimal multi-modal facility that addresses public needs.
Funding has not been identified for this project and the study needs to progress through feasibility, schematics, environmental clearance, design, and construction phases.
For more information about the MoCAV Feasibility Study, please contact Nicholas Barbera, nbarbe-c@txdot.gov.
CLEAN-UP OF GREENSPACE AREA BEHIND ORSINI BLUFFS
A group of residents whose homes back up to the greenspace area adjacent to McNutt Creek had sent a petition to the Board requesting the semi-annual maintenance of this greenspace area as part of the Maintenance Association landscape contract. Currently the contract includes the maintenance of a ten foot wide strip along the rear of the back fence line of these homes and others that back up to the greenspace, as well as the drainage areas that run in a couple of areas along Orsini Bluffs to the greenspace, but does not include the maintenance of the actual greenspace, except for clean-up after storms, etc. The Board decided to continue with the maintenance program as contained in the current contract, and to revisit any changes when this contract expires in May 2024.
