BOARD ADOPTED DOCUMENT

MITIGATION POLICIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT IN AUSTIN

Capital Metro is developing a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) concerning the likely benefits and impacts of the proposed fixed guideway system.  The EIS will document existing conditions and analyze potential impacts and associated mitigation and enhancement measures.  Based on the findings of the DEIS, Capital Metro will undertake specific mitigation and enhancement actions to reduce or eliminate any potential significant impacts.

The following mitigation and enhancement pledges are being adopted -- at the beginning of the study and public involvement process -- to facilitate understanding of Capital Metro’s intention to plan and implement light rail transit in a manner that incurs minimum inconvenience and undesirable consequences and maximizes this opportunity to enhance our communities. Capital Metro would continue to develop its mitigation and enhancement policies during project planning, and to work with the community to identify locations where enhancements are desired as designs become more specific and better defined.  More specific criteria and policies will be developed as the project progresses towards final design, construction and operation.

 

PLEDGES

1.       Capital Metro will work with business districts to develop business advisory teams (BATs) along major commercial streets, such as South Congress Avenue, “The Drag,” East Austin, and North Lamar within the central business district -- to provide a forum for affected businesses and the surrounding communities to participate in the planning and implementation of the construction project, including mitigation efforts.  Each BAT will include representatives from Capital Metro, the City of Austin, area merchants, residents, and existing business associations and neighborhood associations.  Contractors will be incorporated into the BATs when the project progresses into construction phases.   Other interested parties, such as public utilities, TxDOT, local institutions (e.g., St. Edward’s University, Austin State Hospital), or business service providers (e.g., delivery agents, courier services, etc.) may be invited to join the BATs or participate in discussions on an ad hoc basis.

2.       Capital Metro will work with the City of Austin, citywide business associations, small business-related government agencies, financial institutions, and interested merchants to encourage the development of a “Main Street” like program for neighborhood commercial streets, such as South Congress Avenue, “The Drag” , East Austin and North Lamar.   This program, with professional staff assistance from the organizing associations and agencies, would work to promote the identity and economic viability of local small businesses in the commercial districts and to focus resources on collective problems, such as traffic patterns, parking, perceived crime, or litter.  As part of such a program, effort will be focused on how the proposed light rail system may be used as a powerful tool for building the identity and economic viability of local businesses.

3.       Every effort will be made to maintain access to businesses, including pedestrian and vehicular access, during construction periods.  Where possible, existing access points (e.g., driveways and building entrances) will be preserved and protected from surrounding disruption.  When construction activities require temporarily moving access points, alternative access will be provided and potential patrons will be directed to these alternatives by prominent signage and well-marked detour routes.

In addition, Capital Metro will direct its consulting engineers and contractors to devise and make use of every means to maintain access to all affected businesses during construction.  Construction priorities will include maintenance of high-visibility business signs, directional signage to parking, and well-marked and lighted pedestrian paths.

Moreover, Capital Metro and its contractors will maintain thorough and continuous communication among all stakeholders, including Capital Metro, the City of Austin, affected businesses and residents, and the general public, throughout the planning and implementation of the construction project.

4.       All construction contracts will include specific contractor requirements to limit disruption and adhere to schedules.  Financial incentives may be included in the construction contracts to encourage contractors to limit construction noise, control litter, maintain utilities, limit the area of disruption, or avoid unnecessary delays.  Capital Metro will work with the communities, BATs, and neighborhood associations to develop specific construction requirements for each segment of the proposed transit line.  These may include limits on the extent of construction work in any area at any one time (requiring completion of one segment before the crew may move on to the next segment), limits on the hours of construction (at night, where appropriate and consistent with city ordinances), prohibition of construction during the major holiday shopping season or special events, in consultation with local entities, and posting of street signs with information about the project, the dates and duration of construction, and a hotline number where one may call for more information.

5.       To assist affected businesses during construction, Capital Metro will offer focused assistance in marketing, including special promotions on Capital Metro buses and in Capital Metro publications.  Links will be established between project information and affected businesses, such as including merchant coupons in project newsletters or bulletins.  Capital Metro will work with BATs and other community groups to promote the creation of murals and other artworks by local artists and by schoolchildren to improve the appearance of construction-related pedestrian passageways.  The effort will be made to turn the construction project itself into an attraction for potential customers -- to view progress on the light rail, while enjoying promotional events, discounts, and other incentives to continue patronage at previous levels and to attract new customers.

6.       Capital Metro will develop and adopt noise criteria to govern the design of all vehicles, system and ancillary facilities.  These criteria will assure that transit noise levels will be kept at or below specific, measurable levels.  The design criteria will be based on Federal Transit Administration standards and guidelines developed by the American Public Transit Association, as well as local ordinances and community input.   Every effort will be made to design a system that will not introduce significant new noise impacts on the community.

7.       Capital Metro will mitigate location-specific potential noise impacts at sensitive sites identified by the EIS analyses through the use of such measures as decorative noise walls, additional landscaping, or berms.

8.       To assure appropriate and acceptable station design quality, Capital Metro will devote $50,000 per station for station design, including landscaping and public art.  Capital Metro will work with neighborhoods to establish a committee for each station, to determine how the funds will be used to help make each station compatible with the appearance of its surrounding community (within the overall design standards for the system).

9.       Capital Metro will make every effort to maintain the parking supply along the proposed transit route.  If any parking capacity, especially in commercial areas, is affected during construction, Capital Metro will work with the affected community to find temporary replacement parking facilities within reasonable proximity.  For those areas where any existing parking capacity would be permanently reduced by the transit line, Capital Metro will work with the City of Austin and specific affected neighborhoods towards finding solutions to assure the development of adequate and reasonable parking to serve community needs.

10.   When planning the construction phase of the project, Capital Metro will work with the City of Austin and TxDOT to develop a maintenance of traffic plan to assure smooth vehicular operations throughout the project area during construction.  The maintenance of traffic plan will be discussed with the affected communities to provide local sensitivity to traffic patterns.

11.   Every effort will be made to design a transit system that minimizes impacts on current traffic patterns.  The proposed transit system will be designed to maintain traffic capacity through affected corridors.  (An exception to this goal may be along Guadalupe Street between Martin Luther King Boulevard and 30th Street (“The Drag”), where one option is to incorporate light rail into an urban redesign of that street as part of a new traffic circulation plan for the greater downtown area.)

12.   Because the proposed transit system will be regional in nature, its impacts and benefits will be apparent beyond the immediate vicinity of construction.  The proposed transit line will provide more mobility and access to the community in addition to the existing and expanded roadway network.  To assure that the overall transportation network operates efficiently, Capital Metro will work with the City of Austin and TxDOT to integrate the transit line into the regional system and to assure that citywide traffic congestion is not worsened.