Stop the South Walnut Creek Trail being replaced by a highway

Red Alert: The Texas Department of Transportation wants to displace the Southern Walnut Creek Trail with a new highway

This coming Monday, CAMPO’s Transportation Policy Board will consider a TxDOT proposal to classify the MoKan Corridor as a “principal arterial” so that it can be used by “connected and autonomous vehicles” – i.e., driverless cars.

This new highway would have two to four lanes, with design speeds of 45 to 60 miles per hour. Much of the beloved Southern Walnut Creek Trail runs within this corridor and those portions would likely need to be moved and reconstructed. Many trees and natural lands in the corridor would be removed. And this could also complicate the connection between the Southern Walnut Trail to the Northern Walnut Trail.

This is a profoundly wrong-headed idea. To meet our transportation and climate goals, we need better conditions for car-free mobility – not more highways.

The deadline for to speak up against this regressive proposal is Thursday, April 6.

ONLINE: The deadline for written input is 5pm tomorrow, Thursday, April 6.

IN PERSON: Public comments will be allowed during the item at the CAMPO meeting. This is Item #10 on the agenda. The meeting starts at 2pm on Monday, April 10, at the Junior League of Austin Community Impact Center, 5330 Bluffstone Lane.