Downtown Tunnel
to North Lamar
Government Center/
Capitol West
Republic Square
Congress Avenue
Downtown
 Rainey/MACC
Lady Bird Lake
Auditorium Shores
     Blue Line
to AUS
     Orange Line
to Stassney

The Downtown Transit Tunnel was a planned light rail tunnel in Downtown Austin, Texas. It was a core feature of the proposed initial investment of Project Connect, the transit expansion plan being undertaken by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The transit tunnel would have served the Orange, Blue, and (eventually) Gold light rail lines. The tunnel was eventually cut from Project Connect plans after unexpected cost increases and design challenges.[1][2]

Route

The tunnel was planned to initially facilitate both the Blue and Orange Lines. The tunnel would run under Guadalupe Street from Cesar Chavez Street to at least 14th Street, as well as under 4th Street from Guadalupe to Trinity Street. In the original full system buildout plans, another tunnel would be dug under Trinity Street from Cesar Chavez Street to 14th Street to serve the Gold Line.[3]

The tunnel was initially anticipated to be 1.6 miles (2.6 km) in length.[4] By 2021, planners were considering moving the Orange Line's southern portal to near Lively Middle School at Leland Street, potentially adding a further 2.6 miles (4.2 km) in length, citing engineering challenges with emerging close to Lady Bird Lake and the topography of South Congress hill.[5][6] This extension would have more than doubled the cost of the tunnel from $2 billion to $4.1 billion.[6] Tunnel and surface-level cost increases led to a redesign of the entire planned light rail system in early 2023, with 5 options presented to the public for feedback in March.[7] Only one of those options included a tunneled segment, which would have run 0.9 miles (1.4km) under Guadalupe Street from 8th Street to 20th Street and included one underground station at 15th Street. This plan was not selected, and the first phase of Austin's light rail network will not include any tunneled segments.[8]

Stations

The initial proposal planned multiple underground stations for the light rail lines, at locations including Republic Square, Downtown Station, Government Center,[9] Auditorium Shores,[5] Congress Avenue, and Rainey/MACC.[10][11]

The underground stations would have varied in size, with Republic Square and Downtown Stations being the largest, and all other stations being smaller. Large stations such as Republic Square were initially designed to have three levels. The shallowest would have contained a food court, a mezzanine with a performance stage for local music, and pedestrian tunnels to provide access to other buildings in Downtown. A middle level would have contained small shops and restaurants, public restrooms, and seating, and the deepest level the platform for boarding trains. Underground stations were planned to be fully climate-controlled, utilizing technologies such as platform screen doors to assist with climate control and enhance passenger safety.[12][13]

By 2022, cost increases meant that many proposed features of the underground stations were removed from planning.[1] All initial and additional underground station proposals were removed from the project in March 2023, being replaced with the lone 15th Street station, which was itself removed in May.[2]

Station Services Included In Plans as Underground
15th Street      Orange Line     Blue Line March-May 2023
Government Center      Orange Line

     Blue Line

 Initial Investment-March 2023
Republic Square      Orange Line

     Blue Line

 Initial Investment-March 2023
Congress Avenue      Blue Line August 2021-March 2023
Downtown      Blue Line

     Red Line (surface)
     Green Line (surface)

 Initial Investment-March 2023
Rainey/MACC      Blue Line Initial Investment-March 2023
Auditorium Shores      Orange Line July 2021-March 2023
South Congress      Orange Line July 2021-March 2023

References

  1. 1 2 Bernier, Nathan (November 17, 2022). "Light-rail tunnel under downtown Austin might not happen after all". KUT Radio, Austin's NPR Station. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Moreno-Lozano, Luz (May 23, 2023). "Austin's Project Connect light rail details unveiled. What we know about the $7.1B project". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  3. ↑ Jankowski, Philip. "Cap Metro recommends downtown subway system in multibillion-dollar light rail system". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Proposed CapMetro project includes subway system in Downtown Austin". kvue.com. March 6, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Bernier, Nathan (July 22, 2021). "Underground Light-Rail Tunnel Could Be More Than A Mile Longer Than Expected". KUT 90.5. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  6. 1 2 Travis, Avery (October 27, 2022). "2 years into Austin's Project Connect, is the light rail still on track?". KXAN Austin. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  7. ↑ Thompson, Kelsey; Remadna, Nabil (March 21, 2023). "Project Connect debuts 5 scaled down light rail options". KXAN Austin. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  8. ↑ Thompson, Ben (May 24, 2023). "Austin Transit Partnership accepts initial Project Connect rail plan". Community Impact. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  9. ↑ Project Connect, Capital Metro (July 30, 2020). "Project Connect System Plan" (PDF). Capital Metro. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  10. ↑ Thompson, Kelsey (November 11, 2021). "40-year-old Austin Rowing Club in search of new home amid Project Connect plans". NBC. kxan. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  11. ↑ Graham, Benton (July 14, 2021). "Capital Metro unveils initial plans for six underground rail stations in downtown Austin". Community Impact. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  12. ↑ Bernier, Nathan (July 16, 2021). "Here's What Austin's Underground Light Rail Could Look Like". NPR. KUT 90.5. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  13. ↑ "ProjectConnect". capmetro.org. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
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