CTRMA presents latest 290 project concepts—minus Alternative F

by Bobbie Jean Sawyer

AUSTIN –    The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) has whittled down the alternatives for the Oak Hill Parkway Project—dropping the “parkway” option favored by Fix290—and presented its latest concepts to the public.

The CTRMA and TxDOT hosted an open house on the Oak Hill Parkway Project on Tuesday, June 17 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Covington Middle School.

Representatives from TxDOT and the CTRMA were present to address questions and gather feedback from the community.

Melissa Hurst, the Mobility Authority’s Community Outreach Manager, said attendees had the opportunity to review project alternatives, which have been reviewed and vetted by the project team.

“Since the last Open House, we’ve been refining and narrowing the concepts, and we’re ready to show the public our work and get their feedback,” Hurst said.

One alternative not included in the short list of possible solutions is Alternative F, a concept developed with Fix290, a grassroots community coalition proposing an environmentally responsible alternative with a minimal concrete footprint.

Bruce Melton, engineer and member of Fix290, said he’s still not counting the concept out.

“There seems to have been a lot of unintended inequity in the decision matrix and I am optimistic that after an evaluation of the items we brought up at our little committee meeting yesterday with TxDOT and (the Mobility Authority), that (Alternative F) will be added back in,” Melton said.

Alternative F focused on a non-tolled parkway with minimized construction.

A virtual open house will be available on oakhillparkway.com from June 18 through June 27.