Regional transportation officials have been meeting since January to begin developing the blueprint. The officials represent cities and counties along the I-35 corridor, including Travis, Bastrop and Williamson counties along with several other counties and cities reaching down to the southwest tip of Texas.
There is a total of four segment committees that will meet through October. Segment Committee Three, representing the Austin and San Antonio area, will meet Aug. 25 before the first public planning workshop begins Sept. 20.
The committees have worked to identify regional needs along the corridor and potential solutions. At the end of the workshop sessions, the separate segments will complete their regional blueprint, meet with the I-35 Corridor Advisory Committee together and consolidate their blueprints into one comprehensive mobility plan that will be known as MY 35.
According to a Nov. 12, 2008, report by the Corridor Advisory Committee, the I-35 corridor should adhere to certain principles in order to gain the most improvement, which include the promotion and advancement of alternative modes of transportation, continued long-term funding for maintaining I-35, the use of existing right of ways for continued expansion and the planning of future development based on need.
Citizens and stakeholders are encouraged to attend the workshop sessions beginning in September in order to provide as much input as possible to improve the I-35 corridor. Once the final comprehensive blueprint is made it will be given to the Texas Department of Transportation to help in future corridor development.
The next Corridor Segment Committee Three meeting is Aug. 25 from 9 a.m. to noon at the TxDOT Area Office, 4102 S. I-35, in New Braunfels. The first public planning workshop will be Sept. 20 from 6p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Allen R. Baca Center, 301 W. Bagdad Ave. in Round Rock.
Call TxDOT's Government and Public Affairs Division at 463-8700 for more information or visit www.my35.org/about/segment_committees.
