Go to KeepMopacLocal.org and send a clear message to Travis County Commissioners and the Austin City Council to “Keep Mopac Local.”
Currently Mopac operates as a local commuter highway, primarily serving local commuters. But a renewed push to connect the southern end of Mopac over to I-35 by way of the proposed SH 45 Southwest highway would make Mopac a western I-35 alternative. Traffic models show the SH 45 SW connector would add 30,000 cars per day to Mopac.
Hays County Commissioners are pushing Travis County to pay $17 million to build a first phase of the 45 SW project, from Mopac to FM 1626. Hays County would only pay $5 million. Yet most of the benefits go to Hays County developers and commuters along FM 1626, while all the costs of pollution and congestion will be suffered here in Travis County. The entire length of the project crosses the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Dozens of caves, sinkholes and fractures that feed Barton Springs would be paved over. Pollution from the highway and new development made possible by the highway would only worsen pollution at Barton Springs.
See the maps, learn the details, and take action at KeepMopacLocal.org.