Anyone delayed by the weekend construction closures of Interstate 35 or just frustrated with the daily slowdowns will be interested to hear that the Austin City Council recently approved a $1 million traffic study to find ways to ease congestion.
The global engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff Americas will study the feasibility of such projects cutting accident response times and altering traffic light timing to see whether smaller solutions would have a bigger impact than adding lanes.
And in other City Hall news, the council delayed a vote on the controversial Formula One project until June 29. At the most recent City Council meeting, members expressed concerns that pending contracts had not been fully vetted and about potential loopholes related to environmental and tax concerns.
Mayor Lee Leffingwell, the only member of the City Council who voted against the delay, recently told the Austin American-Statesman, "It could kill the deal for the City of Austin."
However, other council members expressed discomfort over details in the contracts and said they wanted time to scrutinize them further.
"It's the responsible thing on our part to take the time to do this right," Council Member Laura Morrison told the Statesman.
The Austin F1 project has both strong supporters and detractors, who have debated everything from the extent of the race's economic impact to the role of the state in the financial arrangements. A lawyer for F1 organizers told the Austin City Council that its delay could endanger the deal, though construction has already begun near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
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