Monday Morning Report
|
Corridor Council staff - and Executive Committee members Richard Perez and Sam Dawson -will be participating this week representing Austin on the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce's annual SA-to-Washington DC trip this week, visiting with our area's Congressional delegation about transportation needs in The Corridor and the upcoming re-authorization of the Federal transportation funding bill.
Notice of Request for Proposals (RFP): The Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Commuter Rail District (Rail District) is seeking proposals from professional firms to provide the Rail District with branding services to establish the Rail District’s identity and communicate its purpose and function. The RFP is available on the Rail District website (www.asarail.org). Responses to the RFP must be received by the Rail District no later than 3:00 p.m. on July 23, 2008 to be considered.
Infrastructure
You may be a little tired of hearing about it but the Austin-area's first 49-miles of SH 130 is done. A flyover near Bergstrom Airport opened last week, concluding almost five years of construction. Spanish tollway operator Cintra, along with San Antonio-based Zachry Construction, will build the next 40 miles from Mustang Ridge to IH-10 at Seguin. That project will begin next year and conclude by 2012. Members: your contributions made this $1.4 billion project happen.
Worried about local citizens suffering from high gas prices, the ingenious Lockhart city council has begun looking at an ordinance that would allow residents to travel about town in electric golf carts equipped with safety features like running lights and windshields. “They would be restricted from going on the highway, but can go up to 30 miles on one charge,” councilman Lew White told the Post-Register. Details here.
While others move, we debate: Houston has approved a $2 billion program called METRO Solutions Phase 2 to build 30 miles of light-rail lines in the North, East End, Southeast, Uptown and University corridors, as well as adding commuter rail, and bus and bus rapid transit service. Here's the story.
Well, you guessed it based upon your daily commute but now you have it confirmed: Austin has some of the worst-congested intersections in the country. According to Inrix Inc. (we told you about them last week) ranking of the 100 worst bottlenecks in the country, IH-35 southbound at Martin Luther King is the 62nd worst place in the country for congestion. No. 75 was I-35 northbound and Riverside Drive. Austin, according to the study, was 26th overall in the nation, San Antonio was 25th, Houston was seventh, and Dallas-Fort Worth was fifth. Los Angeles was the worst. Details here.
Economic Development
Officials from Texas A&M, Texas State University-San Marcos and Austin Community College revealed their plans for a medical training health care college hub extending from San Marcos to Round Rock. Texas State University is planning to develop a nursing program in Round Rock. A&M Health Science Center also has plans for a medical school at the campus. Austin Community College plans to build its largest campus on about 80 acres in Round Rock that will accommodate about 12,000 students.
Washington Mutual Inc. is moving 300 positions to San Antonio while eliminating 1,200 jobs nationwide in a cost cutting move. Cuts include closing retail operations in Chatsworth, Calif, and Boca Raton, Fla. Most of the 300 positions will be filled by locals.
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.’s pending acquisition of Dallas-based real estate brokerage firm Staubach Co. will mean future growth for the Austin office after the two companies merge. Jones Lang is a full-service commercial brokerage, with more than 170 corporate offices worldwide.
The unemployment rate in the Austin-Round Rock area is rising: jobless workers in the region reached 31,900 in May for an unemployment rate of 3.7%, up from 3.3% a month earlier. The statewide unemployment rate also spiked, up from 3.9% in April to 4.3% in May.
Southern Business and Development, a national magazine of corporate and industry news and analysis, identified Hutto as one of the top ten edge markets in the South. An “edge” market is a smaller community that lies within commuting distance of a major market – in this case Austin. It found that 89% of working people who live in Hutto actually work outside of the city.
“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this is true.”
- James Branch Cabell