Lone Star Rail Update

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization(CAMPO) met last week and narrowly decided to continue funding LSR this fiscal year after Hays County Commissioner Will Conley, chairman of the CAMPO, had wanted to ask the state to freeze for two months about $8 million in CAMPO funding for the Lone Star Rail District. During that time, a committee of the CAMPO board, the area’s main transportation planning body, would have looked into the future for the rail project.

The vote to continue funding LSR was unanimous and included a provision to form a CAMPO study committee and report back to the CAMPO board by its June 6 meeting.

A more telling vote was taken later and initiated by Williamson County Commissioner Cynthia Long to revive Conley’s suggested money freeze failed on a 9-10 vote.

Lone Star officials traveled to Union Pacific’s Omaha, Neb., headquarters to convince them to change their mind on with drawing from the agreement, but the railroad did not change its stance.

That leaves Lone Star with three options, according to a March 21 memo to the CAMPO board by agency director Ashby Johnson: abandon the project, continue an ongoing environmental study but look at other potential routes such as Interstate 35 or Texas 130, or continue the study with the tarnished Union Pacific route in it.

There are several indisputable facts currently associated with Lone Star Rail.

1. There is no realistic capital plan to fund construction

2. There is no practical and realistic plan to fund operations and maintenance

3. No one has any idea where the rails will be located

This is after 20 years of effort!

Hays County Commissioners voted last week to send a letter to LSR indicating they will not continue their participation in FY 2017 absent some miracle. 

It is time for Georgetown to withdraw their participation and focus their effort and funds are more practical and short term solutions to transportation and mobility issues.