Public weighs in on $720 million dollar mobility bond proposal

There's obviously no debating how frustrating Austin traffic can be, but what the City Council has just agreed on is how they're going to use the 720 million dollars to alleviate it. Tonight, the public got their chance to weigh in too.

For about an hour, the City Council heard testimony on the proposed transit plan. Not a single speaker seemed to agree with what's in it. There were complaints that the public didn't get to have input on how the money will be spent or what areas it's addressing.

Some of the speakers, and even some City Council members, were frustrated that a large part of South Austin is being overlooked. That is now being addressed though. And then there's the idea of a rail. That's not in this proposal. But a group of people showed up to try and convince the council to add it. 

"This is the year of the mobility, they are looking at a 720 million dollar bond package for improvements for various roadways and opportunities for sidewalks and bike lanes. What we want to see them do is a significant investment in transit at the same time," said Steven Knapp with the Central Austin Development Corporation. 

"Today, we have voted to take the next step for the next set of bonds. We talked about what would be discussed, rail being one of those, as well as housing, flood, mitigation, parks and libraries and other needs," said Austin City Council member Ann Kitchen who is also the Chair of the Mobility Committee.

Now that they've agreed on the specific's of the bond, all that is left is agreeing to put it on the November election ballot. The council will take that debate up next week.