Cedar Park, Leander Residents Can Weigh In On Future Of Lone Star Rail Project

CEDAR PARK, TX -- Cedar Park and Leander residents will have a chance on Tuesday to weigh on removing the proposed Lone Star Rail District line from a long-range plan.

The Lone Star Rail project had been eyed as an alternative route to relieve congestion on existing arteries in Central Texas, a project championed by Austin Mayor Steve Adler. But the CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) board last month voted 17-1 to remove the project from its long-term plan, all but killing off the rail agency as the Austin American-Statesman reported at the time.

CAMPO is composed mostly of elected officials from local and county governments.

Lone Star Rail had focused its plan for passenger rail using an existing Union Pacific line before the firm ended the talks in February, the Statesman reported. Hopes were to use existing UP line for a Round Rock-to-San Antonio route -- a link to a broader Austin-to-San Antonio envisioned route.

But UP officials said they wouldn't be able to relinquish the entirety of their line, even as they plot an alternative freight line east of I-35, the newspaper noted. Without unfettered access to the whole stretch of line, the project seems all but doomed.

Efforts are ongoing to try to revive the plan, with hopes UP might changes its mind.

“From the very beginning of the process, UP has stated to the folks at Lone Star, and anyone else we talked to, that our priority is serving our existing customers and any other future customers,” Union Pacific spokesman Jeff DeGraff told the American-Statesman. “We explained that we needed unfettered access to our customers.”

Members of the public will have a chance to air their views on Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Cedar Park Library, 550 Discovery Blvd., in Cedar Park. A final decision on the future of the envisioned route is expected at the Oct. 10 CAMPO board meeting.

>>> Rail station image via Capital Metro website