The Downtown Transit Tunnel is a planned light rail

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

in Downtown

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. It is a core feature of Project Connect, the transit expansion plan being undertaken by the

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, officially stylized as CapMetro, is a public transportation provider located in Austin, Texas. It operates bus, paratransit services and a commuter rail system known as the Capital MetroRail in ...

. The transit tunnel would serve the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...

, and (eventually) Gold light rail lines.

Route

The tunnel is planned to initially facilitate both the

and Orange Lines. The tunnel would run under Guadalupe street from Cesar Chavez street to at least 14th street, as well as under 4th street from Guadalupe to Trinity street. If the project is eventually built out to its full plan, another tunnel would be dug under Trinity street from Cesar Chavez street to 14th street to serve the Gold Line. Tunneling length was initially anticipated to be in length. By 2021, planners were considering moving the Orange Line's southern portal to near Lively Middle School at Leland Street, potentially adding a further in length, citing engineering challenges with emerging close to

Lady Bird Lake Lady Bird Lake (formerly, and still colloquially referred to as Town Lake) is a river-like reservoir on the Colorado River in Austin, Texas, United States. The City of Austin created the reservoir in 1960 as a cooling pond for a new city power pl ...

and the topography of South Congress hill.

Stations

The plan proposes multiple underground stations for the light rail lines, at locations including Republic Square, Downtown Station, Government Center, Auditorium Shores, Congress Avenue, and Rainey/MACC. The underground stations will vary in size, with Republic Square or Downtown Station being the largest, and all other stations being smaller. Large stations such as Republic Square will have three levels/floors (sorted from shallowest to deepest): a level containing a food court, mezzanine with a performance stage for local music, and pedestrian tunnels to provide access to other buildings in Downtown, a middle level containing small shops and restaurants, public restrooms, and seating, and the deepest level containing the platform for boarding trains. All underground stations will be fully climate-controlled, and will utilize technologies such as platform screen doors on the platform level to assist with climate control and enhance passenger safety.

References

External links

Project Connect — Transit Tunnel
{{Capital Metro Capital Metro Public transportation in Texas Proposed railway lines in Texas 2028 in rail transport Railway tunnels in the United States Buildings and structures in Austin, Texas Rail transportation in Austin, Texas