State Highway 45 Southwest CSS

State Highway 45 Southwest (SH-45) is an innovative tollway featuring extensive environmental protection and sustainability measures, bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, and Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS). The road was proposed the1980s as part of a planned regional loop. Voters later approved $3.3 million in bonds to purchase right-of-way but design and construction was delayed for years over environmental, political, and financial concerns.

With the roadway moving forward in 2013, RVi served as CSS subconsultant to Rodriguez Transportation Group (RTG) and developed solutions for the shared use path running parallel to SH 45 and a major trailhead at the interchange at SH 45 and MoPac. The trailhead (shown above) provides a critical link between the SH-45 Shared Use Path and the proposed Violet Crown trail. Aside from its obvious transportation and recreational uses, the trailhead takes full advantage of its high visibility location and provides interpretive information and graphics to orient visitors to the corridor’s important wildlife, hydrologic, and geologic features. Nestled into a grove of mature existing trees, the facility is sited to minimize grading and to avoid any impact to the nearby floodplain.

Team

Mark Smith