AUSTIN, Texas -- After seven years Jeff Morneault says his South Austin neighborhood is starting to look different than when he moved in.
- City moving ahead with park and ride plans in south Austin
- Has a price tag of about $3.7 million
- Neighbors worried about homeless camps
The homeless population growth rate is a crisis, he said, which hasn’t gotten the proper attention from city leaders given what happens under the Ben White underpass near South Lamar.
“There are some people who act in a way that’s not legal. It’s not good for neighborhoods, it’s not good for those people who have to live in that circumstance. We can do better as a city,” District 5 Councilmember Ann Kitchen said.
This while the city continues moving ahead with plans for a mass transit center, a park and ride, near the South Lamar Target.
“It could be a great thing where people want to come here, they’ll park, they’ll feel safe parking their car here for 12 hours and come back. That’s great, more foot traffic, more people, or it could make the problem that much worse,” Morneault said.
Some neighbors question if it will it get any use.
“Who is gonna want to use this transit center when it’s next to a homeless camp?” Morneault said.
For city leaders, it's a complex problem.
“The issue is simply this, I mean, people don’t have places to be. They don’t have safe places to live and to access services to get back on their feet,” says Kitchen.
The Westgate Park and Ride has a price tag of about $3.7 million.