FYI from motorsport.com tonight:
The long road to the Austin GP
The new $220 million race track to be build especially for the 2012 Austin Grand Prix has been the subject of many speculations, many believe building such a circuit complete with the necessary infrastructure on such a short notice is not feasible, and the doubters refer to the problems the Korean Yeongam circuit has recently encountered. The Korean circuit has missed several deadlines and it is still not completely finished, the FIA will carry out a final inspection on October 11, less than two weeks before the actual Grand Prix will take place. The Yeongam circuit suffered another blow last week when a crane tipped over and damaged parts of the main grandstand.
All kinds of rumors have emerged about the Austin circuit ever since the plans have been revealed last August. Questions have been raised about the money such an undertaking would need, and there are also doubts whether race promoter Full Throttle Productions, led by Tavo Hellmund, will get the necessary permits it needs from Travis County and the city of Austin to build the circuit. It is said several underground high pressure gas and petroleum pipelines cross the site of the circuit, and building on those pipelines would present even more problems for the design team that hopes to finish the circuit by June 2012.
Hellmund was clear about the money, the project will be financed by private investors, and he assured no community money would be 'wasted' on the project. But is that true? Full Throttle has acquired a piece of land southeast of Austin of roughly 900 acres which is located to the east of State Highway 130, a four-lane toll way. The actual building site is surrounded by three roads, McAngus Road, Elroy Road and the Farm to Market Road (FM) 812 which connects to Highway 130. So close to the highway sounds good, but McAngus Road and Elroy Road are country roads, and only the FM 812 two-lane road connects the circuit to the nearest highway.
According to the Austin American Statesman, the FM 812 and Elroy Road can together move about 4000 cars per hour in or out of the circuit, and with more than 120,000 expected race fans on Sunday, traffic will grind to a halt within no time. Travis County's transportation director Joe Gieselman predicts it will take 12 hours to get to the circuit, and another 12 hours to leave the circuit. This probably sounds a bit exaggerated, but the UK Silverstone circuit has had similar problems for decades, which ultimately led to the plan to move the British Grand Prix to Donington, a plan that miserably failed. The only solution would be to build a new road to connect the circuit to the highway, or to expand the capacity of the existing roads, which either way would cost Travis County and the city of Austin, and thus the tax payers, many millions of dollars.
Travis Country stated during a hearing they expect road improvements would cost $15 million, and reckon these improvements can not be carried out in time for the inaugural Austin Grand Prix in June 2012. Gieselman said the county will now carry out minor improvements on the roads, and instead is looking at intensive traffic management to get the fans to the circuit.
The permits are a bit more complicated, Full Throttle plans to submit their paperwork for the permits they need from the city and county in stages, thus getting approval for each stage of the building process, rather than seeking approval for the complete circuit. About a month ago Full Throttle submitted the paperwork for approval of grading the land and the construction of a road crossing the site which is needed to transport the building materials. But according to the Austin American Statesman, the county is reluctant to issue permits, because they still have no idea about how the whole project will look like, and want to see more detailed plans.
And the man who has the detailed plans, is German designer and architect Hermann Tilke, he is the development manager and designer of the Austin Grand Prix circuit. And not only the Austin authorities are worried about the progress, the FIA is now worried as well, as Full Throttle has missed a deadline to present the plans to the FIA Circuits Commission. According to the Austin Business Journal no plans were submitted to the Circuits Commission during a meeting on September 14, but spokesman Adam Goldman is not worried at all. Goldman, "We are working hand-in-hand with the FIA. We plan to deliver final plans in the next couple of months." Tilke is also adamant the circuit will be finished in time, "We are used to working under time pressure. That doesn't threaten us."
The spokesman also indicated the missed deadline is certainly not an indication of any problems, the details of the plans have now been relayed to the authorities of Travis County, and he expects work on the circuit will start in December.
