Texas heads to London to examine F1

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Just days after the Travis County Commissioners Court voted not to send officials to London to learn firsthand from the Formula 1 race on July 8, the city has decided to send six representatives -- picking up the cost for four of them.

While Circuit of the Americas is paying for the trip for Mayor Lee Leffingwell and City Manager Marc Ott, the city is paying for the other four travelers:

• Austin Police Department Chief Acevedo
• Austin Fire Department Rhonda Mae Kerr
• Rodney Gonzales, deputy director of Economic Growth and Redevelopment
• Sue Edwards, assistant city manager

The trip is set for July 5 through July 9, where the group will attend the Silverstone Formula 1 race "to observe race logistics and bring best practices back to Austin," said city spokeswoman Samantha Park.

Travis County paying for F1-related road expansion

Travis County will pay Circuit of the Americas to extend Kellam Road to Pearce Lane.

The road is currently a dead-end road and will be extended to help with Formula 1 race weekend traffic. The project will cost the county from $2 million to $4 million, according to Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe.

Circuit of the Americas told the commissioners court that they can complete the project before November. Travis County will reimburse the group once the project is complete.

Biscoe said that widening Elroy Road is off the table because crews would not be able to complete the project before the November race weekend.

On April 24, the Commissioners Court began discussing scheduling a public hearing about the Circuit of the Americas mass gathering act.

Biscoe said that many of the proposed public safety plans and traffic plans for the November race weekend are in draft form and will need to be finalized before a public forum.

Meanwhile, County Commissioners voted April 17 to close McAngus Road south of Elroy Road beginning Wednesday for improvements.

Motorists will be detoured off of McAngus Road to South Farm to Market 973 to Elroy Road during the month-long closure.

Crews will upgrade drainage along the road by replacing existing drainage culverts in preparation for future road improvements.

The 2012 F1 U.S. Grand Prix is scheduled for Nov. 16 through Nov. 18. It is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of race fans to the Elroy track.