With the adoption of the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan (2012), the City of Austin made a conscious choice to integrate comprehensive planning into the city’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP). Over the last several years, the city has explored innovative approaches to this integration, including development of Long-Range CIP Planning; in particular infrastructure investments that support the development pattern envisioned by Imagine Austin. 

 

The Long-Range CIP Plan (LRCP) is intended to bridge the gap between Imagine Austin and the annual CIP. By taking a robust, data-informed approach to long-range capital planning, decisions inform current and future capital investments that collectively provide the infrastructure needed to support and shape the city. The three major elements important to the long-range planning effort are the comprehensive infrastructure assessment (CIA), rolling needs assessment (RNA), and strategic investment analysis (SIA).

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The Austin City Charter (Austin 1994) requires that the CIP be consistent with the comprehensive plan, and even goes so far as to require that the planning commission provide to the city manager an annual list of recommended capital improvements that are necessary or desirable to implement the comprehensive plan. In May of 2022, the Planning Commission re-transmitted their list of recommendations to the City Manager, fulfilling the annual charter requirement. 

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