AUSTIN (KXAN) — Construction began this week on a joint Austin Fire Department and Austin-Travis County Emergency Services station in an effort to boost emergency response times in a southwest Austin community.

AFD Station 51/ATCEMS Station 38 is expected to be completed by mid-summer 2021 at 5410 West US Highway 290 service road between Southwest Parkway and William Cannon Drive. The station will serve multiple areas in southwest Austin including the Travis Country neighborhood.

This joint station is the second of five new high priority Fire/EMS stations approved by Austin City Council.

• READ: Austin City Council Resolution on emergency response goal

According to a city council resolution, the Austin Fire Department has a goal of responding within eight minutes on 90% of its calls, following the national standards of the Commission of Fire Accreditation International and the National Fire Protection Association. The city council resolution acknowledges, in some areas of the city, the response time exceeds eight minutes.

The City’s Public Works Department is managing the design and construction of the $9.6 million project — which features a 15,000 square foot, two-storied building with four public safety vehicle bays, dorm rooms and an AFD training tower.