- by ,
1904 Holly Street (512) 476-7304
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Nov. 6, 2002
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- I'm surprised that there has been scant discussion
regarding tomorrow's [Nov. 7th, 2003] Item 32
on the Austin City Council agenda. The proposal lays
out a policy to implement a package of 15
transportation recommendations for the Central
Business District. Various consultants and City of
Austin Transportation Planning and Sustainability
Department (TSPD) staff developed the recommendations.
The aim is to create a more livable,
pedestrian-friendly, and perhaps bicycle-friendly
downtown.
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- You can see the recommendations at: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/downtown/cbdtran.htm.
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- Though I would like to support the package, I
believe that there are questionable priorities,
serious omissions, and inadequate consideration of
bicycle transportation.
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- In addition, I have heard that the 'final'
alignment of the Lance Armstrong Bikeway is apparently
going before City Council tomorrow as well. I must
point out that one (large) victory was won in TSPD's
recommendation that the Bikeway be placed on Fourth
St. through the breadth of Downtown (IH35 to San
Antonio). This in spite of ongoing protestations by a
number of Warehouse District Businesses.
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- The discussion of these proposals is always
preceded by exhortations that downtown will become
both pedestrian-friendly and bicycle-friendly. You may
have heard of Austin's 'Hierarchy of Transportation
modes': 1) pedestrians 2) transit 3) bicycles 4)
vehicles. I question whether our planners get confused
at the end of the list.
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- When I speak my three minutes on Thursday, I will
try to point out how the process keeps failing bicycle
transportation:
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- First, I question why projects (funded for some
time) such as Boggy Creek Greenbelt, IH35 under
crossing at 4th St., or Pleasant Valley Bike Lanes are
not only not complete, but construction has not even
begun.
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- Bike lanes on Lake Austin Boulevard (Exposition to
Red Bud Trail) were poorly and inadequately
constructed. This bike lane is still unrepaired after
nearly three years! You can ride on it on your way to
Council.
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- Many Austinites contributed to the development of
the Town Lake Park Masterplan (including many
bicyclists), but final plans demonstrate that the
needs of transportation bicyclists were not
incorporated into that plan! (more
on this topic)
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- Then of course, we have the Pfluger Bicycle/
Pedestrian Bridge. At last month's Austin Cycling
Association meeting, City of Austin Senior Planner
Jana McCann unveiled a fourth!!! 'redesign', a central
arm (see current 'Cycling News'). One could get the
impression that this is just another 'anything but the
NW arm' redesign.
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- I'll just mention Shoal Creek Blvd.
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- Without any more complaining, here are a few of my
thoughts about TSPD's "Transportation
Recommendations":
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- 1) 'Sandra Muraida Way right turn lane' ($10 K),
or extended as 'realigned' and recommended in the
Seaholm District Master Plan ($1 M). This realignment
will make impossible the construction of the Pfluger
Bridge original NW arm extension, greatly favored by
bicyclists.
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- 2) I found no reference to the Pfluger Bridge in
the 'recommendations'. The resolution of the Pfluger
Bridge extension, and connection with the Lance
Armstrong Bikeway was not adequately incorporated into
this discussion. This oversight illustrates the
failure of this process to address bicycle
transportation.
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- As a result, Lance Armstrong Bikeway planners have
been forced to choose a route alongside Cesar Chavez
from Shoal Creek Trail to Stephen F. Austin Drive.
This ridiculous route will cross 2 high-traffic
streets on either side of Lamar (Sandra Muraida Way
and B.R. Reynolds) at T-intersections with Cesar
Chavez. Not only that, but the Pfluger Bridge is up
there (and across Cesar Chavez), and the bikeway is
down here. 'Makes no sense whatsoever'. Please quote
me.
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- 3) Efforts (some might say inadequate) were made
by the City to obtain an at-grade rail crossing at
Lamar from Union Pacific. More recently (June '01)
TSPD Seaholm District Masterplanners heard our input
and came up with the Bowie St. tunnel solution ($700
K). The Bowie St. Tunnel is also not found on the
'recommendations', even though widely considered (even
by TSPD planners) the best compromise solution both to
crossing the UP rail line as well as providing a
convenient north-south, Whole Foods route. This tunnel
would also facilitate a possible Northerly Lance
Armstrong Bikeway route (just south of the UP tracks).
Not on their radar'''
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- 4) Restricted left turns for Lamar at 5th and 6th
Streets (which have west-bound traffic on Bowie, and
east-bound traffic on Baylor) may not account for
bicycle traffic on those streets, or the possibility
of a Bowie St. underpass/ Bowie-Henderson bike
connection.
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- 5) In this same area of the Pfluger Bridge and the
LAB, street extensions of 3rd St. across Shoal Creek
($2 to 3 M), and West Ave. through Seaholm ($810 K)
are recommended. Both these proposed streets will have
bike lanes, but neither contributes anything to
bicycle access. A Third St. extension could erase the
historic rail trestle with a 68' wide bridge, though a
more defensible design would have a separate bridge on
either side of the trestle.
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- 5) TSPD recommendations propose streetscape
improvements for both 2nd St. ($5 M ' already
allocated) and 3rd St. ($5 M). I have wondered why 4th
St. should not share such streetscape funding (given a
4th St. bikeway). I was told it had to do with sewers
and utilities, that 2nd and 3rd need be paired. 2nd
St. is of course the Second Street Retail District. We
have 2 CSC buildings, a new City Hall in 2004, a hole
in the ground, two empty lots and beer keg
conditioning vaults built by the Schneider family in
the 1800s (my vote goes with the vaults).
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- 6) Overall, the Great Streets Masterplan, from
which much of the recommendations are derived, fares
poorly when considering accommodations for bicyclists.
The typical accommodation is a +/- 4 ft 'safe zone'.
The Great Streets Masterplan also rewrites parts of
the Austin Bicycle Plan. Red River is replaced by San
Jacinto and Trinity, which are classified as 'Bicycle
and Local Access Street' (with bike lanes). I belabor
this point because I participated with Tommy Eden and
Amy Babich on the community advisory committee. I
don't remember giving up Red River. Looking carefully
at TSPD documents, I'm confused. Trinity (two-way) is
supposed to get me to Town Lake Trail (which is how I
get to Holly St. now'), but Trinity has one-way
traffic northbound to the soon to be Third St.
shuffle.
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- Great Streets does to its credit also designate
Nueces as a 'Bicycle and Local Access Street' and
recommend a future (bikable') 'Promenade' along Cesar
Chavez west of Congress.
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- I am very concerned that even with sincerity,
perseverance, diligence and tenacity, our projects
seem endlessly delayed and fatally compromised.
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- It is clear that our community lacks the political
clout, organization, or resources to effectively
advance our agenda. Having an agenda would of course
help. We all have our own agenda, but what is OUR
agenda?
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- I plug away, and concoct conspiracies that might
some day create a bike-friendly Austin. How about
another Bike Summit this coming February 2003? I need
more help this time. Please.
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- Eric Anderson
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- P.S. Give us the damn bridge! We'd be a lot less
cranky.
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City of Austin Rolls Out Thirteen New
Bicycle/Pedestrian Projects This Year
Nine Other Citizen Proposals Are Being Studied
by ,
5-27-00
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- By the end of this year, the City of Austin (COA)
will roll out thirteen new bicycle/pedestrian
projects. First and foremost of course is the long
awaited beginning of construction for the new
Town Lake
Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge at Lamar Blvd.
Construction began last month on May 15 for this 6.6
million-dollar separate bridge across Town Lake. Also
on May 15th, the new Ullrich Water Pipeline Bridge was
to be lowered over Shoal Creek at 3rd Street behind
the Austin Music Hall. An impromtu celebration hosted
by Friends of Crosstown Greenway and Austin Metro
Trails and Greenways viewed the lowering of the 39-ton
water pipe, but the 130-foot bridge was not installed
until May 16th. Breaking news from Councilmember
Beverly Griffith's office suggest political momentum
may be building for delaying the removal of the 120
year-old 3rd Street railroad trestle. This historic
accent to the Shoal Creek Greenbelt could represent
future capacity for the Crosstown Greenway as Seaholm,
Green Treatment Plant, Intel, CSC, an emerging Shoal
Creek resdiential corridor, and other adjacent
projects are completed.
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- Concurently, construction has begun on a new
ADA-accessible ramp connecting the west-deck of the
First Street Drake Bridge and Cesar Chavez/Guadalupe
with the Town Lake Trail below. The Shoal Creek
Trail at West Avenue is also currently seeing
major construction with stream-bank stabilization and
trail reconstruction. Later this year we will see
construction of the Ullrich Bridge approaches,
ramps and stairways connecting with the Shoal Creek
Trail. The stairways will include bicycle wheel
grooves allowing a bike to be pushed up the stairs or
led down.
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- On the northern end of the Johnson Creek Trail
along Mopac, a trail extension is under
construction through West Enfield Park at the Mopac
frontage road and Enfield. This trail extension will
follow around the swimming pool to Bridle Path and
Sharon Lane. This trail spur will get cylists
conveniently off Mopac frontage roads to Westover,
Jefferson, Expostition, Camp Mabry and points north.
Bridle Path and Bonnie will be the no-traffic
residential route to Scenic, Pecos, Red Bud Trail, and
Mount Bonnel. The Boggy Creek Trail in East
Austin will see three new bridges, trail
improvements, signage, and a connection to the
Crosstown Greenway and Town Lake Trail by way of
Perdenales. This author has urged City of Austin Bike
Coordinator Linda Dupriest to expedite the
construction of the funded bicycle/pedestrian friendly
crossing of the IH35 frontage roads at 4th Street. In
combination with the Ullrich bridge over Shoal Creek,
the 4th Street underpass will open an interim
Crosstown Greenway from Lamar into East Austin.
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- COA Parks and Recreation Department (COA PARD)
staff are working diligently on solving difficulties
encountered for a planned and funded new bridge
over Waller Creek. This bridge would connect the
Town Lake Trail with the Waller Creek Trail north of
Cesar Chavez. This new bridge will be larger than the
30-ton Ullrich Bridge just lowered. If these technical
questions are answered, we may see yet another bridge
lowering this year.
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- COA PARD is in final stages of design and
engineering for a "Barton Springs Loop Trail".
This trail will extend the current east-bank trail
past Sunken Gardens and cross Barton Creek on a new
bridge just upstream from the Barton Springs Pool.
This project also includes a new underpass next to the
Zilker Zepher tracks under Barton Springs Drive,
realizing a direct link between the Town Lake Trail
and Barton Springs Pool. At the Colorado River Park,
work will begin this year or early next on the
Colorado River Trail. This new trail in our new
363-acre park will connect Town Lake Trails with the
Crosstown Greenway. Immediately south of the Longhorn
Dam, an existing 8-foot wide tunnel under Pleasant
Valley Road will offer a safe connection.
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- Other projects in the hopper, though not yet near
construction include a "Bicycle Boulevard" from
downtown and the Crosstown Greenway, along Nueces,
Rio Grande, and perhaps Salado and or West to 38th
Street and Central Market. The COA Bike
Subcommittee is pursuing this project as an
alternative to high-traffic Guadalupe. Attend the
Bike Subcommittee
meetings to learn more and contribute your
ideas.
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- As reported in last month's "Cycling News", the
West Lynn Viaduct proposal is being advanced.
Breaking news from COA Planning is that a formal
proposal has been forwarded to COA Public Works
Department. This 11 by 11-foot tunnel under the Union
Pacific tracks would be reopened to offer access from
the Old West Austin Neighborhood to Stephen F. Austin
High School, the Crosstown Greenway, Zilker Park and
the new Town Lake Bridge. The COA bike program may
also soon be hiring a consultant to address access
from the north end of Shoal Creek Blvd., under
183/Research, across the Union Pacific tracks, and
across Mopac to Whole Foods, REI, and the Arboretum.
2001 TEA 21 applications will most likely include this
project, the Jollyville connection, a needed Barton
Creek Bridge at Mopac, and Town Lake Board Walk, all
of which were unsuccessful 1999 TEA 21 applications.
1998 bond money may be applied to improvements to a
West Bouldin Creek Greenbelt trail including a
connection to Town Lake Park. Plans are also afoot to
include a "bicycle pedestrian greenway" within the
perimeter of the Mueller Airport redevelopment,
while making all internal roadways bicycle-friendly
through traffic calming or striped bike lanes.
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- Clearly, this year 2000 will see more
bicycle/pedestrian improvements than we have ever
seen. There is still much to be accomplished, but we
should be grateful to the efforts of all the citizen
activists and public servants, past and present, from
LadyBird Johnson and Beverly Sheffield to Tommy Eden
and Ullrich Pipeline Project Manager Jay Ulary.
Clearly this has been a group effort, and we are now
reaping the rewards of our collective efforts with
13 projects under construction this year, eight
bridges, two tunnels, two or more underpasses, and
nine or more valid proposals. These nine other
citizen proposals will hopefully ride the coattails of
the Crosstown Greenway, inspiring our community to
create a citywide network of bicycle/pedestrian
friendly trails, streets, bridges and boulevards.
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Pick a project in your neighborhood, adopt it, find
out who the players are, attend the Bike
Subcommittee meetings.
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