Boardwalk Trail needs bicyclist support…
by D'Amico ... LOBV @ 3:21 pm []Regardless of how effective it will be in dealing with bicycle transportation, completing the gap in the Lady Bird Lake hike/bike trail (can’t I say “town lake,” please? Or maybe just “the river?”) makes sense and will be used extensively by bikes/peds.
LOBV has been following the project–although mainly from the sidelines–to ensure bicycle access and transportation are considered and balance with pedestrian issues.
Sara Krause–who now chairs the Urban Transportation Commission–made the following plea for bicyclists and others to let the City Council know the Boardwalk Trail Project is an important project that need not be delayed by pressures from developers or nearby landowners.
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Dear Friends, I wanted to personally reach out to you because of your dedication to our beautiful city, and one of its most important treasures: the Trail around Lady Bird Lake. This email pertains to the proposed Boardwalk that would complete the trail. This is an incredibly important project in many respects and will be an important recreation and transportation opportunity for bicyclists and pedestrians.
In the weeks ahead, the City Council will consider the Riverside Boardwalk Trail and its concept plan. On February 12, the Council will receive a briefing on the Boardwalk from the Parks and Recreation Department and the Public Works Department. On February 26, the City Council will vote on the concept plan.
Please show your support for completing the Trail by emailing our City Council today:
lee.leffingwell@ci.austin.tx.us
For more information on the propsed boardwalk visit the Trail Foundation’s site: http://www.townlaketrail.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=65
While many consider closing this gap in our lake-front Trail to be a laudable civic goal and critical for Austin’s park and trail system, it is one of many issues the City has an opportunity to address in 2009. For the Trail to be finally completed, everyone who supports it needs to be heard from now.
There are still issues of construction methods, segment routes, environmental impacts, and funding to be considered in the months ahead during the design stage. Advancing the concept plan to the next stage does not mean the work of designing, funding and building the best boardwalk trail for Austin and Lady Bird Lake is finished. But it will mean we would be closer than we have ever been to providing safe, continuous pedestrian and bicycle access along the entire lakefront.
Please help make the Trail the best it can be for all of Austin. Show your support on or before the 12th and mark February 26 on your calendar and plan to attend the Council meeting. Thank you all, and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Sara Krause