Minutes for Bicycle-Pedestrian Subcommittee of Urban Transportation Commission Thu., August 29, 2002, at 6:30 p.m. One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Rd. 8th Floor Small Conference Room UTC members present: Tommy Eden, chair Staff members present: none Others present: Preston Tyree Courtney Grant 1. REQUEST TO DESIGN EXTENDED GUTTER PANS AS AN ALTERNATIVE STYLE OF BICYCLE LANE The person who recommended this change was not present. Tommy Eden explained that the idea was to design an extended gutter pan that could double as a bicycle lane. This design would ensure that streets would have bicycle lanes. There was some concern about such facilities filling up with water during light rain storms. The issue was not considered further. 2. REQUEST TO ENFORCE RULES WHICH PROHIBIT PEDESTRIANS FROM WALKING IN BICYCLE LANES Tommy Eden had spoken with Linda DuPriest to find out whether Mike Dahmus had discussed this issue with her. She explained that the police would have to see the people walking in the bicycle lanes in order to enforce this law, and that they didn't have the time or the inclination to do so. In addition, the bicycle lanes on Jester Blvd. would not be removed. The person who had brought up this issue was not present, and the issue was not considered further. 3. PROPOSAL TO REPEAL OR AMEND ORDINANCES REGARDING THE OPERATION OF BICYCLES IN AUSTIN This issue is mainly about city ordinances which duplicate or conflict with state laws. Tommy Eden explained that the UTC had considered this issue during the previous week's meeting. The other commissioners had wanted to see the state laws which conflicted with or duplicated the ordinances in question. Preston Tyree agreed to identify the appropriate sections in the Texas statutes. 4. PROPOSAL TO IMPROVE PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE SAFETY ON SOUTH LAMAR Tommy Eden had spoken with Linda DuPriest about the proposal under consideration. The City of Austin had recently installed new sidewalks between Barton Springs Rd. and Treadwell on the east side of S. Lamar Blvd., but there was not sufficient right of way to install bicycle lanes. Furthermore, there could be a problem with installing a crosswalk on the north side of the intersection of S. Lamar with Hether/W. Mary St. Beyond those issues, the City of Austin is treating Lamar Blvd. as the highest priority for new sidewalk construction, and any other issues could be referred to a traffic engineer. Given the unlikelihood of getting an additional ten feet of right of way, the subcommittee agreed to have the proposal rewritten to include a bicycle lane only on the west (uphill) side of S. Lamar and to bring the proposal back to the subcommittee in September. 5. REVIEW OF BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES ON BUDGETED STREET RECONSTRUCTION PROJECTS The UTC had recently been given a current list of street reconstruction projects which indicated whether each project included bicycle lanes and/or sidewalks. Tommy Eden agreed to send the list to Preston Tyree. This issue will need to be part of the budget considerations for FY03. City Council will be approving the new budget during September. 6. DISCUSSION ABOUT BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED WITH CAPITAL METRO QUARTER-CENT SALES TAX REFUND This issue is directly related to the previous issue. 7. UPDATE ON CURB RAMPS FOR BARTON SPRINGS ROAD Tommy Eden discussed the curb ramps at Bouldin with Robert Holland, who is responsible for the project at Town Lake Park. The curb ramps at Bouldin had been removed by mistake, and those ramps would be replaced. Tommy Eden discussed the bicycle ramp at Robert E. Lee with Lucia Stan, Richard Kroger, Jesus Lardestabal, and Linda DuPriest. Colly Kreidler had counted the bicyclists using the intersection and found only one who would have benefitted from rebuilding the bicycle ramp. This count had been conducted while the area was still under construction, and access to the area was still blocked by a silt dam. Preston Tyree agreed that the new curb was a safety hazard. The subcommittee decided to monitor the situation to see how extreme the safety hazard proves to be over time.