Council Member Paige Ellis noted that encountering a vehicle in a bike lane where it least expected is one of the most dangerous aspects of cycling in the city. “For (all) the millions of dollars allocated for bike lanes, if they’re blocked, they are completely useless.”

How much things have changed!  I made the exact same argument to City Council in 2006, about the City's allowing cars to park in the bike lanes on Shoal Creek Blvd, but none of them voiced any agreement about that idea.  And they voted overwhelmingly to allow cars to continue to park in the bike lanes.

When I worked at Apple, they sent me on a business trip, and would have paid for me to rent a car for the week, but instead I borrowed a bicycle, and bought a basket/rack at the bike shop to put my briefcase in.  I submitted a travel expense reimbursement request for the basket/rack, but Accounting denied it, even though the cost was far less than Apple would have paid for me to rent a car.  (My manager went to bat for me and I got my reimbursement.)

He posted a gruesome picture of the injury to his shoulder.

For whatever reason, the post is no longer online.

Watershed Protection is the department managing that redesign. They have an erosion issue there that is very unique. They went to Vancouver to use a special modeling facility to model the erosion on a small scale with their current bridge design, to be sure it will behave in practice as they are hoping, since the erosion situation there is severe. They are still a couple years out from a final bridge being open, given the complexity of the erosion control there.

I don't know, I guess.  But, a couple of weeks before I was born JFK made a speech in which he announced a plan for the US to land a man on the moon.  By the time I was in the 3rd grade we had done it!   Whole new technologies had to be developed to make that happen. People have been building bridges for about 10,000 years.   

Austin is NOT taking active transportation anywhere near as seriously as it could.  I'm not blaming the people working for the city - my impression is that they are frustrated too.  The general population really just wants more car lanes, and these efforts to fix bridges are just the scraps that fall off the table. Austin is really a very car friendly place.

It's a lot different in Europe and Japan.  How exactly did we wind up with a "me me me me" culture while they didn't?  That's not rhetorical, really, how did we get here, when the examples of other countries shows that it wasn't a foregone conclusion?

The problem I have had with 311 is that they will close a case without explaining why.  Sometimes it is because the case has been referred to another department.  Keep the case number they give you and call and follow up if nothing gets done or the case is marked as closed online.  If the 311 operator can't answer your questions ask to be transferred to whoever can.  I have had some success with that, but it definitely takes some time. 

The online form is frustrating because the drop down choices never seem to include what I need.  But, you can send them an email.  I do that and send myself a copy to forward to my council person if nothing gets done. And yes, include all possible info.  Use google maps to get an address if you don't know it.  They do seem to use missing info as an excuse to not do anything.

Be careful if you take that western road N-S through Pickle. They did some road construction there and left a 1' gap in the pavement. It's especially bad if you are going south - as you'll hit a nice 90 degree edge and destroy your wheel and possibly wreck. There are no barriers or signs or anything to alert you.

Don

I found out on further investigation that it is illegal in Travis County to have loose dogs running out in the road, and there is a way to report this.
Basically, you should make note of a general description of the dog (color, size, etc) and the address where the dog is hanging out. With that info, you can call 3-1-1 and report the issue. I have taken this step for this dog. The 3-1-1 responder said that an animal control officer will go out within 3 days to attempt to find the owner of the dog and give them some education about their obligation to restrain their dog. This first visit will not result in a citation, but subsequent reports can/will result in a citation.

Here's info on the law: https://www.tcsheriff.org/images/docs/about/tcleash.pdf

I would encourage others to report such loose dogs whenever possible! Let's make the roads safer for each other. Loose dogs running at cyclists can and do cause serious injuries to cyclists.

I also plan to get some pepper spray :-)

You had better get the pepper spray and not count on enforcement.  Right around the corner from us in Oak Hill there were a bunch of aggressive Dobermans that would run out in the street.  My wife and I called animal control repeatedly to no avail.  They told us that when they got there the animals were on the owners' property so there was nothing they could do.  One time the person who answered the phone at animal control actually told my wife: "Why don't you just walk somewhere else?"

My good cycling buddy had a Rottweiller sink his/her teeth into his leg and the owner of that dog IS facing consequences.  The other day a young lady went down because a dog ran in front of her.  They didn't need a meat wagon to bring her in, but she had multiple injuries.  Both these incidents were out towards Creedmore.  I am not sure I want to go on group rides in that area any more. 

Don in Austin

Bingo.  Before my injury when I was able to run, my training loop included Guadalupe from 51st to Koenig (which I ran very late at night or very early morning), and around 51st St. the sidewalks are DARK, broken, and often littered with debris.

I run in that area and I agree about the sidewalks. They're even worse in Highland. Parked cars, broken pavement, untrimmed trees and shrubs, animal feces, poor lighting, trash, mud, you name it. I don't feel obligated to run on sidewalks like this. I keep an eye out for bikes but I'm more concerned about SUVs.

Runners in the bike lane bug me when I'm riding my bike, but not nearly as much as motor vehicles, both illegally parked and moving. Passing a runner means going a whole 3 feet out of my way. I've crossed mountain ranges on my bike. I think I can pass a few runners ;)