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As a motorist, I don't drive down Nueces ever. I don't think I'd ever go there unless I was on my way to a place on Nueces. When I drive through downtown, I use Lavaca and Guadalupe and Congress. I can't remember very many businesses on Lavaca and Guadalupe except ones I have walked to (library and Texas Chili Parlor come to mind) from other places downtown. I can remember a lot of businesses on Congress, but that's probably because sometimes traffic is bad -- which I understand can be one effect of traffic calming. When I'm driving, I'm paying attention to the road and the car in front of me, not much else unless everyone is stopped. As a motorist, I do end up noticing when businesses are hard to get to, hard to park near, etc. But I still shop in those places if they have something I need. Examples I can think of off the top of my head are Toy Joy, anything on the drag and in west campus, EcoWise. If it's feasible, I often opt to ride my bike to those places instead, since parking is usually easier on a bike.
As a cyclist, I use San Jacinto when I go through downtown, not Nueces. It's similar to the concept of the Nueces bike boulevard in that it goes almost down to the trail at the lake, but very busy with car traffic. Right off the top of my head, I can remember lots of places and businesses on San Jacinto - churches, bars, restaurants, hotels, etc. - because when I'm on my bike I have time to look around. When Max's Wine Dive opened, I found out about it because I rode past on my bike. I can see the benefit of using Nueces, but I would really appreciate any bike friendly improvements that could be made -- connecting it to the Lance Armstrong veloway and the lake trails, making traffic calmer than on San Jacinto. My major irritation with riding San Jacinto all the way to the lake is the block of two of Cesar Chavez I have to use (that's really heavy traffic sometimes).
So: no one who has a business on Nueces is losing me as a car driving customer. I am never going to randomly drive past your business and notice you, because there are other streets that go through downtown that I will probably always like better. If I need something from your business and I find out about you through other venues like advertising, the bike boulevard wouldn't deter me from using you. It might encourage me to ride my bike to see you instead of driving, but my money would still spend the same, right?
As a cyclist, you could gain me as a customer because a.) I notice more stuff from my bike, and b.) the bike boulevard would give me an excuse to ride through your neighborhood. Right now, I don't have any reason to try out your street on my bike (or in my car).
I know other people have said similar things, but maybe in a more general context or comparing parts of Austn to parts of other cities. This is what the bike boulevard would mean to me as a consumer of stuff in Austin. I don't think I'm the only person like this, and I don't see the bike boulevard as a detrement to either me or my relationship to any of the business owners on Nueces, even in the short term.
Thanks,
Alicia
You're right that 290 is not bike friendly. There are wide shoulders, at least on some sections, but the traffic is very heavy and very fast. I live in Windsor Park, and I know a few ways to get out towards Manor, which I'll list below. But depending on where exactly you need to go, you will probably find biking out there to be full of problems, the main one being that most stuff in Manor is directly on or right off 290, and there aren't a lot of parallel roads. At least, not yet.
Ways to go:
1. 51st St. east to 183; follow 183 on the shoulder north to Loyola; take Loyola east, it becomes Decker Lake Rd, continue east; take 973 (I think -- it's not labeled on google maps for some reason) north to downtown Manor/290. It's a small country road with no shoulder, but I don't think there is too much traffic out there.
2. Neighborhood roads like Rogge Ln. can take you out to Manor Rd., which turns into Springdale; take Springdale north past 183 to Old Manor Rd; Old Manor can take you a good distance out, but probably not all the way to downtown Manor.
My husband and I have ridden these routes before -- although we haven't taken 973 all the way past the toll road 130. Traffic is heavy during rush hour, and there aren't always bike lanes available, but if you are an experienced rider and keep your wits about you, you shouldn't have too much trouble using these roads.
I've been biking at Mueller a few times already. Right now, Zach Scott doesn't seem like it's going to have traffic as heavy as, say, Aldrich St. (which doesn't show up on google maps, but I think that's the street that goes around the north side of the pond and the playground. Zach Scott looks more residential, even though I guess some people could use it as a shortcut, while Aldrich looks like it might get some commercial development. I don't have any experience with sharrows, but I would vote for that or no markings on Zach Scott -- the bike lanes in the picture do look like an accident waiting to happen, especially for the kids and residents who might just be tooling around the neighborhood. The parallel parking is going to be essential to the residents, I think, given the other parking options in that area, so I don't think you'd have much luck getting it taken out.
The trail material: I've gone both running and biking through the greenbelt area and the material seems to work just fine. The stuff around I-35 gets very soggy when it's wet, which makes biking difficult, but I haven't noticed the same problem in the greenbelt. It's not the best biking surface, though, and when a few more streets are put in I will probably shift to riding on the streets instead of through the park.
Do we not advocate riding on the sidewalk when the road is dangerous?
I ride on Pleasant Valley to cross the river a few times a week, and I make use of the sidewalks when I can. I usually take Wickersham to Elmont, Elmont to Pleasant Valley -- those roads are quieter than the same stretch of Pleasant Valley -- and then use the sidewalks until they run out at Lakeshore. You can cross the street at the Lakeshore light, ride the Lady Bird Lake trail until the bridge, and then cross under Pleasant Valley through a tunnel under the street that leads to the softball fields. Or, you can ride pell-mell down Pleasant Valley from Lakeshore until the sidewalk picks up again to go over the dam, which is quicker and a yes, probably a little dangerous. But I have been trying to ride in the middle of the lane (since there's no shoulder on that part of the road), and have only been honked at once. And it's usually during evening rush hour, so I tend to think that's not a bad experience.
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