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http://www.statesman.com/news/content/n … treet.html
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
Part of 24th Street to close in UT campus
After construction done, stretch of road to stay closed during school days.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009University of Texas officials, concerned about the conjunction of cars and heavy pedestrian traffic at 24th Street and Speedway, have decided to permanently close 24th Street during business hours from Speedway to a point just east of University Avenue.
That section, which like all streets within the campus belongs to the university rather than the City of Austin, closed July 6 for construction of the $116.5 million Norman Hackerman science building.
But later this summer, when 24th would have reopened to traffic, UT will install gates at each end of the closed section. During school days — UT hasn't decided on the exact hours — only certain UT facilities vehicles equipped with electronic tags will be able to open the gates.
The gates will be open in the evenings, on weekends and between semesters when foot and vehicle traffic is light in the area.
— Ben Wear
Earlier this year at the UT Parking & Traffic Policies Committee, when Bobby Stone of UT PTS presented the plan to close 24th St., I and others on the committee raised concerns about how bicycle traffic would be accommodated. (The contracted study by the Walker engineering firm accounted for 4-wheeled motor vehicles, pedestrians, and transit (there is none there), but made not a single mention of bicycle traffic.) He agreed that bicycle traffic should be accommodated and he promised to send the committee a diagram of the plans when they were complete so that the committee could review them. (I haven't seen the plans yet.) The need for a preview of the plans is that the gates complicate multi-modal access. The gates are needed for motor vehicles, but regular bicycle traffic will not trigger/operate or require the gates. Because of this, there needs to be a clear way around the gate for bicyclists. Bicycle traffic is not required to have any special authorization (beyond being a bicycle) and thus does not need to operate the gates.
I have not seen the plans, but I will look into it.
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I received the design plans from UT PTS. I've uploaded the file to the UT Bicycle Planning Google Group:
http://groups.google.com/group/ut-bicyc … 071309.pdf
I think the design looks great, and I let PTS know so. I think it's good that bicycles pass on the left because they will usually be going faster than cars that have to stop at the gate.
(I believe this will be the first ever bicycle-specific route facility at UT.)
If you have any thoughts that you would like to convey to UT PTS, you can visit their bicycle program website at http://www.utexas.edu/parking/transportation/biking/
[edit follows]
Umm... yeah, oops. Someone alerted me to the point that bicycle traffic will be British-style at some points, e.g. when a bicycle is entering the gated area as a car is exiting. (not contraflow, but British-style) The design still seems good to me (though not ideal) given the constraints: If they want two-way car traffic with only one car gate, this seems like a good possible design. In this area, we should expect very, very low car traffic during the gated periods.
Last edited by tomwald (2009-07-29 15:04:02)
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Now the Daily Texan has a news article with a few quotes from UT planning employees:
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/top-sto … -1.1788218
UT to restrict 24th Street access
Published: Thursday, July 30, 2009
Updated: Thursday, July 30, 2009
Engineers work at UT's new science buildingKarina Jacques/The Daily Texan
Engineers work at UT's new science building on 24th Street and Speedway this Wednesday. The street will remain closed to cars during business hours to make campus more pedestrian friendly.
The stretch of 24th Street, currently blocked off for construction of the new Norman Hackerman Building, will remain closed to car traffic during business hours as part of a larger effort to make central campus more pedestrian-friendly, officials said Wednesday.
Jeri Baker, assistant director of Parking and Transportation Services, said the decision was prompted by a traffic study the University commissioned through Walker Parking Consultants. The study, which monitored vehicular and foot traffic in the area during November and January, recommended limited access for safety reasons.
"[The study] prompted us to ask what do we need to do to keep the area safe," Baker said.
Baker said except for a bike lane, the area would be closed off by gates to all but UT vehicles, but after business hours and on weekends access would be restored to pre-construction levels. She said the decision fits into the long-term plans to make Speedway Street into a completely pedestrian mall.
"We just sort of see this as sort of the first step in that," Baker said.
David Rea, director of the Office of Campus Planning and Facilities Management, said the Student Activity Center being built next to Gregory Gymnasium was one example of the master plan continuing to guide development.
"The master plan was completed over a dozen years ago. However, those recommendations which remain valid are followed for each project," Rea said in an e-mail.
Less visible is the constant maintenance and small-scale work done by UT's Project Management & Construction Services division. Bill Throop, director of the division, said that the group handles renovation projects under $2 million and new construction under $1 million.
"Generally, what we're doing in the buildings replaces something old with something that's new and more efficient," Throop said, listing examples such as new roofing and electrical systems.
Michael Holleran, head of historic preservation and associate professor at the School of Architecture, said the master plan hovered somewhere between a set of guidelines and strict rules.
"To some extent it's a vision, 'This is what we could do, this is what we should do,'" said Holleran. "And to some extent, it's concrete."
Holleran said the plan called for two main changes – the "pedestrianization" of Speedway and refurbishment of the East Mall. He was hesitant to define which buildings on campus were immune to future changes and which were expendable.
"The thing as a whole is what has meaning," he said.
Holleran said that while campus outside the 40 Acres held more potential for change, the central area has reached a point of maturation.
"It's important not just to think in a green field to learn how to add to the density without thinking that we need to start by scrapping," Holleran said.
The small mention of a bike lane here belies (or demonstrates?) the fact that bicycles have not been adequately considered in UT planning yet the Speedway plans will effect bicycle routing. (FYI, I'm not so sure there will technically be a bike "lane" -- more like a bike gate.) Despite what the quote above says, bicycles will supposedly continue to be allowed on Speedway through the heart of campus. There are certainly mixed signals about this.
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