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MichaelBluejay

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From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

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CapMetro to start on 0.8-mile bike/ped trail next to the Red Line

"Capital Metro is scheduled to begin construction in January on a bike and pedestrian trail that will run adjacent to Airport Boulevard between the Crestview and Highland MetroRail stations. The 0.8-mile trail will run along the west side of Airport Boulevard from Lamar Boulevard to Denson Drive and improve connectivity in the nearby neighborhoods."

http://impactnews.com/articles/capital- … near-rail/

Good news!  Though I wish they'd run it the whole length of the railway.  I remember about 15 years ago or so they'd planned to have a bike trail paralleling Clarkson that never happened.  If I could bike the rail route, I could get to the Highland 10 movie theatre from my house a lot faster (and safer).

daveintex13

Member

Registered: 2010-01-07

Posts: 24

Re: CapMetro to start on 0.8-mile bike/ped trail next to the Red Line

Hey Michael:

Yes, this is good news, and yes, it would be nice if we could have a multi-use trail along the entire length of the CapMetro tracks. Twelve or so years ago I worked on a proposal with Linda Dupriest (former COA bike coordinator) for TxDOT "enhancement" funds for a short segment of trail along or near the right-of-way. At the time, we dubbed it the "Upper Boggy Creek Trail" since it would have followed Boggy Creek for part of its length. It is enshrined in the 2002 Upper Boggy Creek Neighborhood Plan (linked below). We didn't receive the funds and I haven't seen announcements of similar programs since then. But little by little, segments of the trail are being constructed when funds and right-of-way are available. For example, the Boggy Creek Greenbelt Trail is being extended from 12th Street to the MLK Station.

The trail hasn't happened as quickly as I would like, but it was studied by Mia Burke (Alta Planning, see report linked below) and is listed as a "super route" in the 2009 City Bike Plan (see pages 116 and 120, also linked below) so it has gotten some attention. I'm not sure I like some of the proposed routing, but it's just lines on paper at this point, so it can be fixed. I believe the City made the right decision to first expend its limited bike funds on a more robust system of bike lanes; trails eat up a lot of money very quickly. Of course, I'd prefer the City spend more funds for all sorts of bike facilities, but I live in the real world and realize this will not happen unless and until there is more political support for more bike facilities. Supporting BikeAustin (bikeaustin.org) and BikeTexas (biketexas.org) would help there. I know you do, and so do I. Thank you for that.

I live in Cherrywood, which is one of the more difficult segments to route the trail through. Because the railroad ROW is only 50 feet wide south of the Denson/Airport area (Highland Mall), it isn't feasible to construct a trail within the ROW with the recommended (required) set-back from the tracks. This limitation requires that substantial lengths of the trail near downtown be constructed on surface streets, on City-owned street ROW, park land, or other available land, including possibly private easement donations. Consider: if the tracks run down the middle of the ROW, which they do, mostly, that leaves less than 23 feet on either side for a 10 foot wide trail (not even counting ballast/rocks or possible double tracking). If I recall correctly from USDOT/FRA engineering standards (linked below), minimum set-back is at least 10 feet. So the trail could never be more than 3 feet from the edge of a 50 foot ROW, which is not feasible with crossing arms, signal boxes, etc. in the way. And that is with the minimum set-back ever observed anywhere, which might not be considered safe or reasonable in our situation. No competent engineer would stamp designs that violated the set-back requirement or imposed a safety hazard. Of course, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but others reading this might not know it.

Clarkson west of IH-35 is a great place for a trail, because it parallels and is adjacent to the tracks, which also parallel and are adjacent to Airport Blvd. So there is ample ROW all adjacent, plus Clarkson has little motorized traffic. A cycle track there would probably work well. Designs for future Airport Blvd upgrades have bike lanes on either side, but we should still pursue a multi-use trail/cycletrack along Clarkson and Middle Fiskville because Airport Blvd. bike lanes would be one-way and what if I want to turn around? I'd have to cross Airport Blvd. at an intersection or do a U-turn across 5 lanes to get to the bike lane going the other direction. The asphalt is already there on Clarkson, let's use it.

See the following for more information on rails-with-trails and the Boggy Creek Bikeway:

(1)
Capital Metro RwT Feasibility Study (2007)
http://allsystemsgo.capmetro.org/downlo … _FINAL.pdf

(2)
City of Austin 2009 Bicycle Plan Update
http://austintexas.gov/sites/default/fi … erplan.pdf

(3)
USDOT/FRA Rails-with-Trails: Lessons Learned (2002)
http://transit-safety.volpe.dot.gov/pub … Trails.htm

(4)
Upper Boggy Creek Neighborhood Plan (2002)
ftp://ftp.ci.austin.tx.us/npzd/website/ … _creek.htm

I hope everyone pedals happily and safely in 2013!

~Dave.Westenbarger~

MichaelBluejay

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From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

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Re: CapMetro to start on 0.8-mile bike/ped trail next to the Red Line

No competent engineer would stamp designs that violated the set-back requirement or imposed a safety hazard. Of course, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but others reading this might not know it.

Thanks for the detailed report!  But you're giving me more credit than I deserve -- I actually had no idea that different sections of the track had different amounts of adjacent available land and that that's one of the limiting factors.

I guess the plan you talked about was the one I heard about over a decade ago.  I do remember being kind of nonplussed about a trail paralleling Clarkson because Clarkson is already so easy to bike on.  I use it all the time.  But you're right, if we build-out various short segments, then maybe we'll be able to connect them in the future.  And in any event, the more bike infrastructure the better, and we might as well take everything we can get.

Thanks again for the report.  I live near Cherrywood too, by the way.

rich00

Member

Registered: 2010-01-18

Posts: 166

Re: CapMetro to start on 0.8-mile bike/ped trail next to the Red Line

Clarkson is a pretty good bike route, that parallels Airport. The problems start when you get down near 45th and in the Hancock center. I always go through the backside parking lot of Hancock, then cross under 35 at that light, and use the sidewalk to Fiesta, then through the parking lot to 38th where Cherrywood provides a number of good bike roads.

It must be noted that this hap-hazard route of using parking lots and sidewalks is a FAIL for supporting bike commuting. I look to the future when COA can put in a real bike route through here. Duval is pretty good, Wilshire/Cherrywood as well, but they don't serve the I35 area.

That, and of course, crossing Koenig is the other problem. Safest choice is using Ave F at the light, or Chesterfield if you don't want to wait at a light and traffic isn't too heavy on Koenig. Then use the bridge crossing to Guadalupe. Which by the way, Guadalupe is going to be resurfaced in the near future, and that will make it a much nicer, faster ride.

I would advise not using Airport blvd, the bike lane NB south of Koenig isn't that wide and then it disappears for a 1/4 mile until Highland Mall.

This new trail will be a good start. I would argue there are better places to spend money, but if now is the time for this location, then I'm behind it. Even as experienced of a cyclist as I am, I am not very comfortable riding the Airport bike lanes. Traffic is just too fast and too much volume. If I am with my gf at her place in Highland, we ride the sidewalk up Airport to get to the Walgreens or Asian grocery or Blackstar off Lamar.

Last edited by rich00 (2013-01-04 14:34:18)