Bicycle Austin forum

owlman

Member

Registered: 2011-12-16

Posts: 142

Bike lane requirements for new development?

Does anyone know how bike facilities factor in to the planning and permitting process in Austin?  I've noticed recent new development where it seems like bike lanes are not even on the radar.

For example Escarpment Blvd south of 45 which was built a few years ago.  It's 2-lanes with a median + a sidewalk on one side. The lanes are fairly wide, but not quite wide enough to stripe in a bike lane everywhere (about 14ft curb-to-curb in what looked like the narrowest part). This will be the main artery for a neighborhood with probably several hundred single-family homes. The road is within the city limits.

Another example is where William Cannon extends across Southwest Parkway to the new Tecoma development. The brand new roadway is four lanes with a median and sidewalks. No bike lanes.  It is due to feed some 2,000 new apartments along with retail and commercial.  The sidewalks are nice but not wider than normal, and have occasional sharp angles. The road is partly in Austin but mostly in Austin's ETJ.

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,455

Website

Re: Bike lane requirements for new development?

How about Mueller?  Nothing on Mueller Blvd. or Barbara Jordan Blvd.  I mentioned that to someone in the City's Bike Program a couple years ago and he said, "Oh, it's just not finished yet!"  So they've been there for, what, ten years without bike lanes?  Why were they even constructed without them in the first place?

Anyway, I think you'll have to ask the Bike Program directly.  I don't think they monitor this forum any more.