BIKE: note on exit of Austin State Hospital

[Mike Librik or Amy Babich]

As some of you may know, there is a good east-west connection through
Austin State Hospital and Central Market, via a gate between the ASH
grounds the CM loading dock. CM parking lot can be hairy sometimes. This
is a direct path from Hyde Park to the south end of Shoal Creek Blvd.

I usually enter the ASH grounds, going westbound, at the Guadalupe St.
entrance by hitting Guadalupe on 42nd, then going downhill on block on
Guadalupe. This "jog left" crossing has me waiting on 42nd to make my
left turn onto Guadalupe, then giving me a quick right turn off of
Guadalupe. If I cross Guad. at the traffic light at 41st, I have to "jog
right" because of the weird set up of the intersection, where oncoming
left-turning cars might try to cut me off. I'd advise anyone trying this
route to consider both 41st and 42nd and choose their poison. Sidewalk
hoppers can use 43rd and then pick up the sidewalk, which is unbroken by
driveways until the ASH entrance. Remember that pedestrians should never
feel threatened by bikes (much less be threatened), or else we invoke
the taint of the SUV upon ourselves.

Similarly, in the eastbound direction, I tend to make a left out of the
ASH gate and then left onto 42nd or the Hyde Park Marketplace parking
lot, accessing the alley behind. Guadalupe is uphill in this direction,
and it isn't as easy to hold a lane of it as it is in the downhill
direction. There is a traffic signal sensor in the left turn lane
exiting ASH, and it is faintly spray painted in the left hand part of
the lane. Again I don't go straight at the 41st St. intersection, since
left turning traffic is induced to cut me off by the layout of the
intersection.

Central Market can be a mess, full of people with inexplicable
expectations about how traffic is supposed to behave. But then the one
hard and fast rule for parking lots is that there are no hard and fast
rules. The stops signs are all plastic and bear no authority. I prefer
not to ride in parking lots, but I'll do so if circumstances force it.
The approach to the intersection of Lamar and 40th is a bit goofy and
tends to breed unpredictable behavior, but very little traffic goes
straight through this intersection, as the biker usually does. As much
as I dislike the CM parking lot, it is fabulously well located as a
connection between regions. There is also an exit that crosses 38th at
West Ave. which is a useful asset for maneuvering around the dead zone
at 38th and Lamar.

--
Mike Librik
Easy Street Recumbents
512-453-0438
45th and Red River St.
Central Austin
info
www.easystreetrecumbents.com
www.urbancycling.com