BIKE: note on exit of Austin State Hospital

[Mike Librik or Amy Babich]

Patrick Goetz wrote:

> On Fri, 24 Oct 2003, Mike Librik or Amy Babich wrote:
> > 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've looked for this gate a couple of times from the CM parking lot side
> and not been able to find it (maybe I need glasses again).  Next time I'll
> try coming from the ASH side and see if I can locate it.

Coming from Hyde Park, go straight back through ASH until you are opposite of
the fenced in generator house (just before the bend in the road). It is right
where the brick wall becomes chainlink fence.

Coming from CM, go to the north end of the parking lot and go into the loading
docks. Just as the narrow access corridor opens into the wide loading dock,
look for picnic table smoking area. The gate is shut during some weekend hours
and likely after dark.

> Question:  How is this a direct path to the south end of SCB?  What do you
> do once you get through the CM parking lot?

I'd encourage riders to not use the direct path sidewalk going from the
intersection of 40th and Marathon (to the east) and 40th and Medical Parkway
(to the west). I used to use the north side of the gas station parking lot
just to the north of the sidewalk. However, busy conditions in that parking
lot, particularly cars backing downhill into my path of travel, and
unpredictable, chaotic driving encountered when waiting to make the left turn
from out of the parking lot, have convinced me to avoid it. I prefer not to
cross the far south end of that lot, since it sends me out the exit in a
contraflow direction right at the intersection.

I go up to the "Quik Print" parking lot, who has a sign specifically
forbidding cut through traffic, and I cut through there. Of course I give any
pedestrians a wide berth, stopping fully for them if necessary for their
feeling of well-being, and I make a point of yielding to traffic there for
more legitimate reasons than I. Thus I jog left on Medical Parkway, which
isn't too bad since I'm going downhill, and make an easy right onto 40th.

Coming back, I typically cross Medical Parkway at 42nd. This adds even more
distance, but it is harder to retrace the above path since it involves going
uphill on Medical Parkway.

The reason I specifically avoid the sidewalk connection is that it dumps one
out directly into the middle of an intersection. Both 40th/Marathon and
40th/Med Parkway are 3-way stops for cars, and that sidewalk doesn't figure
much into motorists' considerations, if they are aware of the sidewalk at all.

As a general rule, I say that entering intersections from sidewalks is a bad
idea. While I'll use the sidewalk in some circumstances, I tend to get back
into the street to make my approach to the intersection. The few times I've
tried the sidewalk link along 40th at Medical Parkway, I've found that coming
to a stop and waiting doesn't cause drivers to come to a stop and give me a
turn. OTOH, when stopped at a stop line in the center of a traffic lane, they
do stop, fully, and I can cross the intersection with greater safety and
dignity.

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