The Portland Loo, a permanent public restroom, may be coming to Austin.[/caption]If all goes according to plan, the city of Austin's first free, public, 24-hour temporary restroom facility should be coming to Downtown Sixth Street and I-35 in 8-10 weeks.
On Thursday, city staff announced it was in the process of securing a contractor for the single-occupancy restroom, which will include a toilet and hand sanitizer.
The city is hoping to secure two restrooms and put the second facility at East Sixth and Brazos Street, according to David Magana, a city engineer in the public works department.
After a month in the two locations, the ADA-compliant restrooms will move again, to East Seventh Street at Neches Street and to East Sixth at Trinity Street, followed by West Fifth Street at Colorado Street.
Data will be measured at each location, Magana said. Performance measures include the number of users, the number of human waste locations identified within one block area of the facility and the number of urinating in public incidents during the testing time within a block.
The idea for public restrooms was first suggested by Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo, whose District 9 covers downtown. She sponsored a resolution in January 2016 calling for free, 24-hour public toilets that would benefit families with young children, bicyclists, runners, homeless individuals and late-night crowds who enter the streets after bars close.
Another resolution in June called for the city manager to look into options and locations for mobile public restrooms.
Magana said he hopes to model the pilot program after a similar one executed in Denver, although Denver's temporary public restrooms are not operated 24/7. He also pointed to cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, Houston, Galveston and San Antonio that have installed public restrooms.
Init Umani, executive director of downtown Austin's Trinity Center, a nonprofit offering resources to the homeless community, said she was pleased with the locations of the restrooms.
"I'm just really happy that there is a move forward," she said.
Costs
The temporary facility costs about $50,000 per unit, according to Magana.
He said it will cost about $25,000 a year to service one unit twice a day, twice a week without an attendant present.
Paid advertisements on the permanent facilities are also being considered as a way to generate revenue.
The city of Austin has budgeted enough money to fund the pilot program for a year, although Magana said the pilot does not have to last a full year.
The feedback received at Thursday's meeting will be shared with other city departments and City Council as the resolution moves forward and plans are finalized.
Safety concerns
Several people said they wanted to make sure the restrooms were in well-lit areas and monitored by camera on the outside.
As part of the pilot program, the city of Austin—in conjunction with the Downtown Austin Alliance, which advocates for the welfare of downtown—will be stationing an attendant at the restroom 24 hours a day for at least two weeks.
Magana said it will cost about $3,800 a week for one attendant. The city will evaluate the usefulness and necessity of the attendant after two weeks. The DAA will be responsible for funding the position through a stipend.
"The idea is to meet, greet, make it safe and clean," Magana said of the attendant's role.
Lt. Jason Cumins with the Austin Police Department said officers would also be routinely monitoring the bathrooms.
"We're not just going to be putting them up somewhere and forgetting about it," he said, adding officers receive daily calls from business owners about people refusing to get out of bathrooms or sleeping in them.
Permanent facilities
If the pilot program is successful, City Council will decide on the number of permanent bathrooms to install and where to install them, Magana said.
He said the city is leaning toward purchasing the single-occupancy Portland Loo to fill its permanent public restroom needs. Made out of steel, the Portland-made restroom has louvers—angled, flat strips that are open for ventilation—at the top and bottom of the unit so people can see whether the unit is occupied. It has a hand-washing station on the outside, hand sanitizer on the inside and is ADA-compliant.
It uses about 1.28 gallons per flush and weighs 6,013 lbs, according to the Portland Loo's website.
