1. City of Austin to increase public safety efforts around homeless center downtown
Starting Aug. 15, the area around the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, or ARCH, in downtown Austin will start to see more of a police presence as part of a multifaceted effort to solve the homeless problem.
On Friday, Mayor Steve Adler and Ann Howard, executive director for the nonprofit Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or ECHO, announced the increased public safety efforts to the area.
2. West Avenue downtown extension now open
The city of Austin on Friday opened the extension of West Avenue to create an intersection with West Cesar Chavez Street. The roadway extension was done as part of a series of improvements before opening the New Central Library, which is set to open in the fall.
3. Austin City Council votes to increase funding for Barton Springs Road bridge project
The main bridge to Zilker Park needs to be repaired or replaced, and the Austin City Council is dedicating more funds to the project.
The Barton Springs Road Bridge, which traverses Barton Creek, will receive $692,387 additional dollars for engineering after City Council voted Thursday to increase the project budget. The contract amount now totals $1.05 million.
4. Proposed bond amount for Travis County drainage, park projects increases
Travis County staff recommended $28 million be added to the November 2017 bond referendum package at a commissioners court meeting Tuesday to address more drainage projects and improve the Northeast Metropolitan Park in Pflugerville.
Commissioners are scheduled to vote on a finalized list of projects Tuesday, Aug. 8.
5. Input sought on area healthcare district
The community is invited to share their thoughts on Central Health, the Travis County health care district. An independent consultant is analyzing the district on the following areas:
- Access
- Communication/outreach
- Population health management
- Governance
- Funding/stewardship
- Workforce
Meetings will be held Tuesday in English and Wednesday in Spanish from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 Red River St.
