The city hosted open house events on both Wednesday and Thursday night to gather input from residents on how to best spend $15 million from the 2012 transportation bond and funding from the $720 million mobility bond voters approved in November. The 2016 bond will allocate $482 million to projects on eight corridors, including Burnet from Koenig Lane to MoPac and North Lamar from US 183 to I-35.
Although the city plans to begin construction next summer on the first set of sidewalk projects using the 2012 funds, it has paused on making any other corridor improvements until a consulting firm identifies next steps for the 2016 bond. A report from the consultant is expected in spring 2018.
Residents identified problems on Burnet Road as part of an open house meeting Dec. 8 on the corridor improvements.[/caption]“We need to be very careful about not spending money from the 2012 bond that might get torn up when the 2016 larger project comes through,” said Kevin Sweat, an engineer with the city’s public works department.
Corridor reports completed in December 2013 identify about $150 million worth of needed improvements to the two corridors. Proposed projects include adding missing sidewalks; better bicycle facilities; raised medians; intersection improvements; and pedestrian hybrid beacons, or PHBs.
North Austin resident Hannah Frankel, who attended the North Lamar meeting Wednesday, said she would be happy to see traffic improvements that would make the street safer for pedestrians and cyclists. She said she hopes the corridor plans will develop with more than just drivers in mind.
“I think that, like a lot of Austinites, I love spending as much time outside of my car as possible,” Frankel said.
Lisa Hinely, who lives near North Lamar and represents North Austin as a board member on the city’s Community Development Commission, said she believes the city should emphasize safety when deciding which improvements can be made. Hinely said enabling pedestrians to safely cross roads would be preferable to building new sidewalks, at least in the near term.
“I would push crossings higher,” Hinely said of her top priorities.
On Burnet Road, North Austin residents said the corridor needs better bike facilities. Steven Zettner commutes from Allandale to North Austin for work and said he prefers riding on side streets versus Burnet.
“It’s safer and more pleasant,” he said.
Zettner said he might consider using Burnet for shorter trips if it had protected bike lanes.
Wooten resident Matthew Novacek said he would like to see the city improve the intersection of Burnet, Steck Avenue and Ohlen Road for a better east-west bike route as well as add bike boxes, or queues, for easier left turns and protected bike lanes. He said he is glad the city is planning PHBs.
“It enhances the safety and accessibility [of Burnet] and encourages people to use transit,” Novacek said.
He said he also supports the city prioritizing sidewalks first.
“It’s good they’re addressing those,” Novacek said. “There are a lot of segments that have sidewalks that aren’t in good condition, so I hope they’ll address those as well.”
Additional information about the corridor plans is available at www.austintexas.gov/northlamarburnet, and the presentation from the Dec. 7-8 meetings is available here.
Comments and questions may be emailed to [email protected].
