“There is no active project right now at all, and there’s not going to be for the next five, six years,” said Dipti Borkar-Desai, the north area engineer for the Austin Transportation Department.
On Wednesday night more than 100 residents packed into the community room at the Spicewood Springs branch library to hear more details on the Jollyville concept and provide feedback, mostly in protest to the idea.
“Most of us are in fear of you putting these plans in place,” said resident Tom McKay, who owns property along Jollyville.
Regional case studyJollyville currently has two travel lanes in each direction, a center turn lane and painted bike lanes. The concept to remove one lane in each direction came from the city of Austin.
City staffers gave the concept to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is conducting a case study of the US 183 corridor from MoPac to Cypress Creek Road in Cedar Park on how to provide more opportunities for walking and biking. This study, which will be finished this spring, will be incorporated into CAMPO’s Regional Active Transportation Plan and be used for planning purposes in other areas similar to US 183.
The $120,000 case study is being funded by the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, which is planning the 183 North project to add two toll lanes to US 183 between RM 620 and MoPac and a fourth nontolled lane. The project includes some walking and biking facilities but overall would add more vehicular capacity to the corridor. Construction isn’t expected to begin until 2019, depending on finding funding, and would take at least three years.
A concept shows how Jollyville Road could look to provide better pedestrian and bicycle access.[/caption]Jollyville proposal
CAMPO’s case study includes proposals to alter existing streets to be more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly, including along Anderson Mill and Pond Springs roads.
Two concepts were proposed for Jollyville: the three-lane option plus a $42 million option that would maintain all traffic lanes and build out the shoulders with bike and pedestrian facilities, likely requiring additional right of way. Because of the cost, city staffers created the three-lane option as a less expensive version.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, roadways with fewer than 20,000 vehicles per day are good candidates for road diets, often called “right sizing." This means a road would have fewer traffic lanes but incorporate other modes of transportation, such as bike facilities. Jollyville has about 18,000-19,000 vehicles per day, according to the city.
Converting Jollyville to three lanes with buffered bike lanes, meaning a barrier would be between the bike lane and traffic lane, would cost about $1 million. Nathan Wilkes, an engineer with the Austin Transportation Department said the concept would require further technical study and a public input process, but the added capacity on US 183 could potentially make up for the removed lanes.
“It would be nine times the capacity of what would be lost on Jollyville Road,” Wilkes said.
Some residents dispute this, saying they use Jollyville for local trips to restaurants, retail and medical facilities instead of US 183.
Residents respond
Area resident Ryan Sederholm said he supports multimodal transportation and making Jollyville more a part of the community.
“My seven-year-old wanted to ride our bikes to dinner, but I had to say ‘no’ because there are no restaurants in the area that are safe to bike to,” he said. “I would appreciate some consideration being given to that possibility.”
Although some residents supported having more biking and walking facilities they did not approve of removing any traffic lanes. One resident called the three-lane option “extreme.” Other residents expressed frustration that their opinions hadn’t been sought in the CAMPO planning process. Most said they had never even heard of the 183 case study nor were contacted about the meetings.
“Others use the roadway, not just those directly adjacent,” one resident said.
Future bond?
District 10 Council Member Alison Alter, whose district includes Jollyville, said the $42 million five-lane option likely would require a bond. She also stressed that both options would need further study for feasibility.
“There may be a point where the community decides it wants the five-lane option built out and could find a way to do that,” she said. “That’s a decision we may be making many years down the line. It’s important for you to be engaged and advocating for what you want. … We do have to think about multimodal transit—it’s not just about biking and walking but also public transit. All of those help with our mobility challenges.”
