Updated March 2 The city of Austin announced safety improvements at Lamar Boulevard and Parmer Lane will begin Monday, March 6. Improvements include reconstructing the existing right-turn islands at the northwest and southeast corners of the intersection for better turning movements and adding high-visibility striped crosswalks to all crossing points. The city already completed some work near the intersection last summer, including installing a new traffic signal on Lamar at the Walmart driveway and installing a pedestrian hybrid beacon—in which a pedestrian presses a button to activate a signal to cross the street—near John B. Connally High School. For the first two weeks of the project, one lane on northbound Lamar and one lane on eastbound Parmer will be closed weekdays from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. During the next two weeks, one lane on southbound Lamar and one lane on westbound Parmer will be closed weekdays from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The work is estimated to cost about $647,000. This intersection is the fourth of four intersections the city is improving as part of a Vision Zero initiative to improve the safety of intersections. A fifth separate project in South Austin at Slaughter Lane and Manchaca Road will begin in late summer. Posted Feb. 24 The city of Austin will finish safety improvements at one intersection on North Lamar Boulevard in early March and begin work at another intersection along the same roadway. Safety improvements will be completed at the intersection of (5a) North Lamar Boulevard and Rundberg Lane. Work includes constructing raised medians and raised right-turn channelized islands; restriping; and adding crosswalks, pedestrian hybrid beacons and a new traffic signal by the Walnut Creek Library. Also in early March, the city will start work on similar safety improvements at the intersection of (5b) Lamar and Parmer Lane. The city is making improvements at four total intersections as part of a $1.9 million initiative to make dangerous intersections safer. Construction began in November on the Lamar improvements, which will continue through the summer. The work is part of a $1.9 million city initiative to improve the safety at four dangerous intersections.

Northwest Austin transportation updates Feb 2017Ongoing projects

1. New traffic signal In early 2017 the Texas Department of Transportation finished installing a traffic signal and new left-turn lanes on Parmer Lane at Legendary Drive/Riata Vista Circle. Estimated timeline: November-early 2017 2. I-35 frontage roads repaving TxDOT will resurface I-35 from SH 45 N to Rundberg Lane. The project was bid in November and is estimated to cost about $7.3 million. Estimated timeline: late spring-summer 2017 3. Resurfacing Parmer Lane TxDOT will resurface Parmer Lane from MoPac to the I-35 southbound frontage road. The state agency will send the $1.6 million project out for bids in March. Estimated timeline: summer 2017 4. Jollyville sidewalk upgrades In early 2017, the city of Austin will begin a four-month project to improve sidewalks on Jollyville Road between Duval Road and Balcones Woods Drive. The project will include new sidewalk construction and retrofitting existing sidewalks and ramps to bring them into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act as well as some drainage work. The city expects to finish the sidewalk improvements by late summer. Timeline: early 2017-late summer 2017 Cost: $330,000 Funding sources: city of Austin 2012 mobility bond

NWA-2017-02-13-3How it works

Why does it take so long to build a state-operated road? The Texas Department of Transportation undergoes a rigorous process to determine whether to build a state roadway and how it would look. TxDOT creates a concept and develops the scope and also consults the region’s long-range transportation plan. Staffers gather public input and data on travel times, crashes, population and employment to help create a purpose and need. Based on the purpose and need, TxDOT creates several concepts and ask the public to review them. TxDOT uses the input and data to refine the concepts. Once a preferred alternative has emerged, TxDOT will identify environmental issues, collect data and assess constructability. The refined proposal is taken back to the public for review. TxDOT makes an environmental decision on the roadway’s impact on the environment before completing the final design. Once a project has funding, it is placed on TxDOT’s 24-month letting schedule in which contractors bid on projects. The final step is issuing a notice to begin construction.