After city of Austin crews in late spring started roadway improvements along Parkfield Drive in North Austin, construction has now started on a series of safety projects around nearby Wooldridge Elementary School and Juan Navarro High School.

Crews in late September started work on improvements around Wooldridge Elementary and Juan Navarro High as part of the city of Austin's Safe Routes to School program, according to an Oct. 5 Austin Mobility newsletter from the Austin Transportation Department, the city of Austin Corridor Program Office and the Austin Public Works Department.

Projects that will be completed around the elementary school include new and repaired sidewalks, more than a dozen new pedestrian crossing sections and two protected intersections.

Schematics from the city show crossing islands will be built at several intersections along Payton Gin Road. The city will build these structures at the intersections at Collinfield Drive and Viking Drive near Juan Navarro High as well as at Tronewood Drive and Hunters Trace near the entrance of the Quail Creek neighborhood.

Further crossing islands or raised crossings will be constructed at intersections around Wooldridge Elementary near entrances to the school.


The Oct. 5 ATD newsletter states construction on the Safe Routes to School projects is expected to last a year before completion next fall.


Note from the writer: This article has been updated to clarify the Oct. 5 newsletter was distributed by multiple city departments and to clarify that the Parkfield Drive improvements are not totally complete yet.