Austin Mobility News

View this email in your browser

Austin Mobility News: June 26, 2017

Facebook

Twitter

Website

City leaders to "Walk and Talk" along first completed 2016 Mobility Bond project

This Thursday, Mayor Steve Adler, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo and Council Member Greg Casar will participate in a Walk and Talk ceremony celebrating the completed sidewalk along Chesterfield Avenue in the North Loop neighborhood. City of Austin staff and North Loop neighbors will also stroll along the sidewalk for the occasion.

Thursday, June 29, 2017
8:30 a.m.
Sky-View Baptist Church (starting location of walk)
211 W. Koenig Lane

This $130,000 project was ranked a very high priority in the 2016 Sidewalk Master Plan Update and is the first completed project funded by the $720 million 2016 Mobility Bond. At 1,800 feet long, the Chesterfield Avenue sidewalk provides critical north-south linkage between West North Loop Boulevard and West Koenig Lane.

The Walk and Talk will begin in the Sky-View Baptist Church parking lot and end at Epoch Coffee on North Loop Boulevard.

Opening of MoPac Mobility Bridges creates crucial bike, pedestrian connection

Biking from Southwest Austin to Downtown just got much easier thanks to the MoPac Mobility Bridges. Until now, the only way to get from MoPac south of Barton Creek on a bike northbound was to battle highway traffic on the bridge over the creek. All that changed when, on June 14, the MoPac Mobility Bridges opened to the public. This project is the result of a joint federal, regional, City of Austin and Texas Department of Transportation partnership and adds 1.5 miles of bicycle and pedestrian lanes to the City's Urban Trail network.

The completed project features:

A bicycle/pedestrian bridge over Barton Creek at MoPac
A bicycle/pedestrian bridge over Loop 360 at MoPac
Restriping of the southbound lanes of MoPac at the bridge over Barton Creek to improve motor vehicle congestion

Stay tuned for details about a community celebration later this year!

Downtown Austin Alliance releases Downtown Austin Parking Strategy

The Downtown Austin Alliance has released its Downtown Austin Parking Strategy, which it describes as a "data-driven effort to develop a comprehensive parking management plan, guided by clear goals and objectives for the future of downtown." Led by the DAA, along with transportation consultants Nelson\Nygaard and community stakeholders, the Downtown Austin Parking Strategy consists of key findings, future growth projections, 19 recommendations, a proposed implementation plan and more.

According to the DAA, "through robust data collection, the team developed the first-ever comprehensive inventory of public and private parking facilities in Downtown Austin." This summer, the DAA plans to form a Parking Action Team to "implement and track the strategy’s recommendations while consulting with the City of Austin and other key stakeholders on short-term improvement strategies."

Representatives from Nelson/Nygaard and the DAA presented the report to the City Council Mobility Committee last Wednesday. ATD Director Robert Spillar introduced the item and answered questions from Council members. View the presentation and documents:

Mobility Committee presentation (June 21, 2017)
Downtown Austin Parking Strategy (June 2017)
Summary of the Recommendations and Implementation Plan (June 2017)

Public Works begins emergency repairs to Guadalupe Street

Map and project overview courtesy of the Public Works Department.

Last week, the Public Works Department started emergency spot repairs of pavement on the Guadalupe and Lavaca bus lanes from Second Street to 18th Street. A newly published website updates the public on street closures and the progress of the repairs. It also explains:

"The emergency spot repairs in the downtown area are Phase 1 of a larger effort to address failing pavement in the bus lanes along the Guadalupe/Lamar corridor. Additional repair work is planned this summer for Guadalupe from Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to Koenig Lane. We anticipate that the entire project will be complete around September 1, contingent on weather and equipment."

Visit AustinTexas.gov/GuadalupeRepairs for updates, or call the Special Projects Hotline at 512-974-9744.

Pedestrian Safety Action Plan to be discussed at Pedestrian Advisory Council

The draft Pedestrian Safety Action Plan, which the City is developing as a holistic strategy to reduce and eliminate crashes that injure and kill pedestrians, will be discussed at the City's Pedestrian Advisory Council this Thursday at 6 p.m. in City Hall, Room 1027.

More information about the Pedestrian Advisory Council and today's meeting, including the agenda, can be found here. Learn more about the Pedestrian Safety Action Plan, which focuses on engineering, education, enforcement, and encouragement, here.

Want more mobility news? Visit Movability Austin!

Austin Mobility is the City's effort for a fresh approach to looking at walking, biking, transit and driving to solve the transportation puzzle for all of us. We are taking proactive steps to engage and educate the community, which is why you received this news update.

Contact information:
512-974-1430
Austintexas.gov/Transportation

City of Austin Transportation Department

901 S. MoPac Expressway

Building 5, Suite 300

Austin, TX 78746

Add us to your address book

subscribe unsubscribe update subscription preferences