"A significant water main break has shut down several lanes of roads around East 51st Street and Airport Boulevard, Austin police said. Northbound Airport Boulevard at East 50th Street, eastbound 51st Street at Clarkson Avenue and westbound 51st Street at Depew Avenue will likely be shut down for six to eight hours, the report said."
Just wanted to share this link. I remember visiting Amsterdam or thereabouts and thought that the bicycle lanes parallel to the vehicle lanes with the curb separation were awesome! If only we can have more of that here.
Just wanted to share this link. I remember visiting Amsterdam or thereabouts and thought that the bicycle lanes parallel to the vehicle lanes with the curb separation were awesome! If only we can have more of that here.
Tell these folks [quote]http://www.airportboulevard.com/?q=events
The City of Austin invites citizens, corridor travelers, businesses and other stakeholders to help identify “short term fixes” to reduce congestion and improve safety on IH-35 – the region’s most important transportation corridor – by participating in a discussion at the kick-off of the IH-35 Corridor Development Program.
IH-35 Corridor Development Program – Kick-off Open House Wednesday, September 28 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Road (Free parking for the event)
Attendees will be able to share and discuss their ideas to improve mobility, safety and quality of life in the IH-35 corridor by participating in group discussions beginning every half hour during the event. The session will include a brief presentation on the IH-35 corridor within the urban core from US 290 East to William Cannon Drive.
The goal of this program is to identify short (3 years), medium (4-6 years) and long (7 years) term projects to improve mobility, safety and quality of life. The IH-35 corridor program is focused on defining a number of simple and innovative mobility projects whose combined impact can exceed larger, more expensive projects.
To better plan the discussion forum, reservations are requested, but not required. Citizens can register for their preferred time slot at: http://www.ih35austin.org/
Please come be a part of the discussion, and the solution. Share this invitation with friends, neighbors, and other interested parties.
Saw the following in the Statesman. This meeting pertains to IH-35 through our area and downtown and is likely of interest to most folks. I hope we'll have some people to attend. Wish I could be there.... sure would like to see any major project(s) on IH-35 do a good job of reconnecting neighborhoods that were divided long ago!
The City of Austin, looking for ideas for improving Interstate 35, will host an open house from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Road. Officials will give a short presentation every 30 minutes about the highway, concentrating on the stretch from U.S. 290 in North Austin to William Cannon Drive in South Austin, and will take comments and suggestions from the public.
I attended this event at approx 4:00PM. It was sparsely attended at that time. I was able to fill out my comment sheet and write ideas on the long map. TXDot owns IH35, so not sure how much impact the City can have, or how funding would work...
I attended this event at approx 4:00PM. It was sparsely attended at that time. I was able to fill out my comment sheet and write ideas on the long map. TXDot owns IH35, so not sure how much impact the City can have, or how funding would work...
I attended this event at approx 4:00PM. It was sparsely attended at that time. I was able to fill out my comment sheet and write ideas on the long map. TXDot owns IH35, so not sure how much impact the City can have, or how funding would work...
Development update (Carl Paulson) - Section 6 - out to bid now, will start const in Dec. Deliver lots to builders in June 2012. - Infrastructure to serve market district - out to bid in Dec. - discussion of interim bike/ped access to the grocery. Catellus’ plan is to construct the ultimate cycle tracks for southbound (SB) Berkman, and put shared lane markings in the vehicle lane for northbound (NB) traffic until other side of roadway built (several years). Sharing the NB lane will be difficult for those with trailers, etc and with slight uphill grade. Carl says widening pavement is not an option, but they’ll look more at an off-site trail. - Electric substation work should be done in Nov. 2011.
Cycle Tracks proposed on Mueller and on Berkman. Reviewed preliminary layouts.
Cap Metro plans bus stops on Berkman at Antone, Simond & Barbara Jordan. Catellus wasn’t sure what bus route the stops will serve.
51st & IH 35 update - Draft revised layout from TxDOT circulated. Bike lanes will be created on 51st St. bridge over IH 35. Still a few years out.... maybe 2013.
IH 35 frontage striping south of Barbara Jordan - striping very faded and now a free-for-all. Jessica will follow up with adjacent neighborhood to see if revised striping helped and how it should be restriped (i.e. keep as is or revert to original plan with 3rd lane).
U-turn for SB Airport - interest from Cherrywood in u-turn option between Manor and Delwood II. Would like to allow U-turn for SB Airport at 38 1/2 (or between 38 1/2 & Scheiffer) to come back NB. City will check on allowing at 38 1/2 light, or at crossover at Dollar General.
Loading at Barbara Jordan & Lancaster - near Tino’s, etc., 18-wheelers stop on eastbound Barbara Jordan to unload supplies. They are blocking through lane. Jessica will have property manager advise tenants that this is not permitted.
Roundabout update - design underway - City hopes to complete within a couple of months. City still monitoring signal timing at Airport and Aldrich.
I attended the 2nd meeting of the 51st Street work group, held today at Mueller Central. Attendees included representatives from Windsor Park and Ridgetop neighborhoods, PIAC, City of Austin, and property owners along the north side of 51st. The project leads (Jim Adams and Girard Kinney) gave an overview of the input they’ve received from several input meetings, and walked us through their preliminary plan. They plan to take their recommendations to PIAC in January 2013. This is a conceptual plan. At this point, there's no funding for the project, but development of a vision will help Catellus make sure that developments along 51st (HEB, AISD PAC) will be consistent with the vision.
Review of PUD along 51st Street - most buildings between IH 35 & Berkman can have heights up to 65-75’. Initial plan included 60’ setback (urban reserve) on Mueller side for future transit. No longer needed since light rail would run in the roadway.
Input received from prior meetings: - Reduce speeds/calm traffic - Teaser parking for ground floor retail - Wide median with narrow lanes - Trees that provide shade - Don’t use urban reserve for traffic - Bikes - avoid conflict with parked cars, continuous corridor - Sidewalks - Urban sidewalk with ped-oriented businesses from IH 35 to Berkman, more open wide sidewalk east of Berkman
Recommendations: - Road diet (4 to 3 lanes) east of Berkman - Keep existing curb on North side with 10-15’ available to ROW for possible sidewalk - Add trees as properties redevelop (core transit corridor requires developers to provide 15’ sidewalk and street trees when properties redevelop) - Cycle tracks (curb separated bike lanes) between Lancaster and Berkman, bike lanes in the other sections - Parallel parking along 51st - Commercial/retail and live/work development along frontage - Focus retail uses at corners - Windsor Park side - bring new development up to sidewalk - Create ped/bike connection through Windsor Park across Mueller Blvd (just along west side of Promiseland Church) [very early concept] - Remove right turn lane from 51st to northbound Cameron (instead, go up to light and then make hard right turn - will slow speeds and improve quality of life) - Possible roundabout at Berkman/51st (City transp dept initiative) - discussion: - Bike/ped crossings - Geometry needs improvement (deflection inadequate) - Windsor Park has concerns about convenience/safety for pedestrians
Update from City of Austin re: 51st over IH-35 and to Airport Blvd. (Nathan Wilkes) - Road diet (4 to 3-lanes) is proposed for 51st west of IH-35 like has been done on Cameron, Manor, etc. and buffered bike lanes are proposed across IH-35
Questions/discussion: - Accessible parallel parking? May need to be put on the side streets to avoid conflicts with the cycle tracks. - Add 6’ minimum median refuge at intersections (esp. helpful for pedestrians who walk slower than signals are timed for) - Compatibility of height of buildings along both sides of the street was suggested by Windsor Park
Implementation discussion - Discussed working to have this street work included in the next City bond package. Improvements to the street will encourage pedestrian-oriented development on the north side of the street.
I’m hoping I can get graphical representations that were shown at the meeting so I can share those on this site. These are preliminary, conceptual drawings but give some sense for the direction we’re heading.
Let me know if you have comments/questions/concerns.
