Catellus' transportation committee will be meeting next on June 30. I've been added as a neighborhood rep and this will be my second meeting. I haven't seen an agenda yet but let me know if there are issues you'd like me to bring up at the meeting. You can post here or send me a PM.

Thanks,
Betsy

I'd like to see the committee investigate EV charging station locations within the development.

Thanks for representing the neighborhood on this really important committee.

I have two thoughts:
1. Bike lanes: on Manor east of Airport and on Mueller Blvd. On Manor that would make a continuous bike lane from the neighborhood all the way to downtown. I know you can cut across the park and get out on 38 1/2, but it seems like folks east of us on Manor would benefit from the lane as well. And on Mueller Blvd. it would just be safer to get north to 51st street. The turn lane allows cars to go around you, but a real bike lane would help. And I'm sure there are all kinds of plans for when the blvd is a 'real' blvd, but how long before that happens?

2. Sight lines at corners are tough in some places because of parking. I'm thinking specifically if you are turning onto or crossing Zach Scott or turning onto Berkman. Because the cars park densely along the road, and relatively close to the corner, it is hard to see oncoming traffic. I'm sure this has been discussed before, but it might be worth revisiting a readjustment of the no parking signs to allow for more visability.

Let me know if I can help.
-Ann

I agree with both of Ann's thoughts.

Thanks for doing this, Betsy.
1- Some months ago the city said it would fix the traffic circle lanes & sightlines as well as sightlines at Aldrich & Airport. Nothing since then
2- I'm with Ann on the bike lanes on Manor. Also would be nice to have cross-town lanes between here and the Triangle area as well as along Airport between RMMA and Lamar

Meeting notes by Betsy Hilton
Mueller Transportation Committee meeting on June 30, 2010

The committee is chaired by Leo Lopez at Catellus. Representatives from several adjacent neighborhoods (Cherrywood, Windsor Park & JJ Seabrook) were in attendance, along with staff from Catellus’ consultant, HDR, and the City of Austin.

Agenda Items that we had time to discuss:
- Leo welcomed everyone and gave an update on upcoming major activities in Mueller - basically the same info that Greg presented at the developer update. Infrastructure construction for garden homes at Hermalinda/Antone/Tom Miller should start about July 9.
- Update on traffic counts - City presented numbers to PIAC a month or two ago. No huge increases were observed but they hadn’t compared the actual numbers to the volumes predicted in the Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) prepared when the development was being planned. The City seemed to think that might be a worthwhile comparison to review.
- Traffic Signal at Zach Scott & Airport - Plans are complete, including the work necessary to deal with the Spring causing water issues in the ground boxes for the signal. Catellus will pay for the signal but the City will do the installation. There was some discussion about combining it with the funds transfer for the next phase of residential housing but Catellus agreed that it could be separated so as not to delay the signal installation. The City staff present were not positive the signal had met the necessary traffic warrants to be installed, so they will check. We also talked about the failure of some motorists coming from Airport (esp. left turners) to yield to pedestrians crossing on the trail near Tom Miller. The crosswalk already has high visibility markings and a pedestrian crossing warning sign so we’re not sure what else can be done. City will review whether a NO U-TURN sign is present for the difficult northbound to southbound movement.
- Parking signage/striping review - In areas where parking spaces are marked, they are not always marked and signed consistent with State Law (prohibited 15’ from fire hydrant, 20’ from crosswalk, and 30’ on approach to a Stop Sign). Also discussed whether alley connections to streets are legally defined as ‘intersections’ requiring these same parking restrictions. State law [Transportation Code 541.303 appears to exclude alleys.] There was also general discussion about the many signs in the neighborhood. City philosophy may be changing and some believe many of these signs could be removed, where they are redundant with state law (which all drivers are supposed to be familiar with). [See Chapter 7, Texas Drivers Handbook, available at http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/InternetForms/Forms/DL-7.pdf. HDR and City staff will review the placement of signs/stripes and the need for such.
- Roundabout improvements - City’s new Assistant Director for Traffic Engineering, Gary Schatz, has some roundabout experience and has recommended physical changes to our roundabout to narrow the two lane approaches to one-lane prior to entering the roundabout. A ‘truck apron’ would also be installed, concentric to the center island, to further clarify that this is a one-lane roundabout. These improvements should significantly improve traffic operations and safety, especially as volumes continue to increase. The City plans to include this work in an upcoming bond package, with construction likely in 2011. Traffic already backs up into the roundabout during the afternoon rush, so they are also looking at improvements at the signal, including potentially a 2 lane left turn movement onto Airport Blvd. We also discussed the possibility of installing higher visibility crosswalk markings to help encourage drivers to stop for the signal before blocking the crosswalk. The City will look into this.
- Bike movements to cross Airport - Cherrywood representative Girard Kinney mentioned that bicyclists crossing Airport tend to make an illegal maneuver to cross the road (due to the Longhorn configuration) and asked whether a bike path could be marked parallel to the crosswalk. There was discussion about whether a bicyclist legally must dismount to use the crosswalk as a pedestrian, or whether it’s legal for them to use the crosswalk while riding the bicycle. The City will look into this. A similar issue is also present at all crossing of Airport Blvd, where people want to get across in the crosswalk as quickly as possible.
- Dan Daniels from JJ Seabrook discussed their effort to look at issues with cut-through traffic on Tillery and safety on Pershing. He suggested that when looking at current traffic volumes, the baseline should not be what existed when the airport was still open. They also have issues with sidewalks on FM 969 being right next to the road, and issues with the Airport/MLK intersection. Speeds and volumes on FM 969 are very high. JJ Seabrook will reach out to this committee to coordinate as needed.
- Windsor Park representative, Rick Krivoniak, discussed concerns about the 51st and Berkman intersection, esp. that it will be huge once rebuilt as part of the Market District (based on what he sees at the Berkman/Manor intersection). Also, the eastbound bike lane on 51st just stops before it gets to Berkman. Some additional street width is needed, or a connection to the Mueller trails/sidewalk.

We were running over our allotted time so we quickly discussed the following:
- Schedule another meeting before September so we can keep things moving
- Invite Cap Metro to a future meeting to discuss transit service to the neighborhood
- Bike lane improvements - City plans to install on Manor from Airport to 51st street when they resurface the street under the next bond program (maybe 2011). City will look at whether interim lanes could be installed on Mueller Blvd. up to 51st.
- Street repairs at Threadgill & McCloskey - supposed to begin ‘1st week of July’ but we should get an update from the City via Catellus.
- Pavement cracking around manholes, esp in Phase II. Phase II had a different road contractor (Rodman) than Phase I (J C Evans). Manholes are very fixed (concrete, deep, etc), whereas asphalt pavement is called ‘flexible pavement’ for a reason, and does move. Some cracking is to be expected and Catellus says the folks they’ve checked with at the City don’t anticipate large-scale problems around every manhole.

We didn’t get to talk about:
- Airport Blvd. makeover and bike lanes up to Lamar
- Sight distance for vehicles pulling onto Zach Scott from side streets
- Update on options to fix the jughandle issues (at IH 35/Cameron/51st) that impact Windsor Park neighbors
EV charging stations

Let me know if you have additional or continuing concerns and I’ll do my best to bring them forward at future meetings.

Thanks,
Betsy

Betsy - thanks for the notes and for your service on the committee.

Bobby G.

Hi Betsy,

Thanks so much for your work as a rep on this committee!

I'm fairly new to the area (beginning at Mosaic, now in a row home), but have read the old posts related to this issue. I would like to reiterate the need for bus service to Mueller, especially to UT and downtown. Many folks at the Mosaic and I'm sure into the rest of Mueller are students, professors, or administrators at UT. As is, it takes more than an hour to get to UT, which is just a 10 minute drive. I think a UT shuttle would be a great service to the community.

There is also a serious need for pedestrian crossing marks from the Mosaic across Aldrich to Lake Park and across Mueller Blvd. Cars whip around that traffic circle so quickly that it's really a hazard for the many people at Mosaic who are crossing at all hours to walk their dogs.

Thanks very much!

I'll bring up the ped crossing markings to the City. They're going to reconstruct the roundabout in a year or so but perhaps they could mark the crosswalks better in the meantime.

I'll continue to bring up bus service and I've asked them to invite Cap Metro to attend these meetings but I don't yet know if that will happen. We do have some service now. The #37 circles the Children's Hospital and serves downtown. I know that's far from most residences. Cap Metro's 2020 plans shows this route changing to come down Mueller to Aldrich and then out to Airport. That would bring it right by the Mosaic and closer to some homes.

I use the #20 to get downtown. It stops on Manor at Berkman and at Anchor, goes to Red River serving UT near the Thompson Center and LBJ library, and then continues downtown. Once Berkman is completed, we can hope for what the 2020 plan calls MetroRapid bus service from 51st, down Berkman through Mueller, and then down Manor into town.

The #350 cross town route goes to the Airport and Highland Mall, but that doesn't help you with UT or downtown.

Others may be able to offer additional selections on transit route choices.

My thanks also, for attending these meetings. One of the reasons everyone comes to Mueller is to be in a place that is connected to the rest of the community, so this is a really important issue.

I think they did do a test run of an alternate Cameron Road Shuttle Route this summer, stopping at the Mueller Blvd bus stop by the hospital, but no one rode it, so they cancelled it.

I'd like to see an extension of the 21/22 routes along Manor up to Airport then back up 38 1/2. The 20 is good for downtown and the east side of campus, but stinks if you need to get to the west side of town/campus.

Also, the crossing signal at Airport Blvd by Mosaic is too short (especially if they want cyclists to dismount). I ride bikes with my son to school at Maplewood and swim team at Patterson, and it's always a race against time to get across before the light changes.