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News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2010
CONTACTS:
Rob D’Amico, 627-1343
Bike boulevard project moves ahead
LOBV supports plan and awaits Nueces improvements after street project completion
The League of Bicycling Voters today offered its support for the final stage of the public process for the city’s “Downtown Bike Boulevard Project,” which will be presented to the City Council as a briefing this morning.
“The bicycle and pedestrian improvements on Rio Grande will make that corridor a great amenity for all Austin bicyclists, and we’re confident it will add to a network of improvements that will attract new riders,” said Tom Wald, LOBV executive director.
The project includes traffic calming on Rio Grande—such as median islands with speed cushions, traffic circles, stenciled streets and signage to promote it as a bike boulevard, and street “cutouts” for dropping off passengers at Austin Community College and Pease Elementary School. The Rio Grande improvements—intended to slow traffic and make bicycling safer—could be completed as soon as summer of 2011.
The city plans to include an evaluation of the project in about two years to gauge impacts, bicycle ridership and community feedback when implementing an additional phase of improvements on Nueces Street. Bike lanes on some segments, along with sharrows (shared lane markings that encourage motorists to share the lane with bicyclists) are recommended in the city plan, but no improvements can be made until a water line project with street reconstruction is completed. Completion date for the Nueces water line project could come as soon as spring 2012.
“We’re encouraged that the city is offering some flexibility on Nueces, since the bike boulevard improvements originally were planned for that street and it’s a street preferred by bicyclists,” said Rob D’Amico, LOBV president.
“With nothing able to be done for at least a couple of years on Nueces, we feel it’s important to move ahead and get these much-needed improvements in on Rio Grande now and look at the benefits before weighing in again on Nueces,” D’Amico said. “Additionally, there’s a planning effort underway for West Campus bicycle facilities, and we’d like to see where that effort goes and how connectivity will work so we know how Nueces plays into the overall picture.”
The official LOBV position has been to support the planned improvements on Rio Grande while still advocating additional improvements on Nueces above and beyond the bike lanes and sharrows now planned by the city. The Austin Cycling Association recommended the Rio Grande improvements, but also recommended that bike lanes be taken out of the plan for Nueces from MLK Blvd. to 13th Street and replaced with traffic calming.
Wald noted that all bicyclists agree that one of the big benefits of the project will be a new bike/pedestrian bridge over Shoal Creek on Rio Grande just south of 5th Street. “The bridge will let bicyclists connect easily to the Lance Armstrong Bikeway, Lady Bird Lake, and eventually the redevelopment projects at the former Seaholm Power Plant,” he said.
D’Amico said that the city did a good job of responding to concerns of residents and businesses on Nueces and Rio Grande about potential impacts. The process included a series of three neighborhood workshops and several city board and commission hearings. “The Rio Grande segment will show that the traffic calming proposed for the area will enhance the streets for everyone and won’t cause any negative impacts to business. And I think that the downtown community will come to see that the prospect of future development is a reason to create bicycle facilities, since city officials note that arterials serving travel in and out of downtown are at capacity.”
This month bicycle advocates led a bike tour with four city council members and aides from two other council offices to highlight the plans for the project. “It was a great show of support to have elected officials get on two wheels and look at the issues on the street,” D’Amico said. “One council member—Laura Morrison—even signed up and participated in a bike repair workshop with the Yellow Bike Project. I think that signals good things to come for bicycling in Austin.”
For more information on the bike boulevard project, visit http://www.lobv.org.
The League of Bicycling Voters is Austin’s voice for bicyclists. LOBV is a nonprofit advocacy organization promoting better transportation policy decisions, justice for bicyclists, and more resources to increase the number of bicyclists in the Austin area.
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