Bike Lane Construction to Begin - Barton Springs between Robert E. Lee and Mopac.

The City of Austin's Bicycle and Pedestrian Program in the Public Works Department is holding their pre-construction kick-off meeting for the addition of two five foot wide bike lanes to be installed on Barton Springs Road in the Zilker Park area between Robert E. Lee St and Loop 1 overpass. The lanes will be added to each side of the existing road and a ribbon curb - a flat 16 inch wide strip of concrete will separate the bike lane from the surrounding ground of the park.

Construction is expected to begin shortly and is due to be completed prior to the Austin City Limits Music Festival on Sept 26-28.

For more updates on bike facilities and other issues, visit the new web site of the Austin Bicycle Advisory Council at:
http://austinbac.ning.com/

Bike Lanes Notification - Chicon from 7th St to Rosewood Avenue

This is a copy of a letter being sent on Tue, June 24th 2008 to all stakeholders, property owners and tenants:

You are receiving this notification because you live on or own property adjacent to Chicon Street in Austin, Texas and/or are a stakeholder in the area.

In order to address traffic congestion and air quality, the City's Public Works Department is implementing a bicycle route system, as directed by the Austin City Council per City Ordinance No 980507-D (The Austin Bicycle Plan). Chicon Street from 7th Street to Rosewood Avenue is part of Route 55 of the City of Austin Bicycle System.

To install bicycle lanes the following parking modifications are required:

• The No Parking from 7 am to 7 pm Zone will be extended on the east side of Chicon Steet from 10th St to 11th St.
• The No Parking Any Time Zone will be extended on the east side of Chicon Street from 11th Street to Rosewood Avenue.

Please contact me if you have any questions regarding this project.

Sincerely,
Annick C. Beaudet, AICP
Project Manager, Bicycle & Pedestrian Program
Department of Public Works | City of Austin
Phone 512.974.6505
annick.beaudet@ci.austin.tx.us

Waller Creek Tunnel/Trail - give your input

Use this city survey: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/wallercreek/survey.cfm

Street Smarts Task Force Plan on Council consent agenda Thu, 4/24!

(From Sara Krause, chair of the Street Smarts Task Force)

Dear Task Force,

Thank you for your patience as we worked through the process of getting our Task Force document presented to council. City staff worked hard to get us an April date and confirmed that we are going to Council THIS WEEK! You'll be pleased to know that we will be on the City Council's consent agenda for THIS Thursday, April 24. The approximate time will be between 10am – noon.

This means that the Council will recommend that the Task Force Recommendations be received, studied and reviewed as part of the Master Bike Plan Update. City staff is being directed to report before the completion of the bike master plan comes before Council for a vote.

I will be doing a short briefing outlining our process and the outstanding collaboration and diversity of the Task Force. It would be great if you could attend and show your support for the Task Force. You might wear a bike related item such as your SSTF t-shirt or a helmet.

Again, I owe the SSTF a debt of gratitude for giving me the honor of serving as the chair. It has honestly been one of the best experiences of my life, and I have learned a lot from each and every one of you.
The SSTF was a truly collaborative effort, and we should all be proud of our product!

With Warmest Regards,
Sara Krause

Shoal Creek Trail closures on May BAC mtg agenda

We didn't get to the Shoal Creek Trail closures during the April meeting - too many darned things on the agenda, so we'll take that up at our May meeting, which will will be May 15th, I believe, 6:30-7:45 pm, place TBD.

Charlie McCabe

Shoal Creek bike trail closure...

Hey guys –

On the agenda for tonight’s BAC meeting, there’s an item that reads, “Discussion of the Policies Around Bike Path Closures i.e. the Shoal Creek Path at Caesar Chavez (Michael Cockram).”

I can’t make the meeting tonight, but I thought I’d pass along the email below that I sent today, and the attached PowerPoint I presented at the Downtown Commission last night. If anybody has similar concerns, feel free to forward this so we can coordinate.

Thanks for your work on the BAC –

Chris

From: Chris Riley [mailto:chris1310@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 4:48 PM
To: 'darryl.haba@ci.austin.tx.us'
Subject: lower Shoal Creek Trail

Hey Darryl:

I left you a voicemail today about the current situation on Lower Shoal Creek, between 3^rd Street and Lady Bird Lake .

I’m attaching the PowerPoint I presented to the Downtown Commission about this last night. It includes photos showing the current situation down there. The commissioners were concerned, and suggested that I contact Public Works staff. I think that would be you, based on the information at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/armstrong.htm .

As the City’s Bike-Ped staff point out in their own PowerPoint (excerpts of which are included in mine), “The trail should be closed only when absolutely necessary and the closure should be as brief as possible.” The closure you’ve been overseeing has dragged on FAR longer than necessary, without providing any legal access for bikes & peds.

I would like to see these steps taken immediately:

· Removal of the two large signs saying the 3^rd Street pedestrian bridge is closed. That bridge is NOT closed; the signs are simply false, and are discouraging bike-ped activity that we ought to be encouraging.

· Removal of the signs saying “TRAIL CLOSED” and “BIKE TRAIL CLOSED.” The improvised trail that has appeared during the course of this project is safer and clearer than many well-established, legal bike trails in this city. If any signs are considered necessary, I’d suggest signs saying something like, “Caution: Trail Work Ahead.”

· Removal of the remnants of fencing that people now cross over to use the trail. I think it’s reasonable to keep fencing up around the area where actual work is going on (i.e., the orange fencing that’s still intact in slides 8-12). But the rest of the fencing (visible in slides 6 & 13-15) is just unsightly clutter, and should be removed.

Please give me a call or email when you can to discuss this.

Sincerely,

Chris Riley

1310 San Antonio

478-1299

Next BAC mtg this Thursday, April 17, 6:30 pm

Hi folks,

Just a quick reminder of the next meeting of the Bicycle Advisory Council is this Thursday, April 17 from 6:30 pm to 7:45 pm in the 8th floor conference room of the One Texas Center building, 505 Barton Springs Road. Here's the agenda.

April 2008
Bicycle Advisory Council Meeting Agenda



1. Introductions – 6:30 to 6:35

2. Review and Approval of March Minutes – 6:35 to 6:40

3. Items from Staff – 6:40 to 7:10

• Pinnacle Road & Montopolis (tabled from last meeting)
• Pfluger ($500K) & Bowie ($1 Million) – Additional Funding
• Riverside and the “Z” Crossing

4. Items from BAC – 7:10 to 7:40

• Bike Plan Update Subcommittee Report
• Discussion of the Policies Around Bike Path Closures i.e. the Shoal Creek Path at Caesar Chavez (Michael Cockram)

5. Announcements/Adjourn – 7:40 to 7:45

6. Proposed Items from Staff for Future Meetings:

• “Sharrows”
• LAB Ride/Celebration
• North Acres Bridge Project Update
• Bike Ambassador
• COA Traffic Engineer Discussion – Innovative Bicycle Facilities
• COA Bike Program Presentation – Bike Lanes and Facilities Installation Process
• TxDOT Presentation on Jurisdictional Cooperation
• COA Bike Program Coordination with Neighborhood Planning Process