A view of Barton Springs Road prior to the city’s safety improvements through this area. Image: City of Austin
After reviewing the promising early results of the city’s safety pilot on Barton Springs Road last month, we decided to casually survey our readers on where they might like to see the project’s infrastructure improvements applied elsewhere in Austin. The pilot’s “road diet”-style lane reduction, added protection for bike lanes, and upgraded pedestrian access all constitute a no-brainer for the highly visible gateway to Austin’s signature park along Barton Springs, but where else would these changes help?
The City’s Barton Springs Road Safety Project Works. Where Should It Go Next?
The obvious answer is “almost everywhere,” but we decided to prime the pump a little by suggesting our personal favorite candidate: South First Street. You could slap these safety upgrades down almost anywhere on South First between the river and Highway 290, but we suggested a small pilot area just like the Barton Springs plan: start by improving the stretch between Gibson and Oltorf Streets. Upon reviewing the results of our survey, it looks like we primed the pump a little too well — a whopping 40 percent of responses wholeheartedly agreed with the suggestion of South First. (Maybe the city, big fans of surveys as they are, could learn a thing or two from this.)
Still, we’re interested in hearing the full gamut of insight we gained from the survey, including the handful of responses from people who think we are ruining this city with our allegedly devastatingly effective manipulation of public opinion — we would like to remind those readers that the golden age of blogging ended nearly 15 years ago. Here’s a selection of some of our favorite responses:
“‘The Gauntlet’ that is Riverside from Congress to Travis Heights Boulevard is a perfect storm of car sh*t. Narrow and broken sidewalks or missing entire sections of sidewalk. Tons of cyclists and pedestrians are just hoping not to get hit by a driver acting like Speed Racer.”
“Cesar Chavez from I-35 to South Lamar. Maybe add bus lanes in each direction to increase frequencies between I-35 and Mopac, could open the possibility to improve the waterfront by adding wider sidewalks, viewing decks, space for vendors, etc.”
“I agree with South First Street! I live right off of it and walk around regularly. I am a broken record to anyone who will listen that I think it should be either one lane with a bike lane on each side, or one lane on each side with a turn lane down the middle and bike lanes.”
“North Lamar and Rundberg. Tons of pedestrians and it’s very dangerous with multiple pedestrian fatalities over the years. Lots of micro businesses east and west of the intersection.”
“West 6th between Lamar & Mopac (with a safe bike connection to the trail under the freeway). We have a decent bike/bus lane on West 5th but nothing analogous westbound in the area, and West 6th as currently laid out is terrifying.”
“East Oltorf Road between Pleasant Valley and Montopolis Drive. Five lane road with amazing city views frequented by bikers, but no protected bike lane. Reducing car lanes would have little to no impact on drive time.”
“The entire length of Lake Austin Boulevard.”
“Koenig Lane between Lamar and Burnet desperately seeks order. Such a dangerous stretch of narrows. Congestion, speeding, honking, reckless lane switching, wrecks, you name it. Horrible pedestrian experience despite a lot of small businesses present – its chaos unnecessarily divides the very vibrant Brentwood walking scene.”
“Your South First rehabilitation suggestion is dead on. Having a conversation while walking South First is hard due to all the traffic noise. I walk and bike down South Congress and South First, and South Congress is way quieter (read: pleasant ) to have a conversation, while walking and biking down South First I feel just antagonizes drivers — which is never safe, IMHO.”
A current view of South First Street, which has a poor reputation among pedestrians and cyclists despite the walkable appeal of its shops and restaurants — many similar cultural districts in the city already have better infrastructure. Image: Google Maps
“Guadalupe, the entire thing. So many students go from ACC Highland to the UT area, and if it was safer it would feel great to ride.”
“No where. It is a disaster. There is always a traffic jam there vs. hardly ever before. AND there are hardly any bikes. Most times I drive it, I pass three at most, usually fewer.”
“Most useful to me would be East 51st between Berkman and I-35. It’s the only portion of that road that still maintains the old 5 lane ‘stroad’ style. However, the most logical places would likely be the Drag or MLK between I-35 and West Avenue. These places just have so much bike/pedestrian activity that it’s insane to think how sh*tty we make it for everyone outside of a car.”
“Slowing traffic on East Oltorf (east of I-35) from Parker to Willow Creek, or even Pleasant Valley, would transform the area into into a pedestrian anchor, and give a boost to the existing retail and restaurants.”
“I second the South First idea. Also, Guadalupe between 29th and 45th; 45th St. from Guad to Red River (removing left turns at Duval); MLK from I-35 to Lamar.”
“One of the minor east-west streets downtown that are already one lane should be completely closed for foot and bike traffic. 2nd Street, 3rd Street, or 4th Street.”
“Extend it through the rest of Zilker Park!!!! (Like the vision plan said to do 🙂 Also, Lamar Boulevard, West 5th Street, West 6th Street.”
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