Editor Note: This article was sent to us by Annick Beaudet, the Bicycle Coordinator for the City of Austin, which was written for the Southwest Cycling New, the monthly newspaper of the Austin Cycling Association. She heads the Bike/Ped section  of the Public Works Department and works with her staff to implement the Master Bicycle Plan. This is a summer update on what she and her staff are up to.

Ahhh summertime.  Street resurfacing methods cure better during the summer because the process involves settling of the aggregate in the asphalt.  The summer heat helps the aggregate to settle more evenly.  That means that your Bicycle Program staff is working like crazy to take advantage of all the new striping possibilities which are afforded by simply street maintenance.  Look for new bicycle facilities in your area over the coming months.

In the last couple of months we have installed a few of new bicycle facilities.  So, get out and ride them, and let us know how they work.

• A climbing lane on Martin Luther King Boulevard headed eastbound from Lamar to Pearl Street.  There is also an improved sidewalk for those of you who like to walk your bike up the hill.
• Bicycle lanes on Lacrosse Avenue from Natick Lane to Escarpment Boulevard.  A concerned citizen submitted this request, and since there was existing bicycle lanes on both sides of the gap, and the roadway was wide enough to simply add a five foot bicycle lane, this gap on Lacrosse Avenue was eliminated.
• Bicycle lanes on William Cannon Drive from IH-35 to Pleasant Valley Road.  This roadway is constructed of concrete.  The Bicycle Program worked with the Signs and Markings Division to pay for a water blasting type  lane stripe removal vehicle to remove the existing stripes and add new ones that included bicycle lanes.
• Bicycle lanes on Latta Drive from Convict Hill Road to Islander Drive and from Nairn Drive to Davis Lane.
• Dedicated bicycle lanes (without parking) on Mary Street from Congress Boulevard to the Union Pacific railroad tracks (near Lamar Boulevard).  With the cooperation and feedback from the Bouldin Creek and Zilker Neighborhood Association, and various stakeholders, the Bicycle Program and the Transportation Department were able to work out a parking and bicycle facility solution that met the needs of all users of the roadway.  This is a great route to So Co, Stacy and Little Stacy Pool, and soon will facilitate family bicycle traffic to the new Twin Oaks Library.

Besides facilities, we are working kick start a new promotional campaign.  We’ve begun to look at how other cities promote cycling and we will be looking to put a campaign that promotes cycling for transportation in place for the next fiscal year.  We have begun showing a public service announcement featuring Lance Armstrong on Channel 6 (keep an eye out for it).  However, this version is only phase I.  We will be improving the current announcement with the production of phase II that will add some really nice Austin bicycling footage.  Thanks to Lance for parntering with us on that.

Research for innovative facilities is continuing successfully.  The Steck Avenue reconfiguration from Shoal Creek Boulevard to Burnet Road after study is underway.  Stakeholders are invited to a meeting to discuss the reconfiguration at Pillow Elementary School Cafeteria (3025 Crosscreek Drive, Austin, TX 78757) at 6:30 PM on September 1st.   The purpose of this meeting is to receive comments and feedback from all users of the roadway on what they like or don’t like about the new configuration, which went from 4, 10 foot motor vehicle lanes, to 2 10 foot motor vehicle lanes, a 10 foot center turn land and 2, 5 foot bicycle lanes.

Additionally, the “Sharrow”, colored bicycle lane, bicycle box, and bicyclists “use full lane,” research by the Center for Transportation Research (CTR) is going well.  The research team is busy watching video of bicycle-motor vehicle interactions at the chosen locations before the devices are put into place.  The Bicycle Program hopes to have these devices in place before school starts at which time CTR will conduct its “after” research studying how the devices alter bicycle-motor vehicle interactions.

Stay cool out there, and keep on riding.

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