This evening, the board of CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) will meet to approve implementation of several road projects in the Austin area. Included in these are improvements to the Highway 183 and 360 area (near the Arboretum). The current plan for this intersection goes against staff recommendations and eliminates proper bike infrastructure facilitating safe bike transit. If you know this intersection, it is very intimidating for a cyclists with multiple lanes of turning and ongoing traffic. This is an effective barrier for cyclists trying to get north or south of this pinch point.
We encourage you to attend the CAMPO meeting tonight or contact their offices directly to request these facilities be reinstated.
CAMPO Transportation Policy Board
Wednesday, January 20, 2009 at 6:00 p.m.
Joe C. Thompson conference center, University of Texas Campus, Room 2.102
Dean Keeton (26th Street) and Red River Streets, Austin Texas 78723
on Jan 20th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
I have a class tonight and cannot attend, but have contacted Campo through the above link for what good it will do. The city told me a few weeks ago that this was a done deal and that construction would begin this month. This is my commute to and from downtown, and is a crucial improvement that must be implemented. The countless wheel tracks through the gravel at that intersection attest to the fact that many cyclists use that intersection on a daily basis-many more would use it if there was a facility there that promoted a safe and mud-free crossing.
on Jan 20th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Best I can tell this is just a prioritization step (i.e. they ran out of money and this project fell farther down the pecking order than sidewalks in Manor).
on Jan 20th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Just rode through there yesterday. Unfortunately with as dangerous as this intersection is, it’s sadly the safest way to get from the arboretum to anything further south.
Just wish there was a pedestrian tunnel/bridge to get straight through the 183/Mopac disaster.
on Jan 21st, 2010 at 11:36 am
NIXED
Haven’t heard the entire update, but apparently the project got nixed for now…but with discussion on funding it possibly next year??? I didn’t put this in writing, but why the hell should Manor get anything when they just implemented a bike ban on a road
This one kind of caught us by surprise, but we did have a couple people speak on in and submitted a letter of support. It’s a cool project, since you don’t see many urban paved bike trails that eliminate barriers like this.
Here’s our letter:
January 20, 2010
CAMPO Transportation Policy Board
Via e-mail to campo@campotexas.org
Honorable Board Members:
The League of Bicycling Voters is a nonprofit advocacy organization promoting better transportation policy decisions and more resources to increase the number of bicyclists in the Austin area. We wholeheartedly support the proposal for an improved “bike crossing” at Jollyville Road and Arboretum Blvd. (STP-MM LP 360 project) and ask that you approve the project funding.
While we understand that other worthy projects could be impacted by LP 360 funding, we also stress that the bike crossing and related improvements at the 360/183 intersection would provide a crucial link for bicyclists commuting and traveling in the corridor from Mesa Drive to the south to the Gateway area and farther into northwest Austin. Currently, the 183/360 interchange is a significant gap in the bicycle transportation network—a physical barrier to bicyclist trying to reach important destinations both north and south.
This short urban paved trail would bolster bicycle commuting and provide opportunities for bicycle trips to retail and entertainment destinations. It’s time that we address these significant gaps, and LP 360 is an important step in that direction.
Please feel free to call me or our executive director, Tom Wald, for more information on why we deem this project a priority for funding.
Sincerely,
Rob D’Amico
President
League of Bicycling Voters
on Jan 21st, 2010 at 11:48 am
Nueces, while important, should not the sole focus of our local advocacy groups. I am very disturbed that this caught us by suprise. We must have more of a heads up regarding these projects. I repeat, I received an email from the city bicyle program several weeks ago, in response to my inquiry, that stated this project was good to go. We cannot keep dropping the ball if we expect anything to get done in this city in the face of entrenched opposition, and, at best, indifference.
on Jan 21st, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Chris…agreed, which is why we need more volunteers to keep track of things, and a “heads up” from people when they inquire about projects. Although in this case it sounds like it wouldn’t have mattered because you heard everything was good to go.
I’m not sure which Chris you are (I have several Chris bike advocates in mind!), but give me a shout if you want to get plugged in and help out. (damico@lobv.org) CAMPO’s doings, in particular, are very hard to keep track of, and we need to put more emphasis into monitoring their work and funding efforts overall.
on Jan 22nd, 2010 at 10:58 pm
You both may be right. More people is needed to be on guard with all what may be stirring in Austin. And yet, to me it is excruciantingly clear that if we allow the Nueces Bike Boulevard to not happen, to be scaled down or moved to an alternative street, we’ll be doomed to a life of compromises on every single bike(parking) lane in Austin. The Nueces Bike Boulevard IS, at this juncture, THE fight to fight.
Once we have the boulevard where the cyclist community wants it (where it has been planned since the get go) then we will have a city that has really decided to be serious about the commitments it has agreed upon.
The Nueces Bike Boulevard is the only political decision bold enough to secure the future for alternative transportation in Austin. When a 9-year-old can bicycle 18 blocks in downtown on rush hour to school is because s/he is living in a city that cares.