The Austin American Statesman is reporting that on Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court voted to settle a lawsuit with an Austin cyclist who was injured due to unsafe road conditions on Blake Manor Road. Alejandra Cornelius was riding on Blake Manor Road in 2009 when her wheel lodged in a gap in the road and threw her to the ground. The settlement covers her medical expenses and lost wages.

I’ve done a lot of riding on these county roads east of Austin, and they are indeed dangerous for cyclists and not unique to just Blake Manor Road. Due to the clay soil in this part of the county, the roads develop large cracks (5 inches wide and 14 inches deep according to this incident) when the clay expands and contracts over time. I’ve experienced similarly dangerous cracks on county roads near Creedmoor.

It is a good sign that the County realized the danger to this cyclist and settled the suit, but it is not all good news. The suit was orignally filed against the City of Manor, but it was found this section of road was in Travis County’s jurisdiction. Manor’s response was not to fix their roads to make them safer for all users but instead to ban bicycles on their stretch of this road. It is a delicate balance between demanding our rights to safe passage and community push back that can result in a worse situation.