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I-35 improvement proposals on display at Austin libraries
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The Texas Department of Transportation is leading a $4.9 billion project to reconstruct the 8-mile stretch of I-35 that passes through Central Austin. Right now, TxDOT is considering a range of alternatives for the design of the project, and TxDOT anticipates it will select the preferred alternative in the fall of 2022.
Now is the opportunity for residents to have input in the process and guide TxDOT as it makes its design decisions. A virtual open house is available now where you can submit your feedback online or by mail by September 8. If you would like to review the designs in person, you can stop by the Austin Central Library, 710 W. Cesar Chavez St., and the Austin Public Library Carver branch, 1161 Angelina St., anytime the library branches are open.
The Austin Transportation Department is a participating agency on the project along with the Capital Planning Office, which is overseeing the development of “cap-and-stitch" projects, or decks or wide bridges covering the highways to enhance east-west connections. You can read more about the city’s role and its goals here.
All Austin Public Library branches are operating at 50% capacity, and masks are required inside for patrons over the age of 2.
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How can we make sidewalks, urban trails, and bikeways better?
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Introducing ATX Walk Bike Roll
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As part of the ongoing effort to keep the community involved in future planning of Austin's sidewalks, urban trails and bikeways, the public is invited to share their feedback on expansion of mobility options by Sunday, September 26. This survey will collect travel trends and attitudes about walking, biking and rolling to help staff identify how the City can better serve Austin's needs.
The project team gave a brief presentation of the program and answered community questions at an August 11 virtual public meeting.
ATX Walk Bike Roll is a joint effort between Austin Public Works and Austin Transportation to update Austin's sidewalk, urban trail and bicycle plans by 2023. These plans will direct how we build urban trails, sidewalks, crosswalks and bike lanes included in the 2020 Active Transportation and Safety Bond.
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Your 2016 Mobility Bond dollars at work: review the Year Four report
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The 2016 Mobility Bond Year Four Progress Report is now available at AustinTexas.gov/WhatsNew. The new report highlights featured projects completed in 2020, and provides an overview of work completed with the 2016 Mobility Bond.
Passed by Austin voters in November 2016, the $720 million 2016 Mobility Bond provides funding for safety and mobility projects citywide, including major regional and corridor projects as well as local projects including bikeways, sidewalks and urban trails. Austin Transportation works in partnership with the Corridor Program Office, Austin Public Works, and other City and regional partners to deliver this work on an aggressive eight-year timeline guided by City Council’s Contract With Voters.
From a groundbreaking on Anderson Mill Road to a ribbon cutting on North Lamar Boulevard, see the Four Year Progress Report to review the highlights. Want to learn even more? Check out the appendix of the 2021 Mobility Annual Plan to review a list of all 2016 Mobility Bond projects completed through Dec. 31, 2020.
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Applications now open for the Bicycle Advisory Council
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The Bicycle Advisory Council (BAC) is now accepting applications for membership. The BAC is an independent advocacy group that evaluated and makes recommendations to the City of Austin on policies, programs, projects, and plans
that affect or relate to bicycling.
New members are selected by BAC membership and require the following:
- Members must live or work in the City of Austin.
- Appointment to the BAC is based on an individual’s demonstrated knowledge of issues relating to all matters relating to the use of the bicycle, bicycle infrastructure, and individuals of all ages and abilities who utilize bicycles.
- Individuals interested in serving on the BAC should be knowledgeable of applicable regulations and plans impacting bicycling.
The monthly BAC meetings typically consist of briefings, discussion/approval of recommendations to local agencies and community announcements.
Learn more about the Bicycle Advisory Council Bylaws.
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How 19th Street became Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
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After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, many U.S. cities honored the civil rights leader by renaming streets. As KXAN’s Robert Sims documents, Austin City Council approved the renaming of 19th Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in 1975, but the process was not easy.
Sims writes that many residents and business owners on the west side of I-35 opposed the name change, citing “the cost of signs and the inconvenience of updating their address to a new name.”
Dr. John Jarvis Seabrook, a well-known community leader in the area and onetime president of Huston-Tillotson University, pushed to change the name of 19th Street on both sides of I-35. At the May 1, 1975 meeting where he made his remarks to council, Seabrook collapsed from a heart attack. He died later that night. Five days later, the city council approved renaming the street MLK Jr. Boulevard on both sides of I-35.
Today, as Sims notes, the bridge over I-35 along MLK is named for J.J. Seabrook, along with a greenbelt in East Austin and the neighborhood association located just east of I-35 with MLK Jr. Boulevard as its southern border.
Thanks to KXAN for sharing a great piece of Austin history!
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Calendar Corner: August 23 – 29, 2021
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TxDOT seeks community feedback on proposed improvements for Interstate 35 between US 290 East and SH-71/Ben White Boulevard. The project plans to remove the existing I-35 decks, lower the roadway and add managed lanes in each direction. The project will also reconstruct east-west cross-street bridges, add pedestrian and bicycle paths and make additional safety and mobility improvements. Public comments are accepted now via the virtual public meeting.
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority Board of Directors is comprised of seven local community volunteers who are responsible for setting policies, identifying priority projects and ensuring the agency is operated in an efficient and effective manner.
TxDOT proposes improvements at the intersection of RM 620 and Anderson Mill Road to enhance safety and improve mobility. The RM 620 at Anderson Mill Road intersection is one of the most congested along the corridor. The proposed project would extend for a total of 1.2 miles along RM 620, from approximately 240 feet south of Foundation Road to Little Elm Trail, and would include 2- to 3-lane frontage roads plus turn lanes where recommended, elevated bypass lanes at Anderson Mill Road and El Salido Parkway, intersection improvements, and improved bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. All comments must be received on or before Friday, September 10, 2021.
Recruit and retain top talent with commute options that help your employees return to work, not to traffic. Movability Texas will hold a virtual expo that will connect employers with mobility experts and providers, from software that supports your commute goals to shuttles, carpooling, public transit, and more.
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