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  #3941  
Old Posted Jul 12, 2014, 11:49 AM
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SecretAgentMan SecretAgentMan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by _Matt View Post

I know people are super passionate about this, but we're just talking about lines on a map here.

On the new map there is not a contiguous line along L/G between Seaholm and Crestview.

That route, be it a planned extension or whatever, has been scaled back.
I see. What you are really talking about is the Guadalupe / Lavaca couplet downtown. Previously, the proposal was to have two north-south alignments downtown because of concerns for parades and events closing Congress Avenue. With the north-south spine moving to Trinity, that is not a concern. Also, now that virtually all of the buses have been moved to Guadalupe / Lavaca, it becomes a lot trickier to integrate rail as well.

I haven't seen any discussion on here about the 2014 Strategic Mobility Plan that includes this language:

Lamar Boulevard Development and High Capacity Transit Feasibility Program (Riverside to US 183): Portions of Lamar Boulevard are identified by the state as being among the top 100 most congested roadways in the state. The City of Austin, through the 2010 Mobility Bond, funded a corridor development program for North Lamar (north of US 183). As part of the 2012 Mobility Bond, Austin voters approved a similar corridor development program for South Lamar (south of Riverside drive). The City is also in the process of initiating a Guadalupe Street/West Campus Corridor Program to identify mobility projects that could improve east-west connectivity to the University as well as travel north-south through the district. The proposed Lamar Boulevard Corridor development Program would examine opportunities to improve total mobility on the central portion of the Lamar Corridor, connecting with the recommendations identified in these three other corridor development projects. All modes of transportation will be considered, including high capacity transit options such as both urban rail and bus rapid transit to coordinate and build upon the Urban Rail investment. High capacity transit system elements will be evaluated to their logical destinations beyond the study limits if necessary and both traffic management and new capacity options will be considered for improving vehicle flow through the corridor (The proposed budget for this effort is $5 million).

This is proposed to be included in the November bond election along with urban rail.

http://www.austintexas.gov/sites/def...upalUpload.pdf
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  #3942  
Old Posted Jul 12, 2014, 2:54 PM
ATXboom ATXboom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SecretAgentMan View Post
I see. What you are really talking about is the Guadalupe / Lavaca couplet downtown. Previously, the proposal was to have two north-south alignments downtown because of concerns for parades and events closing Congress Avenue. With the north-south spine moving to Trinity, that is not a concern. Also, now that virtually all of the buses have been moved to Guadalupe / Lavaca, it becomes a lot trickier to integrate rail as well.

I haven't seen any discussion on here about the 2014 Strategic Mobility Plan that includes this language:

Lamar Boulevard Development and High Capacity Transit Feasibility Program (Riverside to US 183): Portions of Lamar Boulevard are identified by the state as being among the top 100 most congested roadways in the state. The City of Austin, through the 2010 Mobility Bond, funded a corridor development program for North Lamar (north of US 183). As part of the 2012 Mobility Bond, Austin voters approved a similar corridor development program for South Lamar (south of Riverside drive). The City is also in the process of initiating a Guadalupe Street/West Campus Corridor Program to identify mobility projects that could improve east-west connectivity to the University as well as travel north-south through the district. The proposed Lamar Boulevard Corridor development Program would examine opportunities to improve total mobility on the central portion of the Lamar Corridor, connecting with the recommendations identified in these three other corridor development projects. All modes of transportation will be considered, including high capacity transit options such as both urban rail and bus rapid transit to coordinate and build upon the Urban Rail investment. High capacity transit system elements will be evaluated to their logical destinations beyond the study limits if necessary and both traffic management and new capacity options will be considered for improving vehicle flow through the corridor (The proposed budget for this effort is $5 million).

This is proposed to be included in the November bond election along with urban rail.

http://www.austintexas.gov/sites/def...upalUpload.pdf
Last sentence eliminates rail from consideration. They have framed the challenge as getting more cars through Lamar rather than people.

"beyond the study limits if necessary and both traffic management and new capacity options will be considered for improving vehicle flow through the corridor"
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  #3943  
Old Posted Jul 14, 2014, 2:25 PM
Novacek Novacek is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ATXboom View Post
Last sentence eliminates rail from consideration. They have framed the challenge as getting more cars through Lamar rather than people.

"beyond the study limits if necessary and both traffic management and new capacity options will be considered for improving vehicle flow through the corridor"
vehicle != car

Buses and railcars are also vehicles.
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  #3944  
Old Posted Jul 17, 2014, 12:14 AM
airwx airwx is offline
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The pro-rail group seems to be doing much better at fundraising than the Our Rail group.

Pro-rail campaign off to fast fundraising start

Quote:
Pro-rail campaign off to fast fundraising start
By Ben Wear
American-Statesman Staff

A political committee formed to support this fall’s probable $1 billion rail-and-roads bond election in Austin has raised $73,245 , more than half of it coming from downtown Austin interest groups.

That sum dwarfs the $669 raised by Our Rail, a committee founded by Scott Morris, a rail activist who opposes the route chosen for the city’s first electric-powered rail line since streetcars ceased operation about 75 years ago. Another faction led by retired high-tech executive Jim Skaggs that opposes building the rail line, no matter its location, has not yet formed a political action committee and thus did not have to file a report Tuesday.
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  #3945  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2014, 5:04 PM
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Has anyone passed the new 71/E. Riverside underpass? It should be close to done. That will be a miracle to traffic in that area when complete. Only 1 light remains to the exit to the Airport. How far it has come in 15 years.
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  #3946  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2014, 6:44 PM
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We went through there over the weekend. The west bound lanes are open now. I'm not sure about the east lanes.
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  #3947  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2014, 7:04 PM
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I thought the eastbound lanes opened first. I drove that way 2 weekends ago. Never had to get off the highway coming or going.
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  #3948  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2014, 8:55 PM
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You may be right, I just wasn't paying attention. I wasn't driving either, btw.

I would really like to see more of this in other parts of Austin. I'd like to see something like this along Williamson Creek and Onion Creek in South Austin. It would be amazing to connect areas of Southwest Austin with Southeast Austin. It's an effective means of transportation besides recreation and is much safer for cyclists.

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/life...3569878.735437
Quote:
LeBlanc: Southern Walnut Creek Trail provides miles of pedaling bliss

Separated-from-the-road paths connect Govalle Park to Walter E. Long Park.


Posted: 12:00 a.m. Sunday, July 20, 2014

By Pam LeBlanc - American-Statesman Staff

Bicyclists, prepare to be wowed.

A sparkling new ribbon of pathway has opened in Austin, and it serves up nearly 10 miles of separated-from-the-road pedaling bliss between Govalle Park and Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park.

The 7.3-mile paved Southern Walnut Creek Trail dips, curves and weaves along Boggy Creek and Walnut Creek, crossing five bridges and four bike underpasses along the way. Short spurs connect it to the East Communities Branch of the YMCA, the Austin Tennis Center and Davis White Northeast District Park.
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  #3949  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2014, 9:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas View Post
You may be right, I just wasn't paying attention. I wasn't driving either, btw.

I would really like to see more of this in other parts of Austin. I'd like to see something like this along Williamson Creek and Onion Creek in South Austin. It would be amazing to connect areas of Southwest Austin with Southeast Austin. It's an effective means of transportation besides recreation and is much safer for cyclists.

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/life...3569878.735437
Very cool. Here's a map: http://www.austintexas.gov/sites/def...ompressed_.pdf
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  #3950  
Old Posted Jul 23, 2014, 9:38 PM
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The cool thing is it could be linked to the hike & trail along the Riverside corridor.
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  #3951  
Old Posted Jul 24, 2014, 3:54 AM
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It could connect to hike & bike, then connect to Onion Creek to Williamson Creek. Then all connect to Violet Crown on the west side.
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  #3952  
Old Posted Jul 24, 2014, 12:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas View Post

I would really like to see more of this in other parts of Austin.
http://www.austintexas.gov/sites/def...aft_report.pdf
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  #3953  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2014, 5:10 AM
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http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local...park/13305369/
Quote:
Consultants present infrastructure plan for Town Lake Metro Park

Ashley Goudeau, KVUE 10:59 p.m. CDT July 28, 2014

The Austin Parks Foundation hired the consulting firm to study the park and come up with a 10 to 15 year plan to maximize the space.

Monday, consultants presented recommendations to change the infrastructure. The Doughtery Arts Center is on contaminated soil and needs a new home. The firm suggests relocating it to between the Long and Palmer Events Centers and turning that space into an above parking facility.

Another big change deals with Riverside Drive. There has been talk of closing the road to accommodate park goers but a transportation study by the firm found that's just not feasible. Their suggestion is to downgrade the street, or take some portions of it underground, and add walking bridges on top. The road would then provide access to an underground parking garage with 1,200 spaces. The downside, the plan eliminates free parking on the street.
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  #3954  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2014, 8:26 PM
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Riverside Dr. has already been downgraded to a small 2 lane road, how much more can they downgrade it? I think Riverside is fine the way it is, there are plenty of crosswalks and traffic generally travels slow through there anyways.
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  #3955  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2014, 8:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jdawgboy View Post
Riverside Dr. has already been downgraded to a small 2 lane road, how much more can they downgrade it? I think Riverside is fine the way it is, there are plenty of crosswalks and traffic generally travels slow through there anyways.
Isn't it still 2x2 east of the roundabout? The roundabout itself is 2 lanes and could be downgraded.
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  #3956  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2014, 10:49 PM
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I agree that the roundabout can be changed to one lane and in fact make the westbound lane from south 1st to the roundabout one lane. I don't think it would be practical to shrink the east bound lanes east of the roundabout because one of the exits from the Parmer and Long Center garage is there and they need the second lane to move traffic exiting the garage. It would cause a nasty backup if all of the cars exiting the garage had to merge into one lane before they reach the street. The police block cars from going westbound so all exiting traffic has to go right.
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  #3957  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2014, 11:12 PM
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I was having trouble posting this without it crashing my browser, so I'm just going to copy and paste and quote Syndic's post.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Syndic
This is amazing. They want to sink Riverside Dr. and build land bridges over it!


Quote:
Proposed Town Lake Park Plan Includes More Green Space



"At Palmer Events Center yesterday, consultants from Tur Partners laid out an initial proposal for a long-term plan to reinvent Town Lake Park, which includes Auditorium Shores, the Liz Carpenter Fountain, Palmer Events Center, and the Long Center. Such a proposal could take 10 to 20 years to build out completely, and would be contingent on City Council approval and funding."

http://www.austinpost.org/article/mo....EZRtW8Fo.dpuf
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  #3958  
Old Posted Aug 10, 2014, 1:53 PM
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  #3959  
Old Posted Aug 11, 2014, 6:27 PM
StoOgE StoOgE is offline
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I was looking at that Central Texas mass transit plan and got really really excited.

Then I realized that almost all of those are bus routes that more or less already exist, but they are adding super buses that will also get stuck in traffic.

Austin drivers cut through residential neighborhoods during rush hour, if you think they are going to stay out of bus lanes I have some Ocean front property in Lubbock to sell you.

The fact that a train from downtown to the airport is a potential future extension is mind blowing. Run a train to the airport.

Austin has a serious transportation issue and it needs to be taken head on before it starts to seriously impact growth in the region. This means finishing the Southwest I45 connection, finishing the remaining flyovers for major freeways and coming up with an actual mass transit plan. Anyone who lives within the 71/183/Mopac/290/Airport bounding box should be able to get downtown within 30 minutes using mass transit during Rush hour.

That will incentivize companies to locate downtown in the CBD instead of building more office parks on feeder freeways on the periphery of town.
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  #3960  
Old Posted Aug 11, 2014, 7:27 PM
Novacek Novacek is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StoOgE View Post
Austin drivers cut through residential neighborhoods during rush hour,
Which is currently legal.

Quote:
Originally Posted by StoOgE View Post
if you think they are going to stay out of bus lanes
Which will be _illegal_. Ticket a few drivers and it will stop being an issue. I haven't heard of it being a problem in the lanes downtown.
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