Austin has landed a spot in the top 20 best cities for bicycling in a recent survey by the U.S-based bike advocacy group PeopleForBikes. The city received an overall score of 3.0 out of 5, tying with Los Angeles, Detroit and New Orleans while securing the 20th spot on a list of 567 North American […]
Ryan Thornton
Posted inTransportation
CAMPO pushes transit, active transportation, other projects to the side for I-35
The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization has at last approved a list of projects to defer from its 2021-2024 Transportation Improvement Program in order to contribute $633 million for the Interstate 35 Capital Express Central project. However, representatives from Travis County and Austin remain unhappy with the final result. The agency’s Transportation Policy Board agreed […]
Posted inCity Council
Council opens public right-of-way for safe business with amended special events pilot
City Council approved a pilot program Thursday that will allow restaurants, bars and shops to use private and public parking spaces, sidewalks and streets to serve customers at a safe distance. The Shop the Block! pilot builds upon the city’s special events permitting process, cutting the application decision period to no more than 10 business […]
Posted inPublic Health
Austin Public Health to address health inequity in response to Covid-19
Austin Public Health Director Stephanie Hayden told City Council Tuesday that the city needs to address the vast inequities and social determinants of health – things like jobs, housing and health services – that have concentrated Covid-19’s impact upon poor communities of color. “Covid-19 doesn’t discriminate in terms of who it infects; it’s going to […]
Posted inTransportation
Garza suggests color-coded speed zones to slow car traffic
At least in the short term, the Austin Transportation Department is hanging its hopes of reducing traffic fatalities and serious injuries on a proposal that would drop most downtown and residential streets to a 25 mph speed limit while coordinating with the Austin Police Department to educate residents and enforce those reductions. The concept earned […]
Posted inTransportation
Financial commitment for I-35 continues to divide CAMPO
After weeks of running projects through updated scoring criteria, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is still not approaching consensus on a list of projects to defer from its 2021-2024 Transportation Improvement Program, in order to free up $633 million in state funds for the Capital Express Interstate 35 expansion. Transportation Policy Board members requested […]
Posted inTransit
Capital Metro proposes incorporating Austin B-cycle as extension of public transit network
By late fall, public transit and bike-share users may be able to access both services with the purchase of a local bus day pass. Under a proposed partnership with the city, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking to expand upon the symbiosis between its transit system and the city’s B-cycle bike-share program by fully […]
Posted inCity Council
Council approves $6.9M in agreements for remaining RISE funds
City Council doled out nearly $6.9 million to 12 social services organizations in a unanimous vote Thursday, spending the remainder of the $15 million Relief in a State of Emergency, or RISE, fund approved by Council on April 9. Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza sponsored the fund with a resolution last month. It is intended […]
Posted inRoads
Ultimate vision for Burnet loses center-running dedicated transitways, gains two traffic lanes
The Austin Transportation Department’s 2013 Corridor Development Program for Burnet Road envisions a future of cycle tracks, bus stop pullouts, shade trees, and for the roadway section between U.S. Highway 183 and MoPac Expressway, “two exclusive (bus rapid transit) lanes in the middle of the corridor.” Instead, the department is currently seeking environmental clearance on […]
Posted inCity Council
City outlines $270M coronavirus response
The city’s budget office has landed on a provisional Covid-19 spending plan to manage the ongoing public health crisis and provide vulnerable residents, professionals and businesses with the financial support to survive. The $270.1 million framework features $37.9 million for medical and public health needs to slow and eventually halt the spread of disease, $98 […]
Posted inAustin
City to rebury remains of those exhumed during Oakwood Cemetery chapel project
The final two-volume report on the Oakwood Cemetery chapel restoration project was released to the public Thursday, marking the beginning of the next step in the project’s long, complicated history: the reburial of the remains of 36 people whose graves were disrupted and exhumed during the rehabilitation of the historic East Austin landmark. The Austin […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin Transportation proposes slowing some city streets to 25 mph limit
Despite a 50 percent decrease in driving as a result of the city’s Stay Home, Work Safe order, traffic fatalities are up nearly 26 percent this year compared to last year – which also saw a sharp increase (about 19 percent) in deaths compared to 2018. The steady rise, according to Eric Bollich, assistant director […]