On Monday afternoon, city leaders and transportation policymakers gathered to celebrate the unveiling of Vision Zero’s 10 Year Report on Austin’s progress toward making traffic deaths a thing of the past. “Traffic crashes aren’t accidents. They are preventable,” said Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes during the press conference Monday. “They are a public health crisis, […]
Transportation and Public Works Department
Posted inLocal Politics
Austin faces a 30-day deadline to remove its Pride crosswalk, ‘Black Artists Matter’ roadway art
Austin’s roadway art, including the rainbow crosswalk at Fourth and Colorado streets and the “Black Artists Matter” painted on 11th Street could soon be gone. Gov. Greg Abbott ordered cities and counties Wednesday to remove displays like these or risk losing state and federal money for road projects. He said this order will comply with a federal […]
Posted inRoads
New concrete barricades coming to Austin’s Sixth Street as part of safety plan
Starting today, city crews will begin replacing the water-filled barricades on East Sixth Street with concrete barriers. The swap is one step in Austin’s effort to tame the famously rowdy strip and create a more welcoming district that draws a broader age range and more spending, even if not everyone’s ready to sanitize “Dirty Sixth.” The new concrete barricades […]
Posted inRoads
Why Austin keeps turning intersections into roundabouts
You’re driving through Austin and come to an intersection with something unfamiliar in the middle. No stop sign. No traffic light. Just a giant concrete circle. Do you yield? Gun it? If you’ve wondered this, you’re not alone. More of Austin’s intersections are being turned into roundabouts as part of a safety strategy. In theory, […]
Posted inBicycles
New MoKan Trailhead offers a rest stop along East Austin’s expanding trail network
A dusty, neglected patch of land wedged between Bolm Road and Union Pacific’s train tracks has been converted to a trailhead, offering a place to sit and a fountain that can fill water bottles and offer dogs something to drink. The triangular trailhead opened quietly this spring along the Mokan Trail, which runs parallel to a […]
Posted inTransportation
Changes on the way for Austin’s scooters
New rules — and a new focus on equity — have arrived for Austin’s scooter rentals. Transportation and Public Works posted a new set of draft director’s rules governing the city’s shared micromobility program on May 12, which like a similar update to the residential parking program would offer tweaks in response to survey responses. […]
Posted inTransportation
Facing overwhelmingly negative feedback, city drafts refinements to residential permit parking program
Transportation and Public Works officials presented draft changes to the director’s rules governing the department’s Residential Permit Parking program to the Urban Transportation Commission on May 6, teasing a set of tweaks and formalizations rather than an overhaul of the current program The new rules will address how the department evaluates applications for participation in […]
Posted inPlanning
Council eyes vision plans for north and south transit centers
Vision plans for two major transit centers north and south of Downtown Austin are slated for City Council consideration later this month, capping a lengthy planning and public engagement process under the city’s emerging Equitable Transit-Oriented Development program. The ETOD program, a partnership between the city and Capital Metro, aims to guide redevelopment around transit […]
Posted inPlanning
Developer appeals denial of right-of-way vacation
The Urban Transportation Commission has rejected a request by the owner of one Old West Austin property to vacate right-of-way after hearing objections from the owners of a neighboring property that would be harmed by the street vacation. Commissioners voted 9-0 with one abstention and one absent to reject the street vacation request. The street […]
Posted inRoads
Council approves grant award to replace Barton Springs Road Bridge
A long-running debate over replacing the iconic Barton Springs Road Bridge appears to be settled, with City Council’s unanimous vote Thursday to formally accept $32 million in grant funds for the project. Although the Council voted in 2023 to move forward with replacing the bridge, funding wasn’t available to cover construction costs. That changed late […]
Posted inTransportation
City touts ongoing success in one-year update on micromobility program tweaks
Last April, Austin made changes to its micromobility program, cutting the number of scooters on the street by 2,000 and reducing speed limits among other things. In a one-year update, city staff say those changes have worked out as well as or better than expected. In a presentation to City Council’s Mobility Committee during a […]
Posted inTransportation
Bond task force weighs early decisions on transportation needs for 2026 package
The Bond Election Advisory Task Force got its first look Monday at how the Transportation and Public Works Department is approaching the selection and prioritization of projects for next year’s expected bond package. Task force members had plenty of questions about how those choices will be made. Among the concerns, members asked staff how transportation […]