ATX Walk Bike Roll, an update to Austin’s active transportation plans, is heading for City Council approval in the coming months. Over the past few weeks, city staffers have made the rounds at boards and commissions, presenting the draft plan for feedback. Walk Bike Roll unites plans for urban trails, bikeways and sidewalks under the […]
Transportation Department
This city department is responsible for municipal transportation planning including roadways and bikeways.
Posted inTransportation
Austin to receive $22.9 million federal grant for safer roads
On Feb. 1, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced an $800 million grant award through the new Safe Streets and Roads for All, or SS4A program, allocating $72.7 million to cities and counties throughout Texas. Over the next five years, the grant program will provide $5 billion for “regional, local and tribal initiatives to prevent deaths and […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Dark traffic signals lead to havoc, hazards across Austin
As thousands awaited relief from dayslong power outages this past weekend, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians encountered hazards of another sort, as hundreds of stoplights went offline across the city. Richard Mendoza, the interim director of the city’s Transportation Department, addressed the situation at a Tuesday press conference. “Approximately 40 percent of our traffic signals were […]
Posted inRoads
‘Parking district’ proposal may solve South Congress parking woes
The dicey parking shuffle on South Congress is about to get a bit more predictable, thanks to the city’s Transportation Department. City Council’s Mobility Committee rang in 2023 with the welcome announcement that a new South Congress Parking & Transportation Management District, if approved, will bring an expanded paid parking program to the area in […]
Posted inRoads
Tower construction to close Red River in Rainey district until SXSW
Increasing growth in the Rainey Street district is expected to bring the closure of a portion of Red River Street until the beginning of South by Southwest in March. The closure is necessary to complete utilities work related to the installation of chilled water lines for 98 Red River St., which, when completed, will become […]
Posted inPlanning
Planning Commission supports North Austin townhome project
The Planning Commission recommended a rezoning Tuesday for a townhome project in North Austin amid objections from several neighbors. The property in question is a 5.5-acre tract at 10600 Jonwood Way. The owner hopes to rezone the property from Single Family-Standard Lot (SF-2) to Townhouse & Condominium Residence (SF-6) zoning in order to build about 10 […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Crash deaths, injuries on the rise despite Vision Zero interventions
Traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries in the city of Austin have increased in 2022 compared with the five-year average, highlighting the barriers that stand in the way of the city’s Vision Zero goals. The Vision Zero program, which originated in Sweden in the 1990s, aims to end traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries. City Council adopted […]
Posted inTransportation
Pedestrian crossing at Fourth and Sabine to remain closed another year
In summer 2020, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority celebrated the reopening of its Downtown Station at Fourth and Trinity, billing the new infrastructure as a mobility hub that would enhance the area’s public space and “make easy connections” between MetroRail and other modes of transportation. Passengers would be able to hop off the MetroRail and access […]
Posted inTransportation
City works to prioritize non-vehicular transit
ATX Walk Bike Roll, a collaborative effort to improve the city’s sidewalks, urban trails and bicycle paths, is rolling right along. Representatives from the project met with the Environmental Commission last week to discuss how things are coming along as the second phase of the planning process begins to wrap up. With an equity focus […]
Posted inTransportation
Data tracking electric scooter collisions still incomplete
If you’re an Austinite living within a few miles of downtown, there’s a good chance you know of someone who has been in an electric scooter crash, sustaining anything from a few scrapes to a much more serious injury. Though scooter crashes and injuries occur with regularity around the city, there is currently no standardized […]
Posted inTransportation
Mobility committee hears the case for remotely piloted delivery robots
The colorful little robots roaming the streets of Austin, delivering burritos and fried chicken, are likely not going anywhere soon. If anything, this might only be the beginning of the era of robotic delivery. At least that was the sentiment at the City Council Mobility Committee meeting Thursday when the Transportation Department gave a presentation […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin explores increasing traffic enforcement to reduce growing fatalities
In a memo sent Wednesday, Austin’s police and transportation departments updated City Council on strategies to reduce an increasing number of severe crashes and fatalities on the city’s streets and highways. In 2021, there was the highest number of traffic fatalities on record, and 2022 is on track to surpass it, according to the memo. […]