The final public meeting for a CAMPO “study to develop a plan for bicycle and pedestrian accommodations near and across US 183 from MoPac in Austin to Cypress Creek in Cedar Park” will be this evening in Austin at Spicewood Springs Library:

Thursday, November 10 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
8637 Spicewood Springs Road, Austin, TX 78759

I went to stakeholder meetings — representing Vision Zero ATX as a volunteer member — and am profoundly excited about the proposals that the project team have put together. They have identified a reasonable strategy for reconnecting a now-populated section of Austin mostly built with car-dependent form. A large part of the vision is simply to better utilize the existing streets that people comfortable biking in traffic already use and make them safe and comfortable for everyone, while ensuring continuous, comfortable connections across and throughout the whole study area, as noted by Community Impact.

The study also recommends urban design guidelines, very similar to the goals of Austin’s Code Next process – which should begin its public process in January. Recognizing that a large population lives and works in this car-dependent corridor — and that quality infill development can actually improve their lives and their transportation options — is a refreshing reframing of the contentious debates about CodeNEXT in Austin’s core.

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) is planning to use this study as a centerpiece of its 2045 Regional Active Transportation Plan, which is just getting underway. These recommendations could apply anywhere freeways intrude on neighborhoods, from TXDOT’s plans for I-35 to new sprawl roads like SH45SW.

The positive recommendations I saw in stakeholder meetings won’t necessarily be in the final report unless there is community support, so please try to go out tonight and attend the meeting or send your comments of support to Kelly Porter, AICP who is leading the project for CAMPO:

kelly.porter@campotexas.org
www.campotexas.org
(512) 974-2084)

This post is made possible by a grant from Sutliff & Stout, an accident and injury law firm in Houston Texas. The content is Streetsblog’s own, and Sutliff & Stout neither endorses nor exercises any editorial control.