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[CALL TO ORDER]
AND CONGRATULATIONS FOR THOSE DIDN'T HAVE TO DRIVE ACROSS TOWN.UH, TODAY'S TUESDAY, JANUARY 10TH, UH, 2023.
WE HAVE A FORUM, SO WE'RE GONNA BRING THIS URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MEETING.
UM, AS ALWAYS, ARE THERE ANY CITIZENS SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, UH, ON AGENDA ITEMS? THERE ARE NOT.
[1. Approve the minutes of the Urban Transportation Commission REGULAR MEETING on December 6th, 2022.]
UM, SHOULD HAVE A DOCUMENT FROM THE MINUTES LAST TIME, WHICH WAS, UH, SIMPLY A DRAFTING RECOMMENDATION, SORT OF TRAINING DISCUSSION.IS THERE ANYBODY THERE, UH, WHO WILLING TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THESE MINUTES? APPROVE.
IS THERE A SECOND? UH, WE CAN'T, WE'RE FIRST OPEN.
LET CHRIS DO THE, UH, I'M JUST GONNA STOP SO WE CAN SEE PEOPLE.
UM, ANY DISCUSSION? ALL IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY, AYE, ANYBODY OPPOSED OVER YOUR HAND? ANY NA ANY INTENTION? OKAY.
ONTO OUR ACTUAL AGENDA ITEMS. FIRST
[2. Discussion and possible action on Cap and Stitch Bi-Annual Update Presenter: Mike Trimble, Corridor Program Office]
ONE UP.DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE CAPTAIN AND STITCH.
THIS IS THE BIANNUAL UPDATE FOR MY TRIPLE IN THE PROGRAM FOR THE COURT PROGRAM OFFICE IS, I DON'T SEE HIM SOMEWHERE PRESENTING FOR HIM.
I'M WITH THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM OFFICE.
MIKE'S NOT ABLE TO MAKE IT TONIGHT, BUT I'LL BE GIVING THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO, UH, TRY TO SHARE MY SCREEN HERE AND I'LL BE THE ONE TO, TO SCROLL THROUGH.
UM, REALLY APPRECIATE, UM, THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE TONIGHT.
AND LET ME, LET ME SEE IF I CAN GET THIS UP AND RUNNING.
IS EVERYTHING WORKING CORRECTLY NOW? IT IS.
WELL, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR HAVING US HERE.
UH, WE DO HOPE TO, UH, BE ABLE TO COME MORE FREQUENTLY IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
WE HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION AND, UM, ENGAGEMENT THAT'LL BE COMING UP OVER THE NEXT YEAR.
SO EXCITED TO TELL YOU ABOUT WHAT'S TO COME.
NOT ABLE TO ADVANCE THE SLIDES.
AND SUSAN, IF IT'S TOO MUCH TROUBLE, I CAN GO AHEAD AND START SHARING MY SCREEN AND WE CAN JUST DO NEXT SLIDE.
THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A DELAY, TECHNOLOGY DELAY, I THINK ON OUR SIDE OVER HERE.
UM, I'M, I'M GONNA GO THROUGH THE FIRST COUPLE OF SLIDES PRETTY QUICKLY.
YOU ALL ARE PROBABLY VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE HISTORY OF I 35.
UM, THE, THE PAST EAST AVENUE AND THE TYPES OF OPPORTUNITY FOR GATHERINGS LIKE PSON COLLEGE HAD EVENTS HERE IN THE PAST.
UM, AND THEN I 35, UH, CONSTRUCTION CAME IN IN THE, THE SIXTIES AND REALLY CREATED A DIVIDE WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY, UM, IN A VERY PHYSICAL WAY.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT HAD HAD SEGREGATION IN OUR CITY IN THE PAST AND A LARGE DIVIDE BASED ON OUR 1928 PLAN, AS WELL AS MANY, UM, POLICIES THAT CREATED SEGREGATION WITHIN OUR CITY.
UM, I 35 SERVES AS A REPRESENTATION OF THAT IN A VERY PHYSICAL FORMAT TODAY.
AND WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IS BE LOOKING FORWARD, HOW CAN WE START TO RECONNECT OUR COMMUNITY? HOW CAN WE BE, BRING COMMUNITY BENEFITS TO THE I 35 PROJECT THAT TECHO IS UNDERGOING, UM, AND PLANNING FORWARD RIGHT NOW.
SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT WHAT WOULD GUIDE US AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF POLICIES AND PLANS WITHIN THE CITY THAT TALK ABOUT WHAT WE WOULD LIKE OUR CITY TO BE AND WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO INCLUDE IN, UM, COMMUNITY ASSETS.
SO THIS INCLUDES, IMAGINE AUSTIN, OUR STRATEGIC DIRECTION THAT GETS ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL EVERY FEW YEARS.
UH, WE HAVE THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN AND MANY OTHER PLANS AND POLICIES AND INITIATIVES, NOT JUST WITHIN THE CITY, BUT WITHIN THE TRANSPORTATION, UM, REALM SUCH AS THE JUSTICE SPORTY, UM, EQUITY INITIATIVE AND OTHER IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS, UM, THAT WE LOOK TO AS INSPIRATION
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FOR WHAT WE SHOULD BE GUIDING OUR DECISION MAKING AS WE GO FORWARD.UM, YOU ALL MAY KNOW THAT TEXT DOT HAS JUST RECENTLY IN THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS PUT OUT THEIR DRAFT E I S THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT, LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVES, UH, FOR THE HIGHWAY.
UM, THIS IS, THIS IS A LITTLE SNAPSHOT OF WHAT THEY HAVE AS ALTERNATIVE TWO AND MODIFIED ALTERNATIVE THREE, WHICH IS, UM, THEIR PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE THAT THEY ANNOUNCED WITH THE DRAFT E I S DOCUMENTATION THAT THEY HAVE NOW UP ON THEIR WEBSITE THAT EVERYBODY CAN ACCESS.
UM, WE WILL BE LOOKING AT WHERE CAPS AND STITCHES ARE, UM, AVAILABLE WITHIN THE PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE.
AND, UH, THE DIAGRAM HERE IS REALLY HARD TO SEE.
I'M NOT GONNA ASK YOU TO UNDERSTAND ALL OF THIS KIND OF COLOR CODING THAT YOU'RE SEEING ON YOUR SCREEN RIGHT NOW, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, UM, WE ARE LOOKING AT SOME OF THESE GREEN SWATHS DOWN HERE, UM, THAT CAN CAP OVER THE HIGHWAY.
AZTEC.IS PLANNING TO LOWER THE MAIN LANES BELOW GRADE.
IT GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE A DECK OR A CAP OVER THE LANES, UM, TO CREATE A, A BIT OF A TUNNEL FOR THE TRAFFIC AND US TO PUT A SURFACE AMENITIES ON TOP.
UM, THEN AS WELL AS STITCHES, YOU PROBABLY HEARD, YOU KNOW, THAT TERM QUITE A BIT, CAP AND STITCH.
UH, WE ARE THE ONLY COMMUNITY WHO USES THAT TERMINOLOGY, BUT I DO WANT TO CLARIFY WHAT THAT MEANS.
SO A STITCH IS REALLY A WINDED BRIDGE STRUCTURE, OR MAYBE A MINI CAP IS A WAY TO THINK ABOUT IT.
UM, IT'S NOT AS LARGE AS A DECK THAT WOULD CREATE A TUNNEL, BUT IT IS AN EXPANSION OF THE AREA, UM, ADJACENT TO, UH, LIKE THE EDGES OF A BRIDGE WHERE WE CAN CREATE SOME COMMUNITY BENEFITS AND SOME COMMUNITY SPACE.
UM, THERE'S A WHOLE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE'RE EVALUATING WITH TECHO.
UM, THE ONES THAT ARE SHOWN HERE ARE JUST, UH, A HANDFUL THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE REALLY DEEP DIVING DEEPLY INTO TO SEE, UH, WHERE THEY ARE AVAILABLE TO DO THESE EXPANDED BRIDGES, THESE COMMUNITY SPACES AND, AND THE CAPS.
AND SO WANTED TO, UM, BRING YOUR ATTENTION TO SOME OF 'EM.
WE ARE WORKING IN, IN, UH, GREAT DETAIL WITH TEXT.TO SEE IF WE CAN EXPAND THE NUMBER OF CAPS THAT WE HAVE.
YOU KNOW, JUST AS AN EXAMPLE HERE, UM, AT 11TH AND 12TH STREET, DOWN HERE AT THE BOTTOM, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE, THE DIAGRAM HERE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT, THERE'S THOSE TWO KIND OF PURPLE, PURPLE, UM, STITCHES.
AND WE WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE IF WE CAN MAKE THAT INTO A FULL CAP.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT IS A COMPLEX, UM, SET OF VARIABLES THAT TECHO IS LOOKING AT.
WE CONTINUE TO EVALUATE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR CAPS, UM, UP AND DOWN THE CORRIDOR.
UM, AND JUST TO, TO ILLUSTRATE THE COMPLEXITY A LITTLE BIT, YOU KNOW, AS YOU'RE STARTING TO MOVE ONE COMPONENT, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A RIPPLE EFFECT, RIGHT? SO, UM, IT, IT'S, IT'S NOT AS EASY AS SAYING, OH, WE WANT A CAP HERE.
YOU KNOW, CAN WE HAVE IT OR NOT? HAS A VERY COMPLEX SET OF VARIABLES THAT NEED TO BE ANALYZED IN ORDER TO SEE IF IT WILL WORK.
UM, IT'S AN ONGOING PROCESS THAT WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW, AND WE'RE REALLY EXCITED THAT THERE'S THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THESE CAPS.
IT GIVES US THE, UH, THE, THE OPTION OF CONNECTING AND BRINGING NEW CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE AND LEVERAGING A TRANSPORTATION PROJECT TO GET OTHER COMMUNITY BENEFITS AS WELL.
NOT ONLY DOES THE CITY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO CAPS AND STITCHES, BUT THERE IS SOME OPPORTUNITY FOR, UM, CAPS NEAR THE UNIVERSITY AS WELL.
SO YOU SEE OVER IN THE, THE LOWER LEFT-HAND CORNER, SOME LARGE GREEN AREAS THERE THAT WOULD BE ADJACENT TO THE UNIVERSITY SHOULD THE UNIVERSITY CHOOSE TO WORK WITH TEXT OT ON MAKING THOSE A REALITY.
UM, THE CITY, UM, HAS ABOUT 15 OR MORE ACRES WORTH OF CAP AND STITCH OPPORTUNITY, AND, UH, WE'LL BE TALKING MORE ABOUT WHAT THAT COULD LOOK LIKE AS WE GO ON THROUGH THE PRESENTATION.
WE'RE WORKING CLOSELY WITH TECH OT TO ALIGN OUR SCHEDULES.
UM, TECH OT, AS YOU KNOW, HAS JUST RELEASED THEIR DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.
THEY'LL BE LOOKING TO FINALIZE THAT IN 2023.
THEY'LL BE CONTINUING THE DESIGN PROCESS AND SELECTING A CONTRACTOR, UM, AND THE BULK OF THEIR COLLECTION OR THEIR CONSTRUCTION
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WOULD BEGIN IN 2025.THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT SOME EARLY OUT PROJECTS WOULDN'T BE MOVING FORWARD SOONER, BUT THE BULK OF CONSTRUCTION WOULD BE, UH, BEGINNING IN THAT TIMEFRAME.
WE'RE TRYING TO ALIGN OUR DELIVERABLES AND OUR, UM, ANALYSIS AND PLANNING WITH THE MILESTONES THAT TECH DOT HAS.
OUR GOAL IS TO GET THE CAP STRUCTURES, UM, BUILT AS THEY'RE DOING THEIR CONSTRUCTION SO THAT WE CAN COME BACK OVER THE TOP AND PUT ON ALL OF THE, UM, AMENITIES, UM, THAT CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE FROM, FOR THE COMMUNITY, FROM THE CITY SIDE.
AFTER THAT CONSTRUCTION IS COMPLETED BY THE, UH, THE TECH STOCK CRUISE OR THEIR CONTRACTOR, UM, WE'LL BE GOING THROUGH A PROCESS.
YOU KNOW, WE'VE WORKED WITH FEASIBILITY.
WE ARE WORKING ON VISION GOALS AND OBJECTIVES, OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS.
UH, BUT WE'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND OUR, UM, TEAMS INTERNALLY TO SET UP THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE IN 2023.
2023 IS GONNA BE A REAL PIVOTAL TIME FOR US, AND WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY TO DEVELOP CONCEPT PLANS AND SCENARIOS.
WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT TO SEE ON THESE, UH, CAPS AND STITCHES? WHAT TYPES OF AMENITIES AND BENEFITS DO WE WANT TO BRING TO OUR COMMUNITY? AND OF COURSE, THEN WE WILL, WE'LL FINISH THROUGH PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING AND DESIGN SO THAT AS TECHO IS DOING THEIR WORK, WE'RE ABLE TO COME IN, UM, RIGHT BEHIND THEM AND BUILD AMENITIES AT THE SAME TIME FOR ME AT THE MOMENT.
UM, I, I HAD MENTIONED THAT WE DID SOME FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS EARLY ON TO UNDERSTAND THE VIABILITY OF CAPS AND STITCHES.
UH, WE HAD A CONSULTANT TEAM LOOKING WITH US AND WORKING DIRECTLY WITH TECH.TO UNDERSTAND THEIR PLANS, UM, AND WHAT WAS FEASIBLE.
UM, A COUPLE OF VERY GOOD THINGS THAT CAME OUT OF THAT IS THAT THERE IS QUITE THE CAPACITY TO DO CAPS AND STITCHES, UH, WITHIN THE TECH OP PROJECT.
UH, WE CAN DO A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT OPEN SPACES PARK-LIKE AMENITIES.
WE CAN ALSO HAVE ONE AND TWO STORY STRUCTURES, UM, THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO BE ACCOMMODATED WITHIN THE OVERALL, UM, PROJECT.
THERE WOULD BE SPACE TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THE COLUMNS AND THE, THE, UM, CAP INDEX STRUCTURES TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THAT FEASIBLE.
UM, WE'LL BE GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS IN 2023 TO DETERMINE WHERE AND WHAT COMBINATION OF USES WOULD BE APPROPRIATE AND DESIRED BY OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, WE HAVE ALSO LOOKED AT A NUMBER OF OTHER THINGS.
I, I WANT TO KEEP IN MIND THAT NOT ONLY IS THIS A PROJECT FOR THE CAPS THEMSELVES, BUT OUR PROJECT AND OUR PROGRAM HAS A MUCH WIDER EFFECT.
UM, WE ARE COGNIZANT THAT THE LARGER COMMUNITY, UM, NEEDS TO BE A PART OF THE CONVERSATION.
UH, WE WANT TO ENGAGE IN A DIFFERENT WAY, AND WE REALLY WANT THE, THE COMMUNITY TO COMMUNITY TO BE A PARTNER WITH US ON THIS.
WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS DESIRED, BUT ALSO WHAT ARE SOME OF THE IMPACTS.
UM, HOW ARE WE CONNECTING THE, THE TISSUE BACK TOGETHER, EAST AND WEST? UM, WHAT ARE THESE, YOU KNOW, GREAT NUMBER OF DESTINATIONS, BOTH CULTURAL DESTINATIONS, UM, UH, CITY SERVICES, HEALTH SERVICES, UM, MAJOR DESTINATIONS, ENTERTAINMENT LOCATIONS THAT PEOPLE WILL NATURALLY WANT TO GO TO, AND HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ACCOMMODATING NOT JUST THE EN CORRIDOR CAP AND STITCH IMPROVEMENTS, BUT WHAT CAN WE DO TO TIE THE COMMUNITY BACK TOGETHER? HOW, UM, IN THE NEXT PHASE, UH, WE'LL BE WORKING WITH, UM,
AND THEN THE, THE THIRD PHASE THAT WE'LL BE DOING, UM, WITH THE CONSULTANTS WE HAVE ON BOARD CURRENTLY AS WORKING THROUGH KIND OF THAT PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO DEVELOP THE PROJECT FAR ENOUGH IN ORDER WORK WITHIN THE TEXT DOT TIMELINE.
UH, WE WILL HAVE FUTURE PHASES AFTER THIS.
THESE ARE THE FIRST THREE THAT I WANTED TO PULL YOUR ATTENTION TO.
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OKAY.AS WE GO THROUGH THESE DIFFERENT PHASES OF OUR WORK.
UM, VISION, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES, OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS, CONCEPT PLANS, ENGINEERING, FULL DESIGN, AND THEN CONSTRUCTION.
WE KNOW THAT WE'RE GONNA NEED TO ENGAGE WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE.
UM, WE'VE SET UP, UM, AN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE FOR THIS WORK AHEAD OF US.
WE HAVE CREATED A COMMUNITY STEERING COMMITTEE.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE A TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE, AND THERE WILL BE NUMEROUS PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS THAT WE WILL BE, UM, ENGAGING ALONG THE PROCESS.
AND WE DO RECOGNIZE THAT, UM, WE'RE GONNA NEED TO HAVE SOME FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS BASED ON CERTAIN TOPICS, UM, THAT NEED TO HAVE DEEP DIVE CONVERSATIONS SO THAT WE DO PLAN ON BRINGING FOLKS IN TO BE ABLE TO REALLY EXPLORE AND MORE DETAIL THOSE INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS THAT, THAT NEED TO HAVE FOCUSED ATTENTION.
AND WHILE WE'RE DOING ALL OF THIS ENGAGEMENT, UH, WITHIN BOTH COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL, UM, STAKEHOLDERS, WE WILL BE GETTING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY AND THE PUBLIC IN A LARGER FORMAT THROUGH OPEN HOUSES, WEBSITE, SOCIAL MEDIA, SURVEYS.
UH, WE'LL HAVE A LOT OF ENGAGEMENT, UM, IN THE COMING YEAR.
DO YOU WANT TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE HEARD SO FAR? UM, WE, IN AUGUST, AT THE END OF AUGUST, HAD A, A LARGE OPEN HOUSE, UM, THAT HAD A GREAT NUMBER OF PEOPLE COMING THROUGH.
WE HAD ARTIST INTERPRETATION, UM, HELPING TO DRAW STORIES OUT OF INDIVIDUALS, UM, HIGHLIGHT AND OPPORTUNITIES TO COMMENT AND GIVE US INPUT ON ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT TOPICS HERE.
UM, AND AS WELL AS VISION AND GOALS.
UM, THAT WAS ONE OF THE PRIMARY ITEMS THAT WE WANTED TO ENGAGE ON WAS WHAT IS THE COMMUNITY, UM, WANTING TO SEE IN THIS PROJECT? WHAT WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL? WHAT IS OUR VISION? UM, WE GOT THOUSANDS OF DATA POINTS.
AND OUR TEAM HAS BEEN WORKING TO REALLY UNDERSTAND AND CATEGORIZE, UH, THE INPUT THAT WE'VE RECEIVED.
UH, YOU CAN SEE HERE FROM THIS PIE CHART, WE HAD A LOT OF COMMENTS AROUND HEALTH, UM, AND ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY AND MOBILITY.
SO THESE ARE THINGS LIKE, UM, CONNECTIVITY, UM, FEELING SAFE IN THESE SPACES, BEING ABLE TO GET EAST TO WEST IN A SAFE AND COMFORTABLE FORMAT.
UH, WE HEARD A LOT OF, UH, DESIRE FOR OPEN SPACES AND, UM, SHADING RIGHT ON THESE, UH, CAPS AND THESE DIFFERENT SPACES SO THAT PEOPLE COULD FEEL, UM, COMFORTABLE, UM, MOVING BACK AND FORTH AND REALLY ENGAGING IN THESE NEW CIVIC SPACES.
WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE IN DEPTH ABOUT THE COMMUNITY STEERING COMMITTEE.
UM, WE DO HAVE A GROUP OF FOLKS WHO ARE VOLUNTEERING, UH, THEIR TIME, UM, MEETING WITH US, UM, AT LEAST MONTHLY AND PERHAPS MORE THAN THAT THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS.
UM, THE, THE COMMUNITY STEERING GROUP IS REALLY LEADERS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY WHO ARE GOING TO BE HELPING US REFINE THE VISION AND GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.
UM, THEY'VE ALREADY BEEN TAKING THE WORK THAT, UM, THE ENGAGEMENT THAT WE'VE HEARD, UM, SIFTING THROUGH THAT WITH OUR TEAM AND REALLY STARTING TO ARTICULATE IT IN A VERY CONCRETE WAY.
AND THIS IS GONNA BE REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE, THE VISION GOALS AND OBJECTIVES REALLY SET UP, UM, SOME OF THE DECISION MAKING.
UM, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERY DECISION THAT WE MAKE ON THIS PROJECT REALLY GOES BACK AND SUPPORTS THE VISION AND GOALS AND WILL BE JUDGED AGAINST THOSE VISION AND GOALS, UM, AS WE GO.
SO HOW WELL ARE WE DOING TOWARDS THOSE DIFFERENT ITEMS? UM, THE VISION AND GOALS AND OBJECTIVES ARE JUST ABOUT COMPLETE.
UM, WE WILL BE PUTTING SOME INFORMATION UP ON OUR WEBSITE WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS, I WOULD SAY.
UM, AND, UM, OUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND OTHER PLACES WHERE, UH, THE PUBLIC CAN, UM, GET THAT INFORMATION READILY.
UH, THE STEERING COMMITTEE WILL ALSO BE HELPING US ENSURE THAT WE'RE DOING THE, THE RIGHT TYPES OF ENGAGEMENT THAT WE'RE HEARING FROM THE RIGHT VOICES.
UM, AND IN THE INSTANCE THAT WE'RE
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NOT HEARING FROM ALL OF THE RIGHT VOICES HELPING US TO CRAFT AN ENGAGEMENT PLAN, TO BE ABLE TO SEEK OUT, UM, THE, THE VARIOUS LENSES THAT, UH, NEED TO BE, UM, INCLUDED IN THE PROJECT AND THE PEOPLE WHO WE NEED TO BE ENGAGING WITH, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD THROUGH THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF OUR PROGRAM, GETTING INTO THAT CONCEPT PLAN, CREATING THE COMMUNITY PLANS FOR AMENITIES ON TOP OF THIS NEW PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE.UM, THE COMMUNITY STEERING COMMITTEE WILL BE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH US ON THAT AND TRYING TO MAXIMIZE THE COMMUNITY BENEFITS AND MAKING SURE WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY LATCHING ONTO AND ABLE TO CREATE THE RIGHT COMBINATION OF COMMUNITY BENEFITS, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD WITH THOSE, THOSE PLANS AND THOSE DESIGNS.
UM, THE COMMUNITY STEERING COMMITTEE ALSO HAS INFORMATION UP AND AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE, OUR FUTURE 30 FIVE.COM.
SO I MENTIONED BEFORE THAT NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE, UM, NEW CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE ON THESE CAPS AND STITCHES ON THE I 35 CORRIDOR, BUT WE'RE VERY COGNIZANT THAT THIS PROJECT HAS REACHED BEYOND THE CORRIDOR ITSELF AND INTO OUR COMMUNITY.
SO AS WE MOVE FURTHER INTO THE NEIGHBORHOODS, UM, THAT SURROUND THIS PROJECT, UH, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT WHAT IS NEEDED TO SUPPORT THAT COMMUNITY.
AND WE HAVE, UM, UM, HIRE SOME CONSULTANTS TO HELP US WITH AN EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR WORKING WITH THE AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, UM, ON THESE STRATEGIES.
AND OUR INTENT IS TO REALLY UNDERSTAND, UM, WHAT IMPACTS THIS NEW CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE MIGHT HAVE ON THE COMMUNITY.
UM, MIGHT, YOU KNOW, LARGE PROJECTS LIKE THIS IN OTHER LOCATIONS, PUT SOME STRESS ON AREAS THAT, THAT ARE ALREADY GENTRIFYING.
HOW CAN WE MITIGATE FOR THAT? HOW CAN WE ENSURE THAT SMALL BUSINESSES AND LOCAL BUSINESSES, UM, AREN'T, UH, DISPLACED AND, UH, ARE SUPPORTED? SO ALSO OUR MUSICIANS ARE OUR ARTIST COMMUNITY NONPROFITS.
HOW DO WE ENSURE THAT THIS PROJECT HELPS TO STABILIZE, UM, THEM AND CREATE THE RECONNECTIONS THAT WE NEED AND SUPPORT, UM, ANY MITIGATION AND, AND SUPPLY ANY MITIGATION THAT WE MIGHT NEED TO AS WE MOVE FORWARD THROUGH THE PROJECT? OUR INTENTION HERE REALLY IS NOT JUST TO COME UP WITH THE STRATEGIES, BUT WE WANT AN ACTION PLAN.
WE WANT TO HAVE SOMETHING THAT WE CAN, UM, TAKE TO THE COMMUNITY, TAKE TO COUNCIL, UM, ENSURE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO, UH, NOT ONLY PROVIDE THE BENEFITS ON THE CAPS STITCHES THEMSELVES, BUT WITHIN THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY.
UM, OF COURSE, ALL OF THIS COSTS MONEY TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THIS NEW CAP AND STITCH INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, WE HAVE A PRETTY ROBUST STRATEGY THAT WE'RE PUTTING INTO PLACE RIGHT NOW AS FAR AS ANALYZING ALL THE DIFFERENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND STRATEGIES THAT ARE, UM, AT HAND.
AND I WOULD SAY RIGHT NOW, ALL OF THE OPTIONS ARE ON THE TABLE FOR DISCOVERY AND ANALYSIS.
AND WE'LL BE LOOKING AT ALL OF, UH, THE VARIOUS, UH, OPPORTUNITIES TO GET GRANTS OR FINANCING, UH, THINGS LIKE VALUE CAPTURE AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.
UM, ONE OF OUR FIRST, UM, EMPHASIS IS GONNA BE TO GET THE CAP STRUCTURES FUNDED.
UM, ONCE WE GET THE STRUCTURES FUNDED, THAT WILL ALLOW US THEN TO COME OVER TOP WITH THE AMENITIES.
SO WE'RE, WE ARE LOOKING AT THE OVERALL FUNDING OF ALL OF THE CAPS AND STITCHES, BUT, UH, RIGHT IN FRONT OF US, UM, THE HIGHEST PRIORITY IS GETTING THE STRUCTURE SO THAT WE CAN CREATE THE AMENITIES.
UM, I'M REALLY HAPPY TO SAY THAT WE HAVE ALREADY GOTTEN SOME FUNDING, UM, FOR THE PROJECT.
WE, UH, THROUGH CONGRESSMAN DOGGETT, HE HELPS SPONSOR OUR APPLICATION FOR COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING THAT HAS BEEN AWARDED TO US.
AND, UM, THE DOLLAR VALUE OF 1.5 MILLION.
WE HAVE ALSO PUT IN ANOTHER GRANT OPPORTUNITY FOR RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES, UM, HOPING TO HEAR BACK VERY SOON ON THAT APPLICATION.
UM, WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING WITH THE, THE US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ON ALL OF THE OPPORTUNITIES, UM, BOTH FOR GRANTS AND FINANCING AND
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WORKING WITH OUR FINANCIAL SERVICES, UH, DEPARTMENT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND ALL OF THE, THE DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, BOND FINANCING, OTHER FINANCING STRUCTURES, UM, AS WELL AS WITH OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT FOR PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.AND THIS IS THE LAST SLIDE THAT I HAVE.
AND REALLY, I JUST WANT TO EMPHASIZE HERE THAT IT TAKES A LOT OF PEOPLE AND A LOT OF PARTNERS TO BE AT THE TABLE TO MAKE SOMETHING, UM, OF THIS MAGNITUDE A REALITY.
UM, WE HAVE SEVERAL D SEVERAL PARTNERS IN THIS THAT I WANT TO NAME FIRST AND FOREMOST IS A COMMUNITY.
WE WANT TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY IN THIS, UM, PROGRAM, IN THIS PROJECT, UH, THE COMMUNITY NEEDS TO BE, UH, SEEN AS A PARTNER AND NOT JUST, UM, FOLKS TO ENGAGE THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
AND SO WE DO HAVE THAT INTENTION TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY HERE.
UH, WE ARE ALSO PARTNERING WITH THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN ALLIANCES, WHO, YOU KNOW, HAS PROBAB, HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN PAST, UM, UH, OUR THIR FUTURE 35 ENGAGEMENT, UM, AND TECHO OF COURSE, AND OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS.
SO REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF THE, UM, FOLKS WHO HAVE COME TO THE TABLE THUS FAR.
AND WE'RE GONNA NEED EVERYBODY TO BE AT THE TABLE TO MOVE THIS PROJECT FORWARD.
REALLY EXCITING TO, TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO THIS.
AND I DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER SLIDES, BUT I'M MORE THAN HAPPY TO TAKE QUESTIONS FROM YOU ALL.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
I'M SURE THERE WILL BE SOME QUESTIONS.
I HAVE A COUPLE, BUT LOOKING AT THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS THEY WANNA JUMP IN WITH? WELL, THAT'S, WELL, WE'LL COME BACK THEN.
I, I HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS, UM, PARTLY ABOUT PROCESS AND JUST SORT OF WONDERING WHERE YOUR ANSWERS THESE QUESTIONS I GET MIGHT BE A SMIDGE EARLY SINCE YOU SAID THE VISION OF GOALS ARE COMING UP SOON, BUT I THINK THAT WHEN IT GETS TIME TO ENGAGE THE DEEPER COMMUNITY, IT WOULD, IT WOULD BE A REALLY MISSED OPPORTUNITY IF THERE WEREN'T, UH, A LOT BETTER VISUALS OF WHAT THIS PACIFIC AMENITIES MIGHT BE.
YOU KNOW, THOSE OTHER EXAMPLES.
AND, AND YOU KNOW, TEXT.IN PARTICULAR HAS THROWN OUT KIND OF RANDOM THINGS THAT ARE JUST VERY NOT PLEASING.
SO, UM, SO I GUESS THE QUESTION IS, ARE THERE ANY VISUALS OF WHAT THIS SPACES MIGHT BE LIKE, EVEN IF THEY'RE TAKEN FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD THAT, YOU KNOW, BENCHMARKS AND THAT SORT OF THING? YES.
AND THAT'S A REALLY GOOD, GOOD COMMENT, AND THANK YOU FOR MAKING THAT.
UM, WE DO HAVE SOME, UH, RENDERINGS FROM OUR FEASIBILITY STAGE.
UH, WE WILL BE CREATING A LOT MORE IN THE NEXT, UH, COMING MONTHS AS WE GO THROUGH, UH, THE PROCESS OF REALLY DETERMINING WHAT COMMUNITY AMENITIES WE CAN PUT ON THESE CAPS AND STITCHES, AND WE GO THROUGH THAT ENGAGEMENT PROCESS.
UM, IT IS OUR GOAL TO HAVE VERY ROBUST RENDERINGS AND ILLUSTRATIONS, UM, BECAUSE WE DO WANT IT TO COME ALIVE.
WE WANT PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO ENVISION THEMSELVES THERE AND BE ABLE TO ILLUSTRATE, YOU KNOW, THE POTENTIAL OF WHAT THESE CAPS AND STITCHES COULD BE FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
SO THE POINT IS VERY WELL TAKEN, AND YES, OUR INTENTION IS TO, UH, CREATE A LOT OF THOSE VISUALS, UH, FOR THE COMMUNITY TO, TO BE ABLE TO, TO UNDERSTAND THE POSSIBILITIES AND, AND REALLY THOSE VISUALS WILL HELP US GET FEEDBACK AS WELL.
I MEAN, I ASKED YOU THIS MIKE, SO JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THEY WEREN'T JUST, UH, LEFT OFF ACCIDENTALLY.
UM, AND THEN, UH, SO A QUESTION THEN SORT OF PHILOSOPHICALLY, AND YOU, YOU USED THE WORD CIVIC INFRASTRUCTURE AND YOU ALSO USED THE WORD SORT OF CIVIC SPACE, AND, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF WAYS THAT THAT MAY, THAT MAY BE, MAY MANIFEST.
AND I GUESS MY SPECIFIC QUESTION IS, PHILOSOPHICALLY, IS THERE A DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW MUCH OF THIS CAP IS A TRANSPORTATION SPACE? HOW MUCH OF IT IS A STATIC LINGERING SPACE, OR, OR PROBABLY HOW ARE THOSE BALANCED? YOU KNOW, IS IT THIS PART, THE VISUALIZATION VISUALIZATIONS WOULD COME IN HANDY? ARE THERE FOOD TRAILERS NEXT TO A BIKE TRAIL OR IS IT A PARK MUCH MORE LIKE YOU SEE THE WAY WATERLOO PARK HAS, YOU KNOW, SORT OF TURNED INTO A SPACE WITH A WINDING THING, YOU KNOW, IS THERE DISCUSSION OF THAT YET? NO, ACTUALLY, THOSE ARE THE EXACT CONVERSATIONS THAT, THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE LAUNCHING INTO IN 2023, AND WE'LL NEED TO HAVE ROBUST CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THAT.
SO YOU HIT ON A LOT OF THE TYPES OF AMENITIES AND TYPES OF DISCUSSIONS THAT WE'LL NEED TO HAVE.
EVERYTHING FROM GREEN SPACES, UM, YOU KNOW, DO WE WANT TO HAVE FOOD
[00:30:01]
COURT AREAS? DO WE WANNA HAVE A FARMER'S MARKET HAVE ONE AND TWO STORY BUILDINGS? WHAT WOULD BE IN THEM? UM, SO ALL OF THAT IS CONVERSATIONS THAT ARE YET TO COME, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE CRAFTING AND PREPARING FOR IN THE COMING MONTHS.AND 2023 IS GONNA BE THE TIMEFRAME FOR US TO REALLY LAUNCH INTO AND, UM, UH, WRAP OUR HEADS AROUND WHAT THOSE OPTIONS ARE AND THEN START TO COME UP WITH A PREFERRED SCENARIO, UM, THAT OUR COMMUNITY CAN ALL GET BEHIND.
UM, YOU, YOU MENTIONED AS WELL, THINGS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IS THIS A, A TRANSPORTATION FUNCTION? UM, YES.
I, I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE, UM, A VERY ROBUST BIKE PEDESTRIAN, UM, REALM, UM, BOTH IN THE, THE, THE BRIDGES, THE STITCHES, THE CAPS.
UM, WE ALSO NEED TO BE LOOKING AT TRANSIT.
UH, WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING WITH CAP METRO TO LOOK AT HOW TO BEST SERVE THE NEW DESTINATIONS, UM, BUT ALSO OTHER ROUTES THAT MIGHT CROSS, UM, THE AMENITIES, UH, THE, THE NEW CAPS AND STITCHES, THE, UM, THE WORK THAT THE CITY AND CAP METRO HAS DONE FOR THE EQUITABLE TRANSFER, UH, T EQUITABLE T O D, EXCUSE ME.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE LOOK AT THAT AS SOME INSPIRATION AND A STARTING POINT FOR SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS WE'LL NEED TO HAVE AS WELL.
UM, SO WE DO WANT TO BUILD UPON, UH, THE EXPERTISE AND THE THINKING THAT THEY HAVE ALREADY CREATED AND SEE HOW WE CAN APPLY SOME OF THAT TO THESE CAPS AND STITCHES AS WELL.
SO WE DON'T KNOW JUST YET WHAT PERCENTAGES WILL BE.
YOU KNOW, BUILDING OR GREEN SPACE OR TRANSPORTATION, BUT ALL OF THAT WILL NEED TO BE DISCOVERED AND DISCUSSED AND FINALIZED IN THE NEXT YEAR.
YEAH, I MEAN, I, LISTENING TO IT, I FIGURED IN PROBABLY THESE ARE SMID, BUT AHEAD, JUST FIGURED I WERE TO ASK, UH, ONE MORE THING AND THEN I'LL THROW TO OTHER COMMISSIONERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, IN PARTICULARLY, I'M GLAD YOU MENTIONED GENTRIFICATION AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DEAL WITH IT.
YOU KNOW, IT'S OBVIOUSLY A SUPER COMPLEX ISSUE.
I JUST WANNA THROW ONE SPECIFIC THING OUT THERE THAT WAS ATTEMPTED IN THE, IN THE LEDGE SEVERAL SESSIONS BACK.
I THOUGHT IT WAS A GREAT IDEA AND IT ACTUALLY HAD A LITTLE BIT OF BIPARTISAN SUPPORT.
AND IT WAS, UM, WORKING FROM THE THEORY THAT ONE OF THE BIGGEST CAUSES OF GENTRIFICATION IS, UH, PARENTS AGING OUT.
THE PROPERTY TAX GOES WAY UP AND THE KIDS DON'T HAVE THE ABILITY TO PAY FOR IT.
AND DEVELOPERS COME IN AND THEY BUY PROPERTY VERSUS PEOPLE JUST SELL, JUST SELL.
IF PEOPLE WANNA SELL, THAT'S THEIR RIGHT.
THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO SELL WHENEVER THEY WANNA SELL.
UM, SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE THE CITY TO THINK ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH PROPERTY TAX, UM, UH, THAT, THAT IT'S KIND OF REVERSE OF A CLIFF.
IT'S BEING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CLIFF.
YOU KNOW, YOUR PARENTS AIN'T OUT OF A PROPERTY OR THEY DIE.
YOU INHERIT A PIECE OF PROPERTY THAT HASN'T HAD ITS PROPERTY TAX GO UP IN 25 YEARS, AND THEN SUDDENLY IT'S, NOW IT'S UN IT'S UNSUSTAINABLE.
SO THAT MIGHT BE A, A, A, A THING TO LOOK AT FOR THOSE PROPERTIES RIGHT AROUND THERE.
YOU CAN IMAGINE FROM, THAT'S JUST TYPICALLY 11TH AND 12TH, ALL THE STREETS THERE THAT ARE NOW SUDDENLY NEAR A THOROUGHFARE WITH A NICE BIKE PATH THAT HAS A 3:00 AM SPONSORSHIP WITH THE, YOU KNOW, ET CETERA.
THAT'S A, THAT'S A THING I WOULD ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO LOOK AT.
AGAIN, MAYBE YOU CAN LOOK BACK AT THE LEGS AND SEE HOW IT FAILED AND SEE THERE MIGHT BE SOME POSSIBILITIES JUST TO THROW THAT OUT THERE.
AND THAT'S CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT WE WILL, WE'LL ADD IN TO THE CONVERSATION.
UM, I AM AWARE OF SOME OF THOSE PAST CONVERSATIONS AND, UH, WE DO HAVE, UH, SOME OF THE, THE COORDINATION MECHANISMS, UM, TO HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS.
SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT, UM, TO, TO HIGHLIGHT THAT AND TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT THOSE, THOSE PARTICULAR ITEMS. SO THANK YOU.
COMMISSIONERS LOOKING THEIR SCREEN? ANYBODY, ANYBODY HAVE THE QUESTION OR COMMENT? YES.
UM, YOUR SLIDES SHOW THAT THE HEIGHT OF STRUCTURES ON TOP OF THE CAPS AND STITCHES WOULD BE ONE TO TWO STORIES.
WHAT IF WE DECIDED WE BE IN THE COMMUNITY, DECIDED THAT THEY REALLY WANTED 10 STORY BUILDINGS ON TOPS OF THE CAPS AND STITCHES, WHAT WOULD BE THE BARRIERS? AND HAS TEX, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS TECH DOT GIVEN OUT A STRICT LIMIT? HAVE THEY SAID, WELL, YOU CAN NEGOTIATE IT, BUT YOU GOTTA PAY FOR IT.
WHY? WHAT'S THE SITUATION? WHY, WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS TO HAVING 10 STORIES? YEAH, THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION.
THERE'S A, THERE'S A COUPLE OF, OF DIFFERENT, UM, MAJOR COMPONENTS TO KEEP IN MIND.
SO ONE IS, UM, A VERY TECHNICAL ONE, AND THAT IS, UM, THE, THE LARGER
[00:35:01]
STRUCTURE ON THE BUILDING, THE MORE LOADING HAS TO BE SUPPORTED, RIGHT? UM, SO DO WE HAVE SPACE TO MAKE THE COLUMNS WIDER, UM, FOR A LARGER STRUCTURE? DO WE HAVE THE, THE SPACE FOR AN ELEVATOR PIT, RIGHT? THAT, THAT ADDS SPACE BELOW THE, THE SURFACE LEVEL, UM, THAT NEEDS TO BE ACCOMMODATED.THAT'S ONE OF THE, THE MORE DIFFICULT, UM, COMPONENTS.
AND WE'RE LOOKING WITH SOME OF OUR, UM, STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS OR ARCHITECTS, UM, TO BE ABLE TO EXPLORE, UM, HOW WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
UH, WE, WE, SOME OF THE ANALYSIS THAT WAS DONE, UM, EARLY ON IN THE FEASIBILITY PHASE, UM, WHICH WAS RECOMMENDING THE ONE AND TWO STORY BUILDINGS, UM, PART OF THE CONFLICT THAT WE RAN INTO WITH ANYTHING ABOVE THAT WAS THAT ELEVATOR PIT, UM, KIND OF GOING DOWN BELOW THE, THE SPACE OF THE, THE BEAMS ABOVE WHERE THE CARS ARE.
AND SO KIND OF EATING INTO THAT CLEAR SPACE THAT WE NEED FOR CARS TO TRAVEL IN.
UM, SO THERE'S A WHOLE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT COMPONENTS THAT, UH, WILL DETERMINE, UM, HOW TALL OUR BUILDINGS CAN GET.
UH, WE FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE RIGHT NOW WITH ONE AND TWO STORY BUILDINGS.
CAN WE GO A LITTLE BIT HIGHER? WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO ASK THAT QUESTION AND EVALUATE IT.
UM, IT, AT THIS POINT, IT LOOKS VERY UNLIKELY THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO DO A 10 STORY BUILDING, LIKE YOU MENTIONED, BUT, UM, IT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT WE CONTINUE TO LOOK AT.
ANY, ANY FOLLOW UPS? UH, KI BURKES? NO, NO FOLLOW UP.
WELL, WELCOME FORWARD, UH, COMMISSIONER WEATHERBY.
UM, I, IF YOU WERE, IF YOU'VE READ THIS DOCUMENT AND WE'RE JUMPING INTO TO, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, WE'RE SORT OF AT THE END OF OUR QUESTION ANSWER SECTION.
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU WANTED TO ADD? I DON'T, I DID LOOK OVER IT ALL.
SO I'M STILL, AND I, I GUESS I'M JUST, UM, I, I'VE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH THIS PROJECT.
I'M STRUGGLING WITH THE WAY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS PROJECT.
UM, RIGHT NOW IN THE COMMUNITY.
I DON'T, I FEEL LIKE PEOPLE WORKING ON THE PROJECT ARE IN A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE THAN MOST PEOPLE I TALK TO OUT IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO, UM, I'LL JUST PREFACE THAT, AND THIS IS NOT, UM, I HAVE REALLY STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT IT, BUT, UM, I THINK MY QUESTION IS, SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE FIRST STARTED TALKING ABOUT THIS PROJECT, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY GUIDELINES, LIKE NO HIRE, NO WIDER, YOU KNOW, NOT KNOCKING DOWN THINGS THAT ARE EXISTING NOW, CAPPING THE WHOLE THING.
AND IT JUST FEELS LIKE ALL OF THOSE, UM, UH, THINGS THAT WERE COMMUNICATED OR EXPRESSED OR LIKE JUST NOT, NOT BEING RESPECTED.
AND SO, UM, I I, I'M STRUGGLING WITH THIS AND, YOU KNOW, UM, THERE'S, THERE'S THE REAL PROSPECT THAT A LOT OF THIS ISN'T GOING TO BE CAPPED THROUGH CRUCIAL PARTS OF OUR COMMUNITY.
AND, UM, I, YOU, I'M, I THINK A LOT OF US WHO ADVOCATE FOR TRANSPORTATION AND SAFETY AND CLIMATE CHANGE AND THESE VARIOUS TOPICS ARE REALLY STRUGGLING WITH IS, IS THE BEST THING RIGHT NOW TO TRY TO PUSH ON TECH DOT AND STAFF TO TRY TO GET AS MUCH OF IT CAPPED AS POSSIBLE AND TO SORT OF MITIGATE WHAT WE SEE AS QUITE HONESTLY THE HARM OF THIS PROJECT, UM, OR TO JUST TRY TO FULL FORCE OPPOSE IT.
AND SO I'VE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH THAT QUESTION.
UM, I GUESS WHAT I'M REALLY ASKING IS, UM, WHAT IS THE PROSPECT? WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THIS, LET'S SAY FROM THE RIVER TO, UM, I DON'T KNOW, 51ST STREET AIRPORT, LET'S DO AIRPORT, RIGHT? BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE, RIGHT NOW WE HAVE THE HEIGHT RISING AND, AND THE SEPARATION.
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THIS IS LIKELY TO BE CAPPED? HOW LIKELY ARE WE TO HONOR THE, UH, SORT OF REALLY, I FELT LIKE COMMITMENTS THAT WERE MADE BY TECHO SOME YEARS AGO TO NOT GO ANY HIGHER OR WIDER ON THIS PROJECT? YEAH.
THANK YOU FOR, FOR VOICING THAT.
UM, OF COURSE, TECHOS NOT HERE TO TALK ABOUT THEIR PROJECT SPECIFICALLY.
I'M HAPPY TO TAKE BACK ALL OF THE COMMENTS TO THEM.
UM, I, I WOULD SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, WITHIN THAT AREA, KIND OF LADY BIRD LAKE UP TO, I THINK
[00:40:01]
YOU SAID AIRPORT BOULEVARD, UM, THE CITY HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO AROUND 15, MAYBE 18 ACRES.UH, WE'RE STILL WORKING TO REFINE WHAT THAT IS WITH TECH DOT, AND THEN UT HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO ANOTHER 15 OR SO.
UM, I THINK OVERALL IT WOULD ADD UP TO ABOUT 30 ACRES OF CAPS AND STITCHES.
AND, UM, I, I THINK ONE THING THAT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER WITH THE, THE CAP AND STITCH PROJECT ITSELF IS WHILE WE ARE VERY MUCH TIED TO THE TECH OP PROJECT, UM, WE ARE USING THE TECHO PROJECT FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE THE CAPS AND STITCHES.
UM, AND SO WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THEM ON, UH, GETTING, UH, VERY VALUABLE, UM, OPPORTUNITIES TO BE ABLE TO CAP OVER THE HIGHWAY.
BUT I DO THINK THAT'S AN ONGOING CONVERSATION AND SOME OF THAT, UM, I, I'M HAPPY TO TAKE BACK DIRECTLY TO TEXT DOT BECAUSE I THINK SOME OF THAT, UM, THAT SENTIMENT THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT REALLY IS, UM, SOMETHING THAT THEY NEED TO BE, UM, HEARING AND NEED TO BE ABLE TO RESPOND TO AS WELL.
YEAH, THEY, THEY CAME A FEW, FEW MEETINGS AGO AND SORT OF REALLY PRESENTED IT AS A SOCIAL JUSTICE, JUSTICE AND EQUITY AND CLIMATE PRO, ALL THOSE THINGS, PROJECT, WHICH I STRUGGLED WITH.
UM, SO I THINK THAT, UM,
AND I REALLY WANNA UNDERSTAND, MAYBE YOU CAN HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHAT I KNOW YOU SAID ABOUT ACRES, BUT LIKE WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THAT LENGTH, WHAT PERCENTAGE OF IT WILL BE CAPPED, WHAT PERCENTAGE WILL BE STILL BE A HORRIFIC, DANGEROUS STINKING PIT THROUGH THE CENTER OF THE CITY? YEAH, I DON'T THINK WE'VE DONE ANY CALCULATION, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS PERCENTAGE GOES.
UM, I THINK THAT CAN'T BE DONE.
AND, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO, TO LOOK AT IT THROUGH THAT LENS, UM, AND BE REALLY HELPFUL TO ME.
AND, AND, UM, WE ARE IS, IS THIS, THIS PLAN IS WHERE WE'RE HEADED NOW, DO WE HAVE A PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE? WE DO, OR WE'RE CLOSE TO IT.
SO TECH DOT DID RELEASE THEIR DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT, AND IT DOES HAVE THE MODIFIED ALTERNATIVE THREE AS THEIR PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE.
AND SO, UM, THAT IS AVAILABLE UP ON THEIR WEBSITE NOW.
SO I'D SAY YES, WE DO HAVE A PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE AND THE DRAFT STATE, UM, THEIR INTENTION IS TO, UH, I DON'T KNOW THE EXACT DATE, BUT, UM, OVER THE COURSE OF THIS YEAR, UM, THEY WILL GO THROUGH THE PROCESS, UM, UH, TO FINALIZE THAT DECISION AND, AND THEY'LL HAVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND THEY'LL HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING, UM, ON, ON THE DRAFT E I S AND THAT'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK AS WELL.
DOES A BOB HAVE TO RATIFY THAT? LIKE DOES CAMPO HAVE TO RATIFY THAT OR SOMEBODY? UM, THEY HAVE A, THEY HAVE A COMMISSION THAT WILL, WILL TAKE A VOTE ON IT
UM, BUT I, I REALLY THINK, YOU KNOW, I, I CAVEAT THAT TO SAY, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT A TEXT ON EXPERT, UM, AND I'M HAPPY TO GET YOU THE INFORMATION OF WHERE THEY HAVE THAT LINED OUT.
UM, BUT YES, THEY DO GO THROUGH, YOU KNOW, FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD, THEIR RATIFICATION PROCESS FOR IT.
CAN YOU, YOU CAN ANSWER ONE MORE QUESTION FOR ME.
IT'S NOT EXACTLY CAT, BUT IT'S PRETTY RELATED FOR THE, FOR THE MODIFIED THREE MM-HMM.
SO, UM, THE VAST MAJORITY OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING AS LOWERING THE LANES, THE MAIN LANES THROUGH, THEY WILL HAVE RAMPING UP AND DOWN, UM, FOR GETTING UP TO THE FRONTAGE ROADS, RIGHT? UM, AND THEY WILL HAVE ONE OR TWO LOCATIONS WHERE DUE TO ELEVATIONS, UM, THEY WILL, UM, YOU KNOW, HAVE SOME BRIDGES THAT GO ACROSS AND SOME AREAS THAT WILL GO OVER AND UNDER.
SO IT'S A LITTLE COMPLEX TO TALK ABOUT.
UM, I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE INTENT OF THE PROJECT IS TO LOWER THE, THE LANES AND THEY'RE, THEY ARE DOING THAT FOR, UH, QUITE A LONG STRETCH.
AND SO THEY ARE TAKING DOWN THE ELEVATED, UM,
[00:45:01]
STRUCTURES THAT WE HAVE TODAY AND LOWERING THAT EITHER TO GROUND LEVEL OR LOWER.UM, THERE ARE SOME LOCATIONS LIKE WHERE THE, THE RAIL CROSSES THAT THEY STILL HAVE TO ACCOMMODATE, UM, UH, SOME ELEVATION, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE GETTING, UH, GOOD RAMPING UP AND DOWN.
BUT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY A TEXT DOT, UM, QUESTION.
I, I WANNA CAVEAT EVERYTHING TO SAY THAT, THAT THAT'S, TECH OT WOULD BE THE BEST PEOPLE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, BUT I DO KNOW THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF WHAT THIS PROJECT INTENT IS, IS TO LOWER THE MAIN LANES.
I KNOW, I KNOW MY QUESTIONS PROBABLY AREN'T THAT EASY, SO I APPRECIATE YOU ANSWERING THEM.
WELL, I SAY THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP TO, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW IF MS. DANIELS KNOWS WE AS THE BODY, UH, PRODUCED A COUPLE OF RECOMMENDATIONS STRONGLY PO OPPOSED TO REALLY THIS WHOLE PLAN, YOU KNOW, IN AN IDEAL WORLD, IS IT GONNA BE BETTER, YOU KNOW, IS IT POSSIBLE TO ENVISION A BETTER I 35? SURE.
UM, IS IT WORTH IT TO TRY THIS PLAN? I MEAN, WE'VE, WE'VE DECIDED IT'S NOT, BUT, YOU KNOW, THAT SAID, SO I APPRECIATE YOU BRINGING THAT UP AGAIN, SUSAN, SO THAT IT'S, IT'S A TRUE STATEMENT.
UM, I WANNA KNOW IF ANY OF THE PEOPLE ON THE COMMITTEE STEERING COMMISSION, UM, ACTUALLY LIKE CROSS I 35 ON A REGULAR BASIS ON FOOT OR BY BIKE OR IN ANY OTHER WAY OTHER THAN BY CAR? THAT'S SECOND QUESTION IS ONE THAT WE HAVEN'T ASKED THEM SPECIFICALLY.
UM, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN, A ASK OF THAT COMMITTEE, UM, TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THEY TRAVEL.
SEEING NONE, I WANNA THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND FOR THE PRESENTATION.
[3. Discussion and possible action on Austin Core Transportation Plan Presenter: Dan Hennessy, Austin Transportation Department]
NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA, MR. DAN HENNESSY WILL TELL US ABOUT, UM, THE COURT TRANSPORTATION PLAN, WHICH IS LISTED FOR DISCUSSION AND ALSO ACTION.THANKS MARIO AND CHRIS, I'LL SHARE MY SCREEN AND CONTROL THE PRESENTATION FROM HERE.
UM, WANTED TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TODAY TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION PLAN.
IT'S AN EFFORT THAT'S STOPPED AND STARTED A COUPLE TIMES SINCE IT INITIALLY KICKED OFF A COUPLE YEARS AGO.
UH, BUT WITH THE PROGRESS THAT BOTH TECHSTAR IS MAKING ON THE CAPITAL EXPRESS CENTRAL PROJECT AND THAT THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP IS MAKING ON PROJECT CONNECT, UH, WE ARE SPURRED TO GET OUR DUCKS IN A ROW ABOUT WHAT THE SURFACE STREETS DOWNTOWN ARE GOING TO LOOK LIKE, WHAT THEY'RE INTENDED TO DO, AND HOW TO CREATE, UH, COMPLETE MODAL NETWORKS THAT ARE, UH, ALIGNED WITH BOTH OUR URBAN DESIGN AND OUR, UH, MOBILITY GOALS.
UH, ESPECIALLY WITH THE CONTEXT OF THE DOWNTOWN CORE.
UH, SO I'M GONNA TALK TODAY ABOUT, UM, A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING AND WHY WE'RE DOING IT.
UM, THE PROCESS THAT WE'RE USING TO GO THROUGH IT, HOW WE'RE GONNA DELIVER ON THIS PROJECT AND WHAT'S GONNA COME OUT OF IT.
UM, WE'RE ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH THE PROJECT SO FAR, SO I'M GONNA RECAP A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE'VE HEARD SO FAR AND SOME OF THE WORK WE'VE DONE, AND THEN GIVE EVERYBODY AN UPDATE ON, UH, TIMELINE FOR, UM, NEXT STEPS, INCLUDING, UM, SOME OF THE ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE COMING UP AS PART OF THE SECOND PHASE OF OUR OUTREACH PROCESS.
SO THE ACT PLAN IS REALLY A REVIEW OF, UH, THIS CORE OF THE CITY, UM, BOUNDED BY I 35 TO THE EAST MARTIN LUTHER KING DRIVE TO THE, UH, NORTH LAMAR BOULEVARD TO THE WEST, AND LADYBIRD LAKE TO THE SOUTH.
UH, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PLANS AND PROJECTS THAT HAVE STUDIED THIS AREA, HAVE, UM, SUGGESTIONS ABOUT WHAT IT SHOULD BE, HAVE DICTATED WHAT IT SHOULD BE.
MANY OF THOSE DOCUMENTS DO NOT SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER, UM, NOR DO MOST OF THEM HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT'S HAPPENING RELATED TO I 35 AND PROJECT CONNECT.
UM, AND SO THIS WAS A MAJOR OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, ALIGN ALL OF THOSE DOCUMENTS AND BRING IT INTO WHAT WE KNOW.
UM, AT THE START OF 2023, UM, SOME OF THESE DOCUMENTS ARE AS OLD AS THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIA.
UM, THE GRAY STREETS MASTER PLAN WAS ADOPTED IN 2001, DOWNTOWN ACCESS AND MOBILITY PLAN, 2002, DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN 2011.
SOME MORE RECENT PROJECTS INCLUDE, UM, THIS PARKING STRATEGY IN 2018 AND THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN IN 2019.
BUT WHAT THOSE PRO NONE OF THESE PROJECTS DO, EVERYTHING THAT WE WANT THE ACT PLAN
[00:50:01]
TO DO, WHICH IS TO CREATE MODAL NETWORKS FOR VEHICLES, PEDESTRIANS, CYCLISTS, AND MICRO MOBILITY AND TRANSIT RIDERS THAT ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THE CONSTRAINTS OF THE RIGHT OF WAY.UM, THE CLOSEST THAT DO THIS ARE THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, WHICH CREATE, CREATES COMPLETE MODAL NETWORKS.
BUT IF WE BUILT EVERYTHING THAT WAS SUGGESTED IN THOSE MO MODAL NETWORKS IN THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, WE WOULD REQUIRE 110 TO 120 FEET OF SPACE ON SOME STREETS.
AND THROUGH THE DOWNTOWN GRID, WE HAVE 80.
AND THEN THE GRAY STREETS MASTER PLAN ALSO DOES A GREAT JOB OF FIGURING OUT WHAT TO DO IN THAT 80 FEET.
UM, BUT IT DOES NOT, UM, ACCOMMODATE TRANSIT NOR CYCLISTS AND MICRO MOBILITY USERS, UM, BASED ON THE BEST PRACTICES THAT WE KNOW NOW.
AND SO WE'RE REVIEWING ALL OF THOSE TO COME UP WITH CONSTRAINED CROSS-SECTIONS FOR ESSENTIALLY MOST OF OUR KEY CORRIDORS DOWNTOWN.
UM, THAT WOULD BOTH COMPLETE CREATE COMPLETE NETWORKS, UM, BUT ALSO BE FEASIBLE WITHIN THE SPACE THAT'S ALLOTTED AND KIND OF COMPLY WITH BOTH THE TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL AND NAT NATIONAL BEST PRACTICES.
UM, OUT OF THAT, WE ARE GOING TO, UM, HAVE THAT LIST OF PROJECTS, BUT THEN ALSO IDENTIFY AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN THAT ALIGNS WITH BOTH THE PROJECT CONNECT AND POTENTIAL I 35 TIMELINES, AS WELL AS OUR ABILITY TO FUND THESE IMPROVEMENTS.
I WOULD SAY MOST SE SEVERAL OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS ARE GONNA INVOLVE MOVING CURBS.
THESE ARE NOT, UH, LIKELY TO ONLY BE SIGNING AND STRIPING PROJECTS THAT ARE GONNA BE PRETTY SIGNIFICANT, SIGNIFICANT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS THAT COME OUT OF THIS.
AND, AND ANOTHER KEY ASPECT OF THIS IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HEAR, AGAIN FROM THE COMMUNITY, UM, THAT THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE, UM, APPROVED A MULTIMODAL MOBILITY BOND IN 2016.
WE ADOPTED A VERY MULTIMODAL STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN IN 2019.
THE PUBLIC VOTED ON A HUGE TRANSIT BOND IN 2020, AS WELL AS A, UM, MULTIMODAL MOBILITY BOND.
UM, BUT AGAIN, WE WANNA KEEP CONFIRMING THAT, UM, PEOPLE REALIZE THE, UH, WHAT WHAT'S GONNA COME OUT OF THOSE DECISIONS AND, AND KIND OF CONFIRM AGAIN AS WE BRING THEM ALONG THE PROCESS OF THIS IS WHAT THOSE MULTIMODAL INVESTMENTS LOOK LIKE.
UM, PLEASE HELP US REFINE THEM AND, AND GET US TO A PATH WHERE WE'RE, UH, IMPLEMENTING THESE PROJECTS.
SO WE, WE PAUSED THIS IN 2020, UH, AS A RESULT OF TWO THINGS.
ONE IS THAT COVID HIT AND ALL OF A SUDDEN WE WEREN'T SURE WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH DOWNTOWN.
WE WERE ALSO, UH, IN THE SPRING OF 2020, STEAMROLLING TOWARDS THE NOVEMBER ELECTION THAT INCLUDED PROJECT CONNECT AND WAS GOING TO DRASTICALLY CHANGE WHAT, UH, THE AUSTIN COURT TRANSPORTATION PLAN MIGHT NEED TO DO, UM, THAT AMOUNT OF WORK, UH, YOU KNOW, WE STILL WEREN'T SURE, UH, THAT THEN LED TO FURTHER UNCERTAINTY AROUND I 35 AND WAITING FOR THAT.
AND SO WE REALLY KICKED THIS OFF IN EARNEST, UM, LAST YEAR, MOSTLY WITH INTERNAL STAFF WORK TO AGAIN, KIND OF DO OUR EXISTING CONDITIONS AND DATA COLLECTION AND GET OUR DUCKS IN A ROW ABOUT WHAT ALL THOSE PREVIOUS DOCUMENTS I I HAD SHOWN YOU ACTUALLY SAID, UM, WHILE ALSO REVIEWING SOME BEST PRACTICES FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY AND FRANKLY AROUND THE WORLD, UH, IN TERMS OF HOW TO CREATE, UM, SUSTAINABLE MULTI MOBILITY NETWORK IN, UH, CONSTRAINED AREAS OF AN URBAN CENTER.
UM, SO AGAIN, LIKE I SAID, WE'RE, WE'RE UPDATING ALL OF THOSE PREVIOUS DOCUMENTS AND CREATING THIS PLAN WITH THE LATEST ON OTHER TRANSPORTATION EFFORTS, UM, UH, AROUND THE AREA.
AND AN OUTCOME OF THIS IS TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON THOSE, UH, OPPORTUNITIES.
SO ONE ELEMENT OF THE ACT PLAN IS TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO TEXT DOT ON THE I 35 CAPITAL EXPRESS CENTRAL PROJECT.
UM, WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THAT COMES FRUITION IN, IN A FEW MOMENTS.
SAME WITH THE TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP AS THEY'RE CONSIDERING, UM, DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF THEIR DESIGNS AROUND SOME OF THE SURFACE STREETS THAT THEY'RE CREATING ON, UM, SANTO AND TRINITY AND FOURTH STREET, AND SOME OTHER KIND OF COMPLIMENTARY PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING CONSIDERED.
UM, BUT WE'RE ALSO HAVE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO PARTNER WITH THE DAA WHO HAVE HELPED US, UM, ENGAGE A WIDE SWATH OF COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS.
WE'VE IDENTIFIED MORE THAN 80 DIFFERENT, UM, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS THAT WE HAVE TALKED TO AND OR MET WITH, UM, THAT A, A NUMBER OF THEM ARE HELPING US GET THE WORD OUT ON THIS AND, AND HELPING US, UH, GROW OUR OUTREACH AND, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE HITTING AS MANY PEOPLE AS WE CAN ALONG THIS, UH, EFFORT.
LIKE I SAID, THIS IS GONNA INVOLVE SOME CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, SO WE WANNA UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL FUNDING REQUIRED TO DO THAT.
UM, IT'S ALSO A FOLLOW UP ITEM IN THE AS AND P.
UM, AND SO WE ARE, WE ARE FOLLOWING THROUGH ON THOSE POLICY PRIORITIES FROM THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN TO UPDATE, UM, A DOWNTOWN MOBILITY PLAN.
[00:55:01]
AS FAR AS WHAT WE'VE DONE, I MENTIONED THE KIND EXISTING CONDITIONS AND, AND DATA COLLECTION PROCESS.ESSENTIALLY WHAT CAME OUT OF THAT WAS A LONG NEEDS ASSESSMENT, UM, TO MEET OUR AS S AND P GOALS, WHETHER THAT WAS FOR INDIVIDUAL STREETS, WHAT FACILITIES ARE BEING LACKED OR FOR THE NETWORK AS A WHOLE IN TERMS OF OUR INABILITY TO FUNCTIONALLY CREATE THOSE NETWORKS.
UM, SOME OF THIS ALSO REFLECTED THE DESIGN STANDARDS THAT ARE IN BOTH THE GREAT STREETS, UH, MASTER PLAN, UH, AS WELL AS THE TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL, WHERE MAYBE SOME OF THOSE, UM, UPDATED, UH, CRITERIA DON'T NECESSARILY STRICTLY APPLY TO, UM, DOWNTOWN AREAS.
AND SO, UH, THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT REALLY HELPED US IDENTIFY WHERE WE WERE LACKING IN TERMS OF OUR ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT THE TYPES OF PROJECTS THAT, UM, WE'RE MOVING TOWARDS BASED ON OUR CURRENT ADOPTED DOCUMENTS AND POLICIES.
WHAT WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW IS REVIEWING, UM, UH, THOSE OTHER, UH, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS THAT, UH, I'VE MENTIONED INCLUDING, UM, 2016 MOBILITY BOND PROJECTS, 2020 MOBILITY BOND PROJECTS, THE LATEST SCHEMATIC, INCLUDING THE PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE THAT SUSAN MENTIONED, UH, ON THE CAPITAL EXPRESS PROJECT, AS WELL AS A NUMBER OF, UM, DESIGN SCENARIOS THAT THE, THE TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP IS WORKING ON RELATED TO PROJECT CONNECT.
UM, WE'RE ALSO WORKING THROUGH, UH, SOME TRAFFIC MODELING TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF SOME OF THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT ARE IN THE AS S P AND IN IN SOME OF THE OTHER DOCUMENTS TO, UM, ENSURE THAT SOME OF THESE POTENTIAL PROJECTS SHOULD BE CARRIED FORWARD FOR FURTHER EVALUATIONS.
ESSENTIALLY, COMING OUT OF THIS, WE ARE GONNA HAVE THREE SETS OF RECOMMENDATION.
ONE IS AN IDENTIFICATION OF EXISTING POLICIES THAT STILL CONFLICT WITH OUR OVERALL GOALS AND WHERE WE NEED TO AMEND THOSE, UM, SOME PROGRAMMATIC ELEMENTS TO, UM, CHANGING MOBILITY DOWNTOWN.
THAT CAN INCLUDE SOME PARKING STRATEGIES, UM, AND OTHER, UM, UH, ON A POLICY LEVEL, UH, BUT IMPLEMENTABLE, UM, CHANGES TO OUR MOBILITY, UH, OUTCOMES AS, AND THEN AS I MENTIONED, SPECIFIC PROJECTS, WHICH WILL INCLUDE CROSS-SECTIONS, UM, TIED TO THOSE CONSTRAINED AREAS THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER.
SO THIS IS KIND OF OUTLINE OF OUR PROCESS.
THE GREEN WAS REALLY PHASE ONE WHERE WE WERE DOING THAT DATA COLLECTION AND EXISTING CONDITIONS AND REVIEWING ALL THE EXISTING DOCUMENTS.
PHASE TWO HAS BEEN US INTERNALLY AS A TEAM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT COMBINATIONS OF DIMENSIONS FOR SOME OF THE DIFFERENT STREET ELEMENTS, UM, GET US TO FEASIBLE MODAL NETWORKS, UM, INCLUDING THAT INCLUDES SOME PROJECTS FROM THE AS S AND P, UM, THAT ARE, ARE TRANSIT PRIORITY PROJECTS WHERE NO CHANGES ARE CURRENTLY PLANNED OR DESIGNED, BUT THEY'VE BEEN IDENTIFIED FOR FUR FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS, UH, A COMPLETE BICYCLE AND MICRO MOBILITY NETWORK, UM, AND SOME STREET CONVERSIONS, BOTH THE GREAT STREETS MASTER PLAN AND THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN.
UH, IDENTIFY A NUMBER OF STREETS TO BE CONVERTED FROM ONE WAY TO TWO-WAY, UM, THAT IN INCLUDES SOME, UH, ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES RELATED TO BEING ABLE TO FIT EVERYTHING ON A STREET AND HAVE IT FUNCTION LIKE IT NEEDS TO.
UM, AND SO WE'RE FURTHER REFINING THAT, UM, UH, TO, TO DEVELOP ADDITIONAL PROJECT OPTIONS TO REVIEW WITH THE COMMUNITY.
AND I WANNA SHARE, UM, THIS IS A SAMPLE PROJECT FROM PORTLAND, OREGON THAT, UM, ESSENTIALLY IS WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO EMULATE IT.
UH, THE OUTCOME OF IT WAS A LIST OF 18 PROJECTS THAT IDENTIFIED A CONSTRAINED CROSS SECTION, THE EXTENTS OF WHERE THOSE PROJECTS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE, UM, WHY THESE CROSS SECTIONS WERE CHOSEN, UM, ROUGH COST ESTIMATES AND REALLY HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT COME ALONG WITH IT.
THERE'S ALSO A COUPLE OF MAPS AS PART OF THIS THAT STITCH ALL THESE PROJECTS TOGETHER, UM, TO REALLY SHOW HOW THEY CREATE A, UH, BOTH CONSISTENT, UH, BUT ALSO SAFE, UH, MOBILITY NETWORK, UH, INDEPENDENT OF THE MODE THAT YOU'RE ON.
AND THEN AGAIN, THAT KIND OF THE LIST OF PROJECTS COMES TOGETHER TO CREATE A FULL SET OF, UM, PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE WILL HELP US IDENTIFY THE LEVEL OF FUNDING NEEDED TO TAKE THE POLICIES SET FORTH IN THE GRAY STREETS MASTER PLAN AND THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, AND ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT THEM, UH, IN THE COMING YEARS.
THIS IS ALSO HELPFUL TO PROVIDE INPUT TO BOTH, UH, TECH DOT AND TO THE TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP ON PROJECTS WHERE THEY'RE AFFECTING, UH, SOME OF THE FACILITIES THAT, UH, ARE OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND WE CAN GIVE THEM DIRECT FEEDBACK AS TO HOW TO PUT THEM BACK, UM, HOW TO INCORPORATE THESE PROJECTS INTO THEIR PROJECTS.
UM, AND WHAT OTHER, UM, ASPECTS DO WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND AS WE BOTH PROVIDE FEEDBACK, BUT ALSO FRANKLY NEGOTIATE
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ON SOME OF THE, UH, CHANGES IN THE RIGHT OF WAY THAT ARE GONNA OCCUR.LIKE I MENTIONED EARLIER, WE'VE BEEN DOWNTOWN AUSTIN ALLIANCE HAS BEEN A GREAT STRATEGIC PARTNER.
WE'VE HAD, UH, MORE THAN 20 PUBLIC EVENTS IN COMMUNITY MEETINGS IN THE FIRST PHASE THAT OCCURRED MOSTLY AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER OF THIS YEAR.
UM, WE ARE TRYING TO, UH, BE AS CONSCIOUS OF ALL THE OTHER ONGOING EFFORTS DOWNTOWN, SO WE'RE COMBINING ON ENGAGEMENT EVENTS AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE COLLABORATING WITH OUR OTHER CITY PARTNERS.
UM, WE ALSO IDENTIFIED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT FOCUS POPULATIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE, UM, WEREN'T ONLY TALKING TO, FRANKLY MIDDLE TO UPPER CLASS OFFICE WORKERS DOWNTOWN.
UM, SO WE HAVE MADE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO, UM, ADVERTISE IN BLACK AND HISPANIC POP, UM, PUBLICATIONS.
WE HAVE MADE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO BE AT MUSIC VENUES AND, UM, TALKING TO SOME OF THE DIFFERENT MUSICIAN ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE DOWNTOWN.
WE HAVE TALKED TO, UH, HOTEL STAFF, UH, FROM ACROSS DOWNTOWN.
WE HAVE TALKED TO JANITORIAL STAFF FROM ACROSS DOWNTOWN.
UM, FEEL LIKE WE HAVE GOTTEN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ABOUT NOT JUST THE INFRASTRUCTURE FROM SEVEN TO 9:00 AM AND FOUR TO 7:00 PM BUT ALSO WHAT HAPPENS AT MIDNIGHT ON A TUESDAY NIGHT AFTER YOUR RESTAURANT CLOSES OR YOUR SHIFT ENDS AT, AT THE HOTEL THAT YOU'RE WORKING AT, OR, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT DO WEEKENDS LOOK LIKE FOR STAFF MEMBERS OF DIFFERENT, UM, BUSINESSES.
UM, SO THAT, THAT HAS BEEN REALLY HELPFUL TO KIND OF ROUND OUT OUR PERSPECTIVE ON, ON THESE.
UM, THE GEOGRAPHY OF THESE EVENTS HAVE BEEN SPREAD ACROSS DOWNTOWN, AND THIS IS BASED ON, UH, THE DOWNTOWN PLAN AND THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS THAT THAT HAD IDENTIFIED.
UH, WE MADE IT OUT TO PEACE PARK.
WE WERE AT THE BULLOCK, WE WERE AT WATERLOO FOR HAM DAY, UM, AND EVENT AT THE MAC.
UM, SO A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT EVENTS FROM AROUND DOWNTOWN, UM, THROUGHOUT THE FIRST PHASE OF ENGAGEMENT WORK, CURRENTLY WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS TO, UH, DEVELOP THAT EVENT LIST FOR PHASE TWO.
AND WE EXPECT IT TO BE MORE EXTENSIVE THAN THE FIRST PHASE OF ENGAGEMENT WITH THAT FIRST PHASE OF ENGAGEMENT, WE ALSO RELEASED A SURVEY THAT GOT MORE THAN 2100 RESPONSES, UM, WHICH WE WERE VERY HAPPY ABOUT.
IT EXCEEDED OUR GOALS SIGNIFICANTLY.
UM, FOR REFERENCE, THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN UPDATE THAT OCCURRED LAST YEAR, UM, HAD JUST ABOUT A THOUSAND, UM, RESPONSES TO OUTREACH.
SO OUR PARTNERS DID A REALLY GOOD JOB OF HELPING US GET ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK ON THIS.
UM, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WE ASKED WAS, WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF DOWNTOWN STREETS FOR YOU? AND ACROSS, UM, THOSE FOCUSED POPULATIONS I MENTIONED THERE WAS A STRONG PREFERENCE FOR SAFE PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE AND MICRO MOBILITY, UH, ACCOMMODATION.
SO WE'RE TALKING PROTECTED BICYCLE AND MICRO MOBILITY LANES, WIDE SIDEWALKS TO THE GREAT STREET STANDARDS THAT INCLUDE ACTIVE BUILDING, FRONTAGES AND STREET TREE AND FURNITURE ZONES, UM, THAT, THAT ARE, UM, UN ALLOWED AS OF THE DOWNTOWN STREETS, ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTHERN SECTION OF DOWNTOWN WHERE THERE'S BEEN A, A SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT, ESPECIALLY A PART OF THE, UH, THE REDEVELOPMENT.
BUT REALLY, UH, AGAIN, JUST HIGHLIGHTING AGAIN, HOW MUCH PEOPLE REALLY APPRECIATE, UH, KIND OF THE B THE BEHIND THE CURB FACILITIES FOR EITHER, UM, PEOPLE WALKING, YOU KNOW, AT THE KIND OF THREE MILE AN HOUR PACE OR THE, THIS MICRO MOBILITY SCOOTER AND CYCLISTS AT THE 10 TO 15 MILE AN HOUR PACE.
IT'S THE, UM, AREAS INSIDE THE CURB.
UM, THE CURB WHERE WE MANAGE PARKING AND LOADING THE, UH, TRANSIT ONLY LANES AND THE MIXED VEHICLE LANES THAT, UM, HAVE LESS ENTHUSIASM.
WE ALSO ASK PEOPLE TO PRIORITIZE, UM, WHAT TYPES OF MOBILITY THAT WE SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON THROUGH THIS.
SO WE ASK THEM, YOU KNOW, DO YOU CARE MOST ABOUT ENTERING DOWNTOWN, EXITING DOWNTOWN, MOVING THROUGH DOWNTOWN, OR WITHIN DOWNTOWN? AND WE ASKED 'EM TO RATE OF ONE TO FOUR, AND AGAIN, ACROSS OUR FOCUS POPULATIONS, PEOPLE SAID WITHIN, AND THEY TOLD US THROUGH DOWNTOWN SHOULD BE THE LOWEST PRIORITY.
UM, SO AGAIN, KIND OF COMPLIMENTING ALL OF THOSE MULTIMODAL, UM, UH, SIGNALS THAT WE'VE GOTTEN IN THE PAST THAT HAVE INDICATED THAT THE ACT PLAN REALLY SHOULD REFLECT, UM, THE POLICY GOALS OF THE AS M P, AS WELL AS THE BEST PRACTICES THAT ARE IDENTIFIED IN THE UPDATED TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL.
I DIDN'T WANNA SHARE THE BREAKDOWN OF THE DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS THAT WE LOOKED AT, UM, BECAUSE IT WAS UNIFORM ACROSS THE BOARD, UM, WHETHER WE LOOKED AT ALL RESPONDENTS, UM, WE DID A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF, UM, ACCURATELY GETTING BREAKDOWNS BY GENDER, ETHNICITY, INCOME, AND
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AGE.BUT EVEN AS WE KIND OF SOFTLY AVERAGE THOSE ACROSS, UM, THE CITY'S CENSUS DEMOGRAPHICS, YOU CAN SEE THOSE ROWS AT THE BOTTOM, WE ESSENTIALLY GET THE SAME RESULTS.
UM, SO AGAIN, WE GOT QUITE A BIT OF FEEDBACK FROM ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT, UM, POPULATIONS, AND THEY ALL TOLD US THE SAME THING.
GET US WIDE SIDEWALKS, UH, EXCELLENT ZONES FOR PEDESTRIAN LIFE, THE BEHIND THE CURB FACILITIES, AND CREATE A PROTECTED BICYCLE AND MICRO MOBILITY NETWORK DOWNTOWN.
WE ALSO ASKED ABOUT HOW PEOPLE MOVE AROUND RIGHT NOW AND HOW THEY WANT TO.
THE GREEN BARS THAT YOU SEE THERE ARE HOW PEOPLE WANT TO MOVE AROUND DOWNTOWN, AND THE BLUE ARE HOW THEY CURRENTLY DO IT.
AND I SHOW IT LIKE THAT TO SHOW THE, THE RAW NUMBERS.
BUT WHEN WE JUST TAKE THE DIFFERENCES, PEOPLE WANT TO DO MORE OF RIDING TRANSIT, TAKING THEIR BICYCLE, THE BUS WALKING, WHAT THEY WANNA DO A LOT LESS OF IS DRIVING BY THEMSELVES, FRANKLY, BEING IN A CAR AT ALL.
UM, SO AGAIN, FURTHER CONFIRMATION THAT WE REALLY DO NEED TO ENACT, UM, A SET OF PROJECTS THAT, UM, CONFIRM ALL THOSE MICRO MOBILITY GOALS.
WE WILL BE SENDING OUT A SECOND SURVEY, UH, IN THE COMING WEEKS.
UM, RIGHT NOW IS SCHEDULED TO KICK OFF JANUARY 23RD, TWO WEEKS FROM YESTERDAY.
THERE ARE SOME TWEAKS BEING DONE AND SOME LAST MINUTE REVIEWS BEING DONE TO THE SURVEY FORMATTING, BUT, UH, I EXPECT THAT TO GO THROUGH WHERE WE'RE GONNA ASK PEOPLE VERY SPECIFICALLY ABOUT DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR THE EXTENT OF THE BICYCLE AND MICRO MOBILITY PRIORITY NETWORKS, THE TRANSIT NETWORKS, AND THE POTENTIAL STREET CONVERSIONS, UM, AS WELL AS SOME CROSS-SECTIONS THAT COME OUT OF THE RESULTS FROM THE PHASE ONE SURVEY WHEN PEOPLE SEE, UM, WHAT THE DIMENSIONS ARE AND HOW YOU, UH, FIT ALL THAT INTO THE CONSTRAINTS OF THE 80 FEET.
UM, WE WANT, AGAIN, CONFIRMATION THAT WHEN, YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T HAVE EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING WOULD REQUIRE 30 TO 40 FEET MORE OF SPACE, AND WE DON'T HAVE IT.
UM, SO THAT SURVEY WILL BE OUT FOR ABOUT SIX WEEKS, UM, TILL THE BEGINNING OF MARCH.
UM, THEY WILL, THAT WILL CORRESPOND WITH A NUMBER OF PUBLIC EVENTS AND MEETINGS WITH THE 80 PLUS ENGAGEMENT GROUPS THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER.
UM, WE WILL BE REVIEWING, UM, THE RESULTS OF THAT AND KIND OF DOING, STARTING TO DO THAT WEAVING TOGETHER OF ALL THE DIFFERENT RESPONSES, UH, TO CREATE A SET OF PROJECTS THAT CREATE THOSE MODAL NETWORKS.
UM, WE ALSO WILL CONTINUE TO GET UPDATES FROM THE TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP AND TECH DOT, UM, AND BE ABLE TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK AS WELL.
UM, AND THEN WE INTEND TO HAVE THIS PLAN DRAFTED, UM, FOR REVIEW COME, UM, LATE SPRING OR EARLY SUMMER.
THAT WILL INCLUDE, UH, THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AND HOW WE INTEND TO MAKE THIS A REALITY.
UM, SO ONCE WE HAVE THAT, THEN WE WILL BE COMING BACK TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND POTENTIALLY CITY COUNCIL, DEPENDING ON THE NATURE OF THE DOCUMENT AND THE EXTENT OF THE PROJECTS THAT ARE INCLUDED, UM, FOR REVIEW, COMMENT, AND ADOPTION.
UM, THAT WILL BE AN IMPORTANT, THAT'S AN IMPORTANT TIMING FOR US.
UM, AGAIN, TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO BOTH TEXT DOT ON THEIR PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE AS THEY MOVE FORWARD IN THEIR E I S PROCESS.
AND AS THE, UM, PROJECT CONNECT TEAM COMES FORWARD WITH AN IDENTIFIED, UH, PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE THROUGH THEIR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS.
UH, THE SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER IS GOING TO BE A BUSY TIME, AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE COMMUNITY'S PRIORITIES AND PREFERENCES, UH, WELL DETERMINED, UM, TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT LEVEL OF FEEDBACK, UM, AND, AND SUPPORT WHAT THOSE TWO ORGANIZATIONS WILL UNDOUBTEDLY HEAR FROM THE COMMUNITY, UM, THROUGH THEIR OWN REVIEW PROCESSES FOR THAT.
UM, I WILL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS, UM, BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE TONIGHT.
ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU, DAN HENNESSY, THAT WAS, UM, A LOT OF GOOD STUFF AND I LOVE THAT THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD DATA IN THERE.
UM, LOOKING AT THE BIG SCREEN, WHO HAS SOME QUESTIONS? SUSAN SUMMERS I SAW YOU.
UM, SO I'VE BEEN REALLY, UM, INTERESTED, AND I'VE TALKED TO CHRISTOPHER A FEW TIMES ACTUALLY, ABOUT THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM AND KIND OF WHAT THE CURRENT STATUS OF THAT WAS, BECAUSE THERE IS A, A WHILE THERE WHERE, UM, AS I'M, AS I'M SURE YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, WE WERE, UM, TAKING PARKING MONEY, UM, FROM PARKING METERS DOWNTOWN, WHICH I KNOW DID, I THINK TROUGH OUT DURING THE PANDEMIC, BUT I ASSUME IS PROBABLY BACK ON THE UPSWING AGAIN.
UM, AND THEY WERE USING THAT COLLECTED FUNDS TO, UM, UH, REBUILD STREETS THAT WERE A LITTLE BIT LESS LIKELY TO REDEVELOP ON THEIR OWN.
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SECOND STREET, EIGHTH STREET, I CAN NAME IT.I THINK THERE'S A COUPLE MORE.
UM, SO, UM, TO GET THE GREAT STREETS MODEL, UM, AND THEN THEY SORT OF SEEM TO PAUSE THAT PROGRESS, AND OBVIOUSLY THERE'S PLACES THEY WANNA PAUSE IT.
AS OF, AS YOU CONTINUALLY SAID, YOU KNOW, NEW, NEW PROJECTS COMING DOWN THE PIPELINE.
I ASSUME THAT PARKING MONEY IS STILL BUILDING UP OR MAYBE IT'S BEING SPENT ON OTHER PROJECTS.
COULD YOU SPEAK TO A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THAT, UM, PAST PRACTICE SORT OF RELATES TO YOUR PLANNING? UM, KIND OF, THEY'RE, THEY'RE TANGENTIAL.
I MEAN, SPECIFICALLY TO IMPLEMENTING GREAT STREETS THROUGH THAT FUNDING SOURCE, OR EVEN FROM DEVELOPMENT FEES, THAT HAS PROVEN TO BE AN INSUFFICIENT FUNDING SOURCE TO ENACT THE EXTENT OF THE CHANGES AND VISION IN THE GREAT STREETS MASTER PLAN.
THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO DO IT IS TO WAIT FOR BLOCKS, BLOCK FACES TO REDEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT THE CHANGES.
THEN, UM, THE, YEAH, OUR, OUR ABILITY TO DO THIS IS REALLY CONSTRAINED BY, UM, THE AMOUNT OF FUNDS RATHER THAN ANY PARTICULAR, UM, FUNDING SOURCE BEING REDIRECTED OR, OR IMAGINED IN SOME OTHER WAY.
UM, BUT ALSO, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE IS A, UM, MAYBE CITY FRICTION ISSUE WITH THE, THE, YOU KNOW, RIGHT OF WAY BEING MAINTAINED AND OPERATED BY THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT AND THE, UM, URBAN DESIGN GRAY STREETS, UH, URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES BEING MANAGED BY THE URBAN DESIGN DIVISION.
UM, AND SO THERE'S, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION ABOUT HOW TO SPEND SOME OF THOSE FUNDS AND HOW TO ENACT SOME OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS AND WHERE TO DO SO, UM, THIS PROCESS.
UH, I WILL SAY THE URBAN DESIGN DIVISION HAS BEEN ONE OF OUR PARTNERS ON THIS.
UM, WE HAVE ENGAGED THEM A NUMBER OF TIMES TO TALK ABOUT POTENTIAL FLEXIBILITY AND, AND WHAT REVISIONS MAY, UM, BE REQUIRED.
UM, FRANKLY, WE'VE TALKED TO THE AUTHOR OF THE GREAT STREETS MASTER PLAN, UM, SINCLAIR AND, AND HAYDEN HAVE MET WITH US A COUPLE OF TIMES TO TALK ABOUT WHAT WAS, WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT IT, WHAT'S BAD ABOUT IT, WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THE LAST 20 PLUS YEARS THAT NEEDS TO GET UPDATED.
UM, SO ALL OF THAT'S TO SAY THAT THIS IS A BETTER WAY TO ENACT THE KINDS OF CHANGES THAT THE GREAT STREETS MASTER PLAN ENVISIONED, UM, THROUGH A MORE, UH, HOLISTIC, SUCH A VAGUE WORD.
UM, IT'S JUST A MORE, UM, COMPREHENSIVE PROCESS THAT KIND OF MARRIES ALL THAT PAST STUFF INTO ONE DOCUMENT FOR, FOR AREAS OF DOWNTOWN THAT MAY BE LESS LIKELY TO REDEVELOP, SAY, BECAUSE OF, I DON'T KNOW, STATE OFFICES OR I DON'T, I COULD NUMBER IT, NAME ANY NUMBER OF THINGS.
W WOULD THAT FUNDING THEN POTENTIALLY BE THROUGH BONDING PROGRAMS AND TRANSFER NO ANNUAL ALLOCATIONS AND STUFF? IS THAT YEP, THAT'S KIND OF WHERE WE'RE HEADED.
THERE, THERE IS LIKELY TO BE DOWN THE LINE.
I MEAN, THERE IS GOING TO BE A FUNDING NEED IDENTIFIED IN THIS PLAN, AND THEN WE AS STAFF WILL HAVE TO WORK WITH OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS AND OUR FINANCIAL FOLKS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT ARE OUR AVENUES TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
ONE OF WHICH MIGHT INCLUDE A POTENTIAL FUTURE BOND MEASURE THAT FOCUSES ON DOWNTOWN TO MAKE SOME OF THESE SURFACE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS IN A FOCUSED AREA.
UM, MAYBE NOT UNLIKE THE 2016 MOBILITY BOND, BUT WITH A SMALLER AREA IN MIND AND A SMALLER SET OF PROJECTS.
UM, COMMISSIONER WEATHERBY, DID I SEE YOUR HAND EARLIER? I GUESS, UH, ONE QUESTION I'VE GOT, DAN, IS ABOUT THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PROJECT CONNECT DECISIONS AND THIS PROJECT.
IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S SO MANY THINGS THAT ARE UP IN THE AIR AND HOW THAT STAGES OUT, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, HOW THE BUS SYSTEM'S GONNA RUN THROUGH THIS, UH, DOWNTOWN AREA.
HOW, YOU KNOW, THE EFFECT ON THIS PLANNING EFFORT IS, UH, AND MAYBE SUSAN OR YOU, EITHER OF YOU HAVE SOME LIGHT YOU WANNA SHARE ON THAT, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE, UH, IT'S LIKE A CHICKEN AND THE EGG KIND OF SITUATION.
UM, AND WHO IS INFLUENCING WHO, AND ARE ALL THESE COORDINATED, I'M, I'M SURE YOU'RE TALKING TO EACH OTHER, BUT COULD YOU, YOU KNOW, JUST EN ENLIGHTEN ON WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE? YEAH, AND YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT.
THIS, THIS HAS EVOLVED INTO A SCENARIO PLANNING PROCESS.
UM, WE AS A TEAM HAVE DRAWN MORE BICYCLE MICRO MOBILITY NETWORKS AND TRANSIT NETWORKS THAN I CARE TO SHARE.
I WOULD LOVE TO BE MORE PRESCRIPTIVE AT THIS POINT IN THE
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PROCESS, BUT WHAT WE'RE DOING IS FIGURING OUT WHERE OUR CONSTRAINTS ARE SO THAT WE CAN PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO BOTH ATTP AND SOMEWHAT TO TEXT THAT, UM, CONFIRMING OUR NEEDS AND MAKING SURE THAT THEIR PROJECTS AND EVEN THEIR ALTERNATIVES WHERE PROJECT CONNECT IS STILL CONS CONCERNED, UM, ARE FEASIBLE AND IN LINE WITH THE NEEDS OF, UM, EVERYBODY ELSE ON THE DOWNTOWN STREETS.SO I WOULD SAY THAT WE, WE ARE IN A SITUATION RIGHT NOW WHERE WE'RE, UM, AND THEN RULING OUT INFEASIBLE ALTERNATIVES FOR THEM AND MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE AWARE OF WHAT THE CONSTRAINTS ON THEIR PROCESSES REALLY ARE.
BUT THEN WE'RE THEN IN, ON THE OTHER HAND, WAITING FOR THEM TO FINALIZE THEIR PREFERRED ALTERNATIVES SO THAT WE CAN ENSURE OUR LONG-TERM MODAL NETWORKS RESPOND TO THEIR PLANS.
UM, WE WILL, THAT IT'S A GOOD OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE THE, YOU KNOW, BOTH OF THOSE PROJECTS ARE GONNA TAKE, YOU KNOW, ANY NUMBER OF YEARS, CLOSE TO A DECADE TO BUILD OUT.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE WILL HAVE TIME TO RESPOND, UM, AND OUR PLANNING PROCESS CAN LAG A LITTLE BIT.
UM, BUT WE, SOME OF THIS SHOULD AND WILL HAPPEN CONCURRENTLY JUST TO GAIN EFFICIENCIES AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PHASING CONSTRUCTION CORRECTLY AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, UM, I WOULD SAY RIGHT NOW WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF TAKING, OF GIVING FEEDBACK TO THEM SO THAT THEY CAN REFINE THEIR ALTERNATIVES ONCE THEY GET TO A SELECTION, WE WILL TAKE THO THAT AS AN INPUT TO OUR PROCESS SO THAT, UM, WE CAN CONFIRM EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE PLANNING IS CONSISTENT WITH WHAT THEY WILL BE BUILDING.
WELL, I KNOW IT'S JUST REALLY, REALLY HARD BECAUSE ONE THING CHANGES THE OTHER AND, UH, AT LEAST YOU ARE SHARING THE OPPORTUNITIES AND THE CONFLICTS WHERE THEY MAY EXIST.
YEAH, AND I THINK OUR TEAM'S APPROACH HAS BEEN THAT THERE'S NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN GETTING PROJECT CONNECT RIGHT IN THE CITY.
AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO, UM, BE AS FLEXIBLE AND AMENABLE TO WHAT HAPPENS DOWNTOWN AS POSSIBLE.
UM, AND, BUT, BUT THERE ARE SOME REALITIES THAT THEY NEED TO FACE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PEDESTRIAN CONNECTIVITY AND WHAT SOME OF THEIR POTENTIAL DESIGN SOLUTIONS DO TO PEDESTRIAN NETWORKS AND BICYCLE AND MI MICRO MOBILITY NETWORKS.
SO, UM, I THINK WE'RE TRYING TO BE UNDERSTANDING WHILE ALSO BEING, UH, REASONABLE ABOUT WHAT A DOWNTOWN MOBILITY NETWORK NEEDS TO BE TO FUNCTION PROPERLY.
SO, UH, I HAVE A KINDA FOLLOW UP.
SO GREAT QUESTION, COMMISSIONER
THE FOLLOW UP IS REALLY, AND, AND NOT TO PUT YOU ON SPOT, YOU DON'T, YOU KNOW, UM, IT'S REALLY TACTICAL ADJUDICATION OF THAT.
SO TRYING TO WORK THINGS OUT SOUNDS GREAT.
I BELIEVE EVERYONE IS TRYING TO WORK THINGS OUT, BUT THERE WILL BE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION.
THERE'LL BE DIFFERENCE OF BUDGET PRIORITY.
THERE'LL BE BLOCKS OF CASH THAT CAN BE USED HERE OR THERE, NOT HERE OR THERE.
UH, IS THE ACT PLAN A, A, A DEPARTMENT WITH MONEY AND ADJUDICATION POWERS TO SAY, HEY, PROJECT CONNECT, YOU REALLY CAN'T DO THAT? OR IS IT A COUNCIL OF WISE MEN AND WISE WOMEN WHO SAY, YOU REALLY JUST SHOULDN'T DO THAT? ARE YOU SAYING THAT, ARE YOU ASKING THAT IN TERMS OF THE DISCUSSIONS THAT WE'RE HAVING WITH THE TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP? NOW, WHAT I'M SAYING, SO THE ACT PLAN AS YOU PRESENTED, IS AN ENTITY OF SOME SORT, AND THAT'S WHAT IS THIS ENTITY? IS IT AN ENTITY THAT CAN SAY, HEY, PROJECT CONNECTED, WE'VE, WE'VE DONE THE MATH ON ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT PLANS.
YOU KNOW, YOU LISTED HALF A DOZEN AND WE'VE DONE THE MATH ON THESE VARIOUS FUTURES.
WE REALLY HAVE TO SAY YOU CAN'T DO X OR UNDERSTOOD THE QUESTION NOW.
UM, YES, THERE ARE, THERE'S A GROUP OF MAYBE EIGHT TO 10 CITY STAFFERS WHO HAVE BEEN INVITED TO WEEKLY PROJECT CONNECT MEETINGS, UM, ON THE DOWNTOWN GRID AND, AND POTENTIAL DESIGNS.
AND WE, THEY'RE CONSTANTLY PROVIDING US WITH DESIGN ALTERNATIVES.
WE'RE GIVING FEEDBACK, UM, BASED ON WHAT WE KNOW FROM HOW THE, THE GRID DOWNTOWN FUNCTIONS AND FRANKLY, DOESN'T FUNCTION IN SOME AREAS, BUT ALSO WHAT PEOPLE ARE TELLING US THROUGH THIS PLAN.
SO, I WILL SAY THAT, UM, MAYBE AT THE END OF NOVEMBER OR EARLY DECEMBER, ONE OF OUR MEETINGS WAS ME BASICALLY GIVING THIS PRESENTATION TO THE A T P TEAM, INCLUDING SOME OF THEIR EXECUTIVES TO SHARE, YOU KNOW, JUST WHAT PEOPLE ARE TELLING US.
UM, THAT TRANSLATES FREQUENTLY TO SPECIFIC, UM, DESIGN COMMENTS, UM, AND REFINEMENTS
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TO THEIR ALTERNATIVES.SO I DON'T KNOW THAT THERE'S LIKE A DEFINED POWER STRUCTURE, MARIO, THAT, UM, KIND OF CORRESPONDS TO THAT, BUT WE ARE, WE'RE IN THE ROOM AND WE'RE A PARTNER.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, ULTIMATELY IT'S THEIR PROJECT AND THEIR DESIGN THAT THEY'RE GONNA BRING FORWARD TO THE COMMUNITY.
YOU KNOW, I'M NOT TRYING TO PUT YOU ON THE SPOT.
YEAH, IT'S, I MEAN, IT'S SIMILAR TO, UM, THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'VE HAD TONIGHT AROUND I 35, RIGHT? I MEAN, WE'RE A PARTNER AND WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE THIS BOTH PROJECTS AS GOOD AS WE CAN FOR AS MANY COMMUNITY MEMBERS AS WE CAN, BUT ULTIMATELY, THOSE DECISIONS LIE WITH TEXT AND WITH THE TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
AND THEN I JUST WANNA SAY ONE SPECIFIC THING.
THE, UM, PHASE ONE SURVEY RESULTS THE SORT OF HEAT MAP.
UM, I, I, I HOPE YOU CAN DO YOUR DARNEST TO GET OTHER PEOPLE TO PRESENT INFORMATION IN A SIMILAR WAY.
IT'S A, IT'S A, IT'S, UM, IT'S VERY HANDY, IT'S VERY CLEAR, AND IT REALLY ALLOWS PEOPLE TO GO DEEPER INTO, FRANKLY, PRIORITIZING.
LIKE, DO WE PRIORITIZE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS AND OTHER PUBLIC STAFF BECAUSE THEY'RE 50% OF THE DOWNTOWN PEOPLE? OR DO WE PRIORITIZE, UH, YOU KNOW, SOME OTHER CATEGORY ON HERE, STATE EMPLOYEES OVER 65? YOU KNOW, I THINK LIKE THIS KIND OF DATA VISUALIZATION AND GETTING THAT GRAIN OF DATA, I HAVEN'T SEEN THAT IN, YOU KNOW, I DOWN FOR A LONG TIME.
PEOPLE DON'T SET THE DATA THAT WAY.
SO I JUST WANNA, UH, UH, APPLAUD YOU FOR DOING THAT.
IT, UH, FRANKLY, WAS VERY USEFUL THAT EVERYBODY TOLD US THE SAME THING.
SO IT MADE FOR A VERY CLEAR STORY,
UM, BUT I, YOU KNOW, IT HELPED ME, FRANKLY, FIGURE OUT WHAT PEOPLE WERE TELLING US TOO, UM, AND, AND THE REST OF OUR TEAM.
SO, UM, I DO APPRECIATE THE FEEDBACK, AND WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR WAYS TO BOTH UNDERSTAND DATA AND COMMUNICATE IT.
UM, OTHER COMMISSIONERS, COME BACK TO THE BIG SCREEN.
WELL, ON MR. DAN HENNESSEY, THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.
AGAIN, GOOD TO HAVE YOU, UH, SORT OF ON BOARD AGAIN FOR JUST A WHILE.
YEAH, THANKS FOR HAVING ME BACK, AND THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE ABOUT THIS TONIGHT.
[4. Discussion and possible action on Public Works Department Annual Service Plan (FY23) Presenter: Stephen Grace, Public Works Department]
THE LAST MAJOR ITEM ON OUR AGENDA, DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION FROM PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENTS, ANNUAL SERVICE PLAN, STEVEN AND JAMES AND STEVEN.UM, UH, GENERAL, YOU KNOW, I DON'T MEAN TO RUSH YOU GUYS.
I GOT A NOTIFICATION ON THE PDS COMPUTER THAT SAID, HEY, WE'RE GONNA RESTART A COMPUTER IN LIKE AN HOUR.
UM, SO WE KEEP IT TO LIKE 30 MINUTES, GIVE OR TAKE.
UM, AND I THINK
SO WHAT I UNDERSTAND, WE NEED TO BE BRIEF, BRILLIANT, AND BE GONE QUICKLY SO THAT WE CAN, SO TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS ALLOWED US TO CONNECT WON'T TAKE US AWAY FROM A DISCUSSION.
I'M THE INTERIM DIRECTOR FOR PUBLIC WORKS.
I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR STEVE GRACE AND I TO COME TALK TO YOU.
STEVE GRACE IS OUR ASSET MANAGER FOR THE DEPARTMENT.
UH, I WILL KEEP IT SHORT OR TRY TO KEEP IT WITHIN THE TIMEFRAME SO WE DON'T LOSE, UH, AS INTERIM DIRECTOR, WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO IS COME OUT AND ACTUALLY TALK TO YOU, TELL YOU ABOUT THE STREET SERVICE PLAN THAT WE HAVE EVERY YEAR, SO YOU HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING.
UH, IF, STEVE, IF YOU COULD SHARE YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN.
IF YOU NEED HELP, JUST LET BACK UP OVER HERE.
WELL, WE'RE, WE'RE EATING AT THAT 30 MINUTES QUICKLY.
YEAH, I WAS, UM, MARIO, SORRY, POP UP AND I FREAKED OUT AND I WAS JUST LIKE, OH, GOD, DOWN.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR FORM? YOU HAVE A SNOOZE.
IF YOU HAVE A DO IT BUTTON SYNC, YOU GOTTA MAKE SURE HIT THE WRONG ONE.
STEVE GRACE HAS JOINED ME THIS EVENING.
WE WILL KEEP THIS TO HOPEFULLY 20 MINUTES TO KEEP, UH, TORE BRIEF YOU.
BUT THE PURPOSE OF THIS IS WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO IS COME ON A REGULAR BASIS TO YOU AT LEAST, UH, ANNUALLY TO TELL YOU WHAT, WHAT WE'RE DOING AS FAR AS THE STREET SERVICE PLAN IN, IN THE COMMUNITY.
WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO, DO TODAY IS DO, UH, FOUR QUICK THINGS.
ONE QUICK, QUICK REFRESH OF WHAT THE DEPARTMENT DOES, THEN WE'LL TALK ABOUT HOW DO WE CREATE THE STREET SERVICE PLAN.
THEN I'LL TURN IT OVER TO STEVE, WHERE HE ACTUALLY TALKS ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT AND, AND THE OVERALL ARCHING GOALS FOR THE PLAN FOR THIS YEAR.
[01:25:04]
UH, THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT'S MISSION IS, UH, THAT WE BUILD AND MAINTAIN A BETTER COMMUNITY BY DELIVERING SERVICES TO EVERY CORNER OF AUSTIN.SPECIFICALLY TONIGHT, WHAT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT IS ONE OF OUR MAJOR ROLES, WHICH IS MA MA MANAGE, MAINTAIN THE PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY INFRASTRUCTURE, INCLUDING STREETS, BRIDGES, SIDEWALKS, GUARDRAILS, AND TREES AND VEGETATION.
BUT EVEN GOING THAT LEVEL NEXT AND THAT TALK ABOUT SPECIFICALLY THE STREET PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE PLAN.
UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, STEVE.
SO WHY DO WE DO PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE PLAN ON THE STREETS? WELL, IT'S JUST LIKE YOUR CAR.
YOU KNOW, YOU OR ANY ASSET THAT YOU OWN.
IF YOU DON'T DO THE PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PLAN, LIKE IF YOU DON'T PUT OIL IN YOUR CAR, AFTER A WHILE, IT BURNS OUT.
AND THEN YOU, INSTEAD OF SPENDING THE, WELL, NOW THE ASTRONOMICAL RATE OF PROBABLY $90 TO CHANGE THE OIL, IT TURNS INTO A REPLACE OF AN ENGINE, WHICH IS ABOUT THREE TO $4,000.
SIMILAR THING WITH THE STREETS IS WHAT WE DO IS WE, WE WANNA PRO LIFE, UH, ALONG THE LIFE OF A STREET.
WE, WHEN WE PUT IN A STREET, WE, UH, AS AN ASSET, WE, THE LIFE IS USUALLY ABOUT 80 YEARS IF WE MAINTAIN IT THE RIGHT WAY SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO COME BACK.
UH, AND AT THE END OF 80 YEARS, WE HAVE TO REPLACE.
SO THE PRO MAINTENANCE, WHAT ALLOWS US TO DO IS SAFETY UPDATES, ADD BIKE LANES OR MAKE ANY OTHER CHANGES AS WHAT WAS ALLUDED TO IN THE DOWNTOWN ACTION PLAN, UH, AND YOU, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE, UH, SAFE TIME AND THE TAXPAYER MONEY.
SO AGAIN, IT'S REALLY FOCUSED ON THE BEST USE OF THE DOLLARS TO MAINTAIN THE ASSET, MAKE SURE THAT IT'S AS FUNCTIONAL AND RIDEABLE AS POSSIBLE, AND BE ABLE TO, FOR US TO TRANS, UH, TRANSVERSE THE CITY.
I CALL THIS MY FIVE FACTOR SLIDE.
THERE'S REALLY FIVE THINGS THAT DETERMINE, UH, THAT, UH, AFFECT THE STREET NETWORK.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, IT'S TRAFFIC.
THE, UH, ONE OF THE BIGGEST, UH, BIGGEST STRESSES THAT WE HAVE ON STREET NETWORK IS ACTUALLY BUSES, WHICH AS WE GO FORWARD WITH, UH, UH, OUR MULTIMODAL APPROACH, AND WE ARE VERY MUCH INTO TR MASS TRANSIT HERE.
JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA, UH, ONE BUS, THESE NEW CAP METRO BUSES EQUALS ANYWHERE BETWEEN 2,500 TO 5,000 CAR TRIPS AND INDIVIDUAL CAR TRIP, WHICH THEN ACTUALLY, UH, WEARS THE PAVEMENT DOWN VERY QUICKLY.
UH, SO SOME PAVEMENT, WHICH WE WOULD THINK TREATMENT LAST 10, 15 YEARS GOES DOWN TO ABOUT TWO YEARS.
SO WE WORK REALLY HARD TO FIGURE OUT HOW BEST TO ADDRESS THAT.
UH, THE WEATHER HAS A GREAT DEAL OF IMPACT.
THE AGING ACTUALLY OF THE ASSET, THE ACTUAL STRUCTURE OF PA OF THE PAVEMENT AND THE SUBS, UH, SUBGRADE SOILS.
WHAT WE ACTUALLY DO IS WE HAVE TWO APPROACHES THAT WE, WE FUND THIS WITH THE OPERATING BUDGET FOCUSES, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT TONIGHT, IS THE PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE AND THE MIDDLE OVERLAY, UH, APPROACH.
BUT THEN WHEN A, AS IT DEGRADES OVER TIME, AS YOU CAN SEE, IT COSTS MORE MONEY.
SO WE GO TO EITHER REHABILITATION OR RECONSTRUCTION.
BUT TONIGHT WE'RE GONNA FOCUS REALLY ON THE, THE PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE PLAN.
THIS CURVE JUST KIND OF GIVES YOU A NICE DEPICTION OF, UH, WHAT WE TALK ABOUT.
THAT IS WE START WITH A BRAND NEW STREET OR PAVEMENT.
AND IF WE SPEND THAT DOLLAR HERE, WE, WE SAVE MORE MONEY.
BUT AS LONG AS WE DEFER THE MAINTENANCE, THE MORE EXPENSIVE IT DOES.
AND, AND SO ALSO THE TREATMENT THAT WE HAVE TO DO, AS YOU CAN SEE THAT FROM, UH, EXCELLENT TO GOOD IT, THE DOLLAR STRETCHES A CERTAIN DISTANCE, BUT WHEN WE GET INTO FAIR AND POOR, THEN WE HAVE TO NOT ONLY SPEND MORE MONEY, BUT ALSO IT TAKES THE STREET OUT OF, OUT OF, UH, COMMISSION LONGER FOR US TO PAVE A STREET.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, WE JUST DID, UH, CONGRESS AVENUE FROM CAESAR CHAVEZ UP TO EIGHT EIGHTH STREET.
WE'RE ABLE TO DO THAT IN TWO DAYS AND, AND THEN COME BACK AND DO THE MARKINGS.
IF WE HAVE TO DO A REHAB, THAT REHAB PROJECT COULD TAKE ANYWHERE FROM TWO TO THREE MONTHS.
RECONSTRUCTION COULD ACTUALLY TAKE UP TO A YEAR.
SO OBVIOUSLY THAT TAKES IT OUT OF, OUT, OUT OF USE FOR EVERYBODY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IT'S A LOT MORE EXPENSIVE.
SO, OUR APPROACH OF THE PAVEMENT LIFE CYCLES, WHAT WE DO IS WE ACTUALLY TOUCH, TOUCH THE STREET ABOUT EIGHT TIMES DURING, UH, OR SEVEN TIMES BEFORE WE ACTUALLY, UH, GO TO A RECONSTRUCTION.
SO WHEN WE INITIALLY CONSTRUCT A STREET, WHAT WE DO IS WE, WE DO IT IN 10, UH, 10 YEAR INTERVALS.
ONE OF THE KEY THINGS ON THIS TO LET YOU KNOW, IS THAT WHAT WE DO IS WE ACTUALLY ASSESS THE STREET, UH, EACH STREET, UH, ONCE EVERY 10 YEARS, UH, WHAT WE DO, UH, OR CORRECTION, WE TREAT IT.
BUT WHAT WE DO IS WE ACTUALLY, WITHIN EVERY THREE YEARS, WE'VE DONE AN ASSESSMENT OF EACH STREET.
WHAT WE HAVE IS AN OUTSIDE CONSULTANT THAT RIDES THE PAVEMENT, DOES A, A LIDAR APPROACH, AND GIVES US THE ACTUAL THICKNESS AND RIGHT ABILITY OF THE STREET.
THEN WE USE THAT DATA TO DECIDE WHICH STREETS WE'RE GOING TO DO.
BUT, UH, WHAT WE HOPE FOR IS USING THIS, UH, METHODOLOGY THAT WE HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU.
IF WE DO THE TREATMENTS THE WAY WE, WE WANT TO, WE WON'T HAVE TO REBUILD IT THE STREET FOR 50 YEARS AND WE WON'T HAVE TO RECONSTRUCT IT UP TO 80 YEARS.
SO WHAT WE DO IS, UH, WE DO A SURFACE TREATMENT EVERY 10 YEARS.
THAT'S PART OF OUR STREET MAINTENANCE PLAN, DEPENDING ON, DEPENDING ON THE STANDARDS THAT WE GET FOR THE ASSESSMENT, UH, 10, UH, YEARS, 10 THROUGH 40, OR ACTUALLY STANDARD WITHIN THE, WHEN WITHIN OUR ANNUAL SERVICE PLAN.
[01:30:01]
GET TO YEAR 50, THAT'S WHEN WE GET TO REHABILITATION.CUZ AGAIN, I MEAN A CERTAIN, UH, A CERTAIN ASSET, THERE IS A POINT IN TIME THAT WE CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH, AND WE HAVE TO GO TO THAT NEXT LEVEL, EITHER REHABILITATION OR RECONSTRUCTION.
BUT, UH, WE WANNA SHOW YOU THAT THERE IS AN APPROACH THAT WE'RE DOING.
IT'S JUST NOT, WE, WE, WE PICK A STREET JUST FOR FUN.
BUT WHAT WE ACTUALLY DO IS WE LOOK AT ALL THOSE AS, UH, THOSE PRIMARY FACTORS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT, AND THEN WE APPLIED THE TREATMENTS OVER, UH, THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE PAVEMENT, HOPEFULLY 80 YEARS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE MAINTAIN THE ASSET.
AND AGAIN, THE IMPORTANT THING TOO IS TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S RIDEABLE AND IT'S SAFE FOR THE PEDESTRIANS, UH, AND THE TRA UH, PUBLIC, UTILIZING THAT, THAT ASSET, BUT ALSO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE BEST UTILIZING THE PUBLIC, UH, FUNDING THAT WE'RE GIVEN TO DO THIS NEXT SLIDE.
SO WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO NOW IS, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS I LIKE TO DO IS YOU ALWAYS HIRE SMART PEOPLE AND YOU BRING 'EM WITH YOU.
SO WHAT I BROUGHT IS STEVE GRACE WITH ME TONIGHT.
WHAT HE'S GONNA GO SPECIFICALLY IN, NOW, HE'S GOING THROUGH THE ANNUAL SERVICE PLAN DEVELOPMENT AND ALSO TALK ABOUT, UH, THE ACTUAL, UH, AMOUNT OF STREETS THAT WE'RE GONNA TREAT THIS YEAR.
SO STEVE, I'LL TURN THE PRESENTATION OVER TO YOU.
YEAH, UH, THANKS VERY MUCH JAMES, AND GOOD EVENING COMMISSION.
UH, FOR THE NEXT, UH, FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS PRESENTATION, WE'RE GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THOSE PRINCIPLES THAT JAMES WENT THROUGH ON PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE ACTUALLY TRANSLATES INTO, UM, OUR FY 23 PROGRAM AND, AND WHAT THAT MEANS TO THE CITY.
SO WHEN WE, EACH YEAR, WHEN WE BUILD OUR ANNUAL STREET SERVICE PLAN, THE THREE DRIVING, UH, PRINCIPLES BEHIND HOW WE APPROACH IT IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DATA INFORMED.
WE'RE USING, UM, REALTIME INFORMATION.
LIKE JAMES SAID, EVERY THREE YEARS WE GET CURRENT, UM, STREET CONDITIONS FROM OUR SURVEYS.
WE CERTAINLY PRIORITIZE EQUITY, AND WE'RE ALWAYS TRYING TO IMPROVE.
AND EACH YEAR WHEN WE BUILD OUR, UM, OUR SERVICE PLAN, WE TAKE LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR AND MAKE IT BETTER, MAKE IT BETTER.
SO IN TERMS OF THE, THE ACTUAL BUILDING BLOCKS, THE, THE STEPS WE TAKE, THERE'S, UM, THERE'S FIVE PHASES.
AND AS WE MENTIONED, THERE'S AN ASSESSMENT OF THE STREET CONDITION THAT ALLOWS US TO, UM, CREATE A INITIAL DRAFT AND PLAN.
WE FIGURE OUT WHICH OF THE, UM, TREATMENTS THAT JAMES MENTIONED ARE APPROPRIATE FOR, UM, THE DIFFERENT AREAS TO, TO MAKE UP THAT 10% OF TREATMENT THAT WE, THAT WE PLAN TO, UH, ACHIEVE THAT YEAR.
AND ONE REALLY IMPORTANT STEP IS COORDINATION WITH OTHERS.
UM, AS SOON AS WE KNOW WHAT OUR PLAN'S GONNA LOOK LIKE EARLY IN THE, THE OFF SEASON GOING INTO THE NEXT YEAR, WE MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, UM, TALKING WITH OUR PARTNERS, WITH OUR, WITH THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS, UM, WITH THE PUBLIC.
ONE THING WE WANNA MAKE SURE IS WE DON'T PUT A NICE NEW, UM, YOU KNOW, RESURFACING ON A STREET THAT AUSTIN WATER HAS IN THEIR PLAN TO, UM, YOU KNOW, TO TEAR UP THE FOLLOWING YEAR FOR, FOR SOME OF THEIR MAINTENANCE.
SO IT'S IMPORTANT TO GET THIS OUT QUICKLY.
AND ALSO SO WE CAN, UM, ONCE WE DO FINALIZE THE SERVICE PLAN, CERTAINLY TO, UM, TO NOTIFY RESIDENTS, BUSINESSES, UH, THE COMMUNITY THAT WILL BE IMPACTED BY, BY, UM, THOSE MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS.
AND OUR, OUR GOAL IS TO MAINTAIN 80% OF THAT NETWORK IN FAIR TO EXCELLENT CONDITION.
AND I'LL, I'LL EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT MORE OF, UH, WHAT THAT TRANSLATES TO AS FAR AS THE CONDITION RATING BEFORE, BEFORE WE GET INTO THAT, HERE'S SORT OF A HEAT MAP, A, UM, A 20,000 FOOT LOOK.
BUT THIS IS HOW OUR STREET NETWORK, UM, LOOKS.
GENERALLY, YOU CAN SEE THE, THE CLUSTERS OR THE, UH, THE GENERAL GEOGRAPHIC SPREAD OF, UM, THE DIFFERENT STREETS.
AND THERE, THERE'S NO, THERE'S NO CLEAR PATTERN NECESSARILY, BUT WE'LL GET INTO A LITTLE BIT MORE STREET BY STREET DEFINITION GOING FORWARD HERE.
SO HERE ARE THE GRADES THAT WE ASSIGN.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHS, SAY WE GO FROM AN EXCELLENT DOWN TO A, A FAILED RATING WHERE EXCELLENT LOOKS PRISTINE, IT JUST REQUIRES THAT PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE, UM, YOU KNOW, DOWN THROUGH GOOD FAIR WHERE THE, THE LEVEL OF MAINTENANCE NECESSARY TO GIVE A SATISFACTORY RIDE REQUIRES A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, EFFORT.
AND THEN FINALLY FAILED IS, YOU KNOW, PRETTY CLEAR IN THAT PHOTO.
YOU CAN SEE A, A STREET THAT EVEN, UM, A A SLOW DRIVING SPEED REALLY ISN'T GONNA MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
IT'S, IT'S NOT PERFORMING ITS FUNCTION ANYMORE.
AND THE, THE BREAKOUT TO THE RIGHT OF THE SCREEN SHOWS OUR, WHERE WE ARE AS OF, UM, THE END OF F Y 22, WITH OUR EFFORT TO ACHIEVE THAT 80%, UH, WE WANNA STAY IN THE EXCELLENT TO FAIR LEVEL.
SO AS OF, UH, END OF FY 22, WE'RE AT, UH, ABOUT 75%.
SO THIS YEAR WE'RE GONNA GONNA CONTINUE TO, UM, TO PUT IN THE, THE EFFORT, YOU KNOW, MAKE
[01:35:01]
THE DECISIONS AND DO THE MAINTENANCE IN THE RIGHT PLACES AND CONTINUE TO DRIVE UP, UP UNTIL WE, WE MAKE OUR 80% GOAL FOR SURE.AND THEN, YOU KNOW, GO BEYOND THAT.
SO THAT'S OUR CURRENT SNAPSHOT.
UM, HERE'S, HERE'S A BREAKOUT BY DISTRICT, AND THIS SHOWS YOU THE AGES, THE, THE MEDIAN AGE OF THE STREETS IN THAT DISTRICT.
AND THE, UM, THE RATING THAT WE ASSIGNED TO IT IS A A THROUGH C.
AND IT, IT'S, THERE'S A PRETTY CLEAR PATTERN YOU CAN SEE ARE CORRELATION, WHERE THE, UM, THE YOUNGER STREETS SCORE GENERALLY HIGHER, AND THE, THE STREETS THAT ARE GETTING UP THERE IN AGE ARE THE ONES THAT SCORE, UH, CONSIDERABLY LOWER.
AND THAT BEARS ITSELF OUT EVERY YEAR.
WHEN WE DO THE STREET ASSESSMENT EVERY THREE YEARS, AND WE COLLECT THAT DATA, WE GENERALLY GET MORE, MORE, MORE REQUIREMENTS ARE GENERATED IN THOSE AREAS THAT HAVE, UH, THE, THOSE LOWER RATINGS.
SO OUR SERVICE PLAN PRETTY MUCH FOLLOWS, UM, WHERE THE NEED IS GREATEST.
BUT THAT'S, UH, JUST AN INFORMATIVE SLIDE FOR YOU.
AND BEFORE I KIND OF WALK THROUGH WHAT OUR ACTUAL SERVICE PLAN IS THIS YEAR, THERE'S SOME, UM, I I JUST WANTED TO PUT A PICTURE ON A, A FEW OF THESE TREATMENTS I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT FOR, FOR ANYONE WHO ISN'T IN THE THIS BUSINESS DAILY.
UM, A A CRACK SEAL IS, UH, OUR EASIEST TREATMENT OR, UM, THE ONE THAT COMES IN.
FIRST OF ALL, IT'S REALLY JUST PUTTING A, UM, A FLEXIBLE, UM, SEALANT OVER CRACKS.
AND THAT WILL HELP WITH THE, UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THOSE FIVE HAZARDS THAT JAMES MENTIONED, THE, THE WATER IN, WHICH IS A HUGE PROBLEM FOR, FOR PAVEMENTS ANYWHERE WHEN WATER INFILTRATES, IT DESTROYS THE, UM, THE FOUNDATION OF THE PAVEMENT.
SO CRACK SEAL IS A, UM, IS A FIX THAT WILL HELP RESOLVE THAT.
UH, FOG SEAL, WE'LL TALK ABOUT A LITTLE BIT.
IT'S, UM, FOR ONE OF THOSE OTHER HAZARDS, JAMES TALKED ABOUT THE, UH, THE SUN AND JUST THE, UM, THE ATMOSPHERE WHERE THE PAVEMENT STARTS TO GET BRITTLE AFTER TIME.
SO FOR OTHERWISE, UM, GOOD PAVEMENT THAT'S STRUCTURALLY SOUND AND HASN'T, UM, DEGRADED TOO MUCH.
YOU CAN PUT A, A VERY THIN FILM OF, UH, AN ASPHALT EMULSION OVER IT, AND THAT REALLY REJUVENATES IT AND MAKES IT FLEXIBLE AGAIN AND PUTS SOME LIFETIME INTO IT.
AND THAT'S, UM, THAT'S A GREAT TREATMENT THAT AGAIN, BUYS US TIME DURING THAT 10 YEAR, UM, PERIOD.
UM, A SEAL COAT AND A SLURRY SEAL ARE A LITTLE BIT, UM, MORE INTENSIVE.
AND THESE ARE THE TREATMENTS THAT COME IN USUALLY AROUND THE 10 YEAR POINT.
UM, BOTH OF THESE INVOLVE, WELL, A SEAL COAT INVOLVES PUTTING DOWN A THIN LAYER OF ASPHALT AND THEN COMING IN WITH, UM, AGGREGATE AND ROLLING THAT IN.
AND WHAT YOU END UP WITH IS A, UM, IS A, IS MUCH BETTER LEVEL OF MAINTENANCE.
IT WILL ACTUALLY, IT'LL NOT ONLY DO WHAT THE CRACK SEAL DOES, PREVENT WATER INFILTRATION, BUT IT PROVIDES FOR A, UH, A SMOOTHER RIDING SURFACE.
AND IT WILL GENERALLY GET US THOSE, UM, 10 MORE YEARS WE'RE LOOKING FOR OUT OF A, UH, OTHERWISE STRUCTURALLY SOUND, UM, ROAD.
AND IT WILL FILL ANY KIND OF MINOR IMPERFECTIONS.
UH, A SLURRY SEAL'S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT OF AN APPLICATION, BUT IT'S PRIMARILY USED IN PLACES LIKE CUL-DE-SACS WHERE YOU HAVE, UM, VEHICLES THAT MAKE A LOT OF TURNS AND PUT A, UM, SORT OF A SIDEWAYS, UH, FORCE ON THE PAVEMENT.
A SEAL COAT WILL, UM, WILL, WILL TEND TO DEGRADE A LITTLE BIT UNDER THAT KIND OF MOTION AND A SLURRY SEALS A LITTLE BIT STRONGER OF A, UM, OR HAS MORE RESISTANCE TO THAT LATERAL MOVEMENT.
SO IT, IT WILL DO THE SAME THING AS SEAL COAT DOES IN IN THOSE AREAS.
AND, UH, FINALLY, MILL AND OVERLAY.
THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT WILL, UM, OR THIS IS THE TREATMENT THAT COMES IN AT SORT OF THAT 30 YEAR, UM, LIFETIME OF THE, OF THE STREET AND OF THE PAVEMENT THAT IS SHORT OF A MAJOR OR FULL DEPTH REPAIR.
WHAT IT WILL DO IS INVOLVE, UM, MILLING OFF A, A LITTLE BIT, AN INCH OR TWO OF THE EXISTING PAVEMENT AND ACTUALLY REPAVING THAT AREA WITH, UM, NEW ASPHALT ENTIRELY.
SO THAT'S A, A SIGNIFICANT, UM, EFFORT, BUT AGAIN, IF WE DO IT AT THE RIGHT TIME, IT CAN GO TO ALMOST DOUBLE THE, UH, THE OTHERWISE, UH, EXPECTED LIFETIME OF THAT PAYMENT.
SO AS WE GET THROUGH OUR PLAN, UH, JUST HOPEFULLY YOU CAN KIND OF KEEP THESE DIFFERENT TREATMENTS IN MIND AND THEY'LL, THEY'LL MAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE SENSE TO YOU, OR THEY'LL HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE MEANING.
SO HERE IS A, A LOOK AT WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO, UH, FOR THE CITY THIS YEAR.
OUR OVERALL PLAN, UM, AGAIN, WE, OUR GOAL IS TO TOUCH ABOUT 10% OF THE, UM, THE CITY STREET NETWORK PER YEAR.
AND WE HAVE JUST, JUST SHY OF 8,000, UM, LANE MILES OF, UM, CITY STREETS IN THAT NETWORK.
SO THIS YEAR OUR GOAL IS TO, UM, MAINTAIN JUST ABOUT 750, UH, LANE MILES.
AND HERE'S THE BREAKOUT OF THOSE DIFFERENT TREATMENTS AGAIN.
[01:40:01]
UM, PRAX SEAL WILL BE APPLIED TOWARD SOME OF THE NEWER ROADS, UM, FOG SEAL, UH, SEAL COATS THAT, UH, 10 YEAR REJUVENATION.AND THE OVERLAY WILL, WILL PROBABLY WORK ON A LOT OF THE STREETS IN THOSE, UM, THAT ARE SCORING THE POOREST RIGHT NOW.
OUR, SORRY, THAT OUR PLAN FOR THE, UM, OUR BREAKOUT BY DISTRICTS IS PRESENTED HERE.
AND AGAIN, THOSE TOTALS ARE THE SAME.
UM, BUT HERE'S JUST A SNAPSHOT FOR YOUR BENEFIT OF THE, UH, THE TYPES OF WORK THAT ARE GOING BE GOING ON IN EACH DISTRICT.
AND A TOOL THAT WE HAVE THAT MAKES THIS, UM, VERY USEFUL AND WE WE'D LIKE TO SHARE GOING FORWARD IS, UH, A GIS TOOL AND IT CAPTURES OUR ENTIRE STREET MAINTENANCE PLAN, UM, AND GEOGRAPHICALLY TAGS IT.
AND IT'S, UM, IT'S, IT'S GREAT FOR TRANSPARENCY BECAUSE NOT ONLY CAN YOU LOOK AT THIS YEAR'S SERVICE PLAN, BUT YOU CAN LOOK AT THE WORK THAT'S BEEN DONE OVER, UM, THE PAST 10 YEARS.
SO IF YOU CAN SEE THIS, UM, EXAMPLE RIGHT FROM THE GIS PROGRAM, YOU COULD LOOK AT THE ENTIRE, UM, FY 23 MAINTENANCE PROGRAM LIKE THIS IS SHOWING AT THE MOMENT.
UM, YOU CAN DRILL DOWN INTO AN INDIVIDUAL DISTRICT AND YOU CAN LOOK AT THE CURRENT YEAR'S PLAN.
UM, YOU CAN LOOK AT PREVIOUS YEAR'S PLANS, AND THE COLOR CODING, UH, CORRESPONDS TO THE, THE TYPE OF TREATMENT THAT'S GONNA BE GOING ON THERE.
SO I'M GOING TO GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND SHOW YOU AN EXAMPLE.
UM, DISTRICT ONE, YOU COULD DRILL DOWN INTO IT USING THE, THE CURRENT YEAR'S PLAN.
AND YOU'D SEE THAT THERE IS, UM, A, UH, PRETTY SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT, 83 MILES OF CRACK SEAL, MEANING THAT THAT PAVEMENT'S GENERALLY GOOD.
IT'S GONNA NEED THAT, UM, SMALL SEALANT, UH, ABOUT 50 MILES OF SEAL COAT, SO THAT 10 YEAR TREATMENT.
AND THERE'S GONNA BE A LITTLE BIT OVER 15 MILES WORTH OF ACTUAL OVERLAY FOR SOME OF THE, THE MORE DEGRADED STREETS.
AND THIS TOOL WILL ALLOW YOU TO LOOK WHERE THOSE ACTUAL, UM, MAINTENANCE TREATMENTS ARE GONNA TAKE PLACE.
AND OF COURSE, A AS WE GET INTO THE, UH, MAINTENANCE SEASON AND THESE THINGS ARE GONNA HAPPEN, WE, WE TAKE THE STEPS NECESSARY TO NOTIFY THE, UM, THE AFFECTED AREAS AND, UM, MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE'S AWARE OF WHAT'S GOING TO BE GOING ON AND WHAT THE IMPACT IS.
BUT THIS IS A GREAT TOOL TO LOOK AT THE, UM, THE ANNUAL PROGRAM, WHAT TYPE OF WORK'S GONNA HAPPEN AND WHERE IT'S GONNA TAKE PLACE.
SO THE NEXT STEPS, UM, BASED ON THE TYPE OF WORK WE DO, THE, THE MAINTENANCE AND THE TREATMENTS, OUR, UM, IDEAL TIME IS IN, BEGINS IN APRIL AND RUNS THROUGH THE, THROUGH THE, UM, END OF THE SUMMER.
THAT'S WHEN THE TEMPERATURES, THE, THE IDEAL RANGE FOR THE, THE TYPE OF, UM, OVERLAYS THAT WE DO AND FOR THE MATERIALS TO, TO SET CORRECTLY.
SO WE ARE IN THE, UM, SORT OF THE, THE LOW SEASON NOW.
WE USE OUR TIME TO, UH, PREPARE TO MAKE SURE THE EQUIPMENT'S RIGHT AND MATERIALS IN PLACE TO DO SOME, UM, MINOR PAYMENT TREATMENTS.
BUT THEN, UH, BEGINNING IN A, A FEW MONTHS FROM NOW, WE'LL HIT THE, THE MAJOR, UM, EFFORT.
AND WHAT WE'D LIKE TO DO, WHAT WE OFFER IS THE, UM, ABILITY TO WORK WITH INDIVIDUAL DISTRICTS TO, UM, TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FACT THAT WE DO HAVE THAT GIS TOOL AVAILABLE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE HAS, WHO WANTS ACCESS TO IT, HAS THAT ACCESS AND CAN, YOU KNOW, HAVE IT THEIR FINGERTIPS, THE INFORMATION THEY NEED TO KNOW OF, UM, WHAT'S GOING ON THROUGHOUT THE CITY AND IN THEIR PARTICULAR DISTRICT.
AND FINALLY, WE, UM, WE PLAN TO COME BACK AT THE END OF THE YEAR AND DO, UM, SORT OF A, A POSTMORTEM TO BE ABLE TO LET YOU KNOW WHAT, UM, OUT OF OUR GOAL OF 758 MILES WHERE WE, UM, WHAT WE GOT DONE AND, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF BOAST ABOUT THE, THE PROGRESS WE MADE AND BE ABLE TO LOOK FORWARD TO, UH, YOU KNOW, AN APPROVED YEAR NEXT YEAR.
SO THAT IS, UM, THAT'S ALL JAMES AND I HAVE PREPARED, AND WE, WE'D OPEN IT UP TO YOUR QUESTIONS AT THIS POINT.
AND AGAIN, UH, WE, WE TRY TO KEEP WITHIN THE TIME LIMIT.
I THINK WE HAVE ABOUT 13 MINUTES LEFT.
UH, BUT AGAIN, I, I WANT TO THANK THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME TALK TO Y'ALL.
WE'RE OPEN TO ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE PROCESS OR WHAT WE'RE DOING, BUT I WANTED TO KIND OF BRING THAT IN BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY THE STREET NETWORK, UH, HELPS SHAPE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MODES OF TRANSPORTATION WE'RE UTILIZING, AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT'S BEST RIDEABLE SO THAT IT'S, IT'S SMOOTH FOR EVERYBODY TO TRANS TRANSIT.
WELL THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
UM, LOOKING AT THE SCREEN, ARE THERE ANY CONDITIONERS WHO WANNA RAISE THEIR HANDS, HAVE SOME COMMENTS? MM-HMM.
[01:45:01]
ACTUALLY FOUND THIS REALLY USEFUL AND, UM, INTERESTING TO SEE HOW YOU JUDGE THINGS.YOU KNOW, IN THIS, THERE WAS ONLY ONE SCREEN THAT SHOWED LIKE A CLASS A AND A CLASS A FOR WRITE WHAT IT WAS CALLED.
UM, BUT WHAT I DIDN'T SEE, AND I FIND A PROBLEM FOR DRIVING, ARE THE KINDS OF SWES AND RIDGES AND, UM, UH, GAPS.
LIKE I WILL SAY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT BARANG YOU LIVE THAT, I'LL GIVE YOU ONE EXAMPLE.
LET'S SAY WESTGATE AVENUE OR WESTGATE OVER IN SOUTH AUSTIN.
YOU KNOW, THERE ARE PLACES WHERE IT FEELS LIKE THE, THE MATERIAL HAS BEEN PUSHED, YOU KNOW, LIKE IF IT WAS HOT AND IT BEEN PUSHED, AND THIS IS ESPECIALLY PROMINENT WHERE THERE'S LITTLE BRIDGES THAT CROSS THE CREEK.
AND SO YOU'LL END UP FROM BOTH SIDES WITH, UH, QUITE A SIGNIFICANT GAP WHERE THE, THE MATERIAL OF THE BRIDGE IS, IS MUCH HARDER THAN THE MATERIAL OF THE REST OF THE ROAD.
AND THIS ALSO HAPPENS ON I 35, IN FACT, WHERE THE BRIDGE IS ARE AN I 35.
UM, HOW DOES THAT FACTOR INTO TO, UM, KEEPING THE STREETS, YOU KNOW, MEASURED IS PERFORMING WELL AND THAT SORT OF THING? STEVE, YOU WANNA TAKE THAT ONE OR DO YOU WANT NO, LET'S SEE.
THE HARD PART IS TRYING TO, I I, I, YOU KNOW, IT'S, YOU MENTIONED A COUPLE DIFFERENT THINGS.
ONE IS THE STREET BUCKLING IS USUALLY DOING, DOING DO THE HEAT, AND ALSO SOMETIMES WHEN IT MATCHES UP TO A DIFFERENT MATERIAL, LIKE CON UH, CONCRETE.
BUT, UH, I, YOU KNOW, AND AGAIN, SOME OF THE RIDEABILITY YOU TALK ABOUT, ESPECIALLY IN WESTGATE AREA, I THINK IS PART OF THE OLDER PART THAT NEEDS TO BE, UH, THAT'S PART OF OUR, UH, REHABILITATION PROGRAM THAT WE NEED TO GO THROUGH AND, AND, AND REPAIR THAT.
CUZ IT'S, UH, BECAUSE OF THE STRESS ON THE STREET, WE, WE NEED TO MAKE IT MORE RIDEABLE.
IT'S NOT A PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE ISSUE.
BUT, UH, I HOPE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, I I JUST TRY TO TRY TO VISUALIZE, DOES DOES IT FALL UNDER THE SORT OF REHAB? UM, IS IT, IT'S A BIGGER DEAL CAUSE IT'S, YOU REALLY CAN'T JUST GO IN AND FILL IN THE GAPS.
YOU KNOW, REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE PICTURE THAT STEVE SHOWED YOU, WHERE, WHERE THE STREET WHERE WE HAD, WHERE THE FAILURE, WHERE THE STREET LOOKED LIKE REALLY RIPPLED AND BAD AND ALMOST SCALED LIKE A DRY SKIN? YEP.
THAT'S USUALLY WHERE WE HAVE TO DO A RECONSTRUCTION OR A REHAB.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO TOO, TOO TO MINOR REPAIRS IS EITHER, UH, WHEN A UTILITY CUT COMES HAPPEN, WE, WE FIX IT WHEN AUSTIN WATER COMES, UH, HAS TO FIX A UTILITY LINE OR WHEN YOU HAVE POTHOLES COME IN.
BUT USUALLY THE, THE PARTS OF, UNFORTUNATELY, JUST LIKE THE OTHER PRESENTA UH, PRESENTERS SAID TODAY THERE'S, THERE'S ALWAYS A FUNDING ISSUE.
YOU CAN ONLY ATTACK CERTAIN THINGS.
SO WHAT WE TRY TO DO IS, UH, DO A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH WHEN THINGS GET TO A, UM, REHABILITATION OR, UH, RECONSTRUCTION THAT GOES TO CAPITAL WORK, WHICH THEN WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE BOND PROCESS AND UTILIZE THE BOND FUNDING.
THE LAST BOND THAT WE RECEIVED WAS IN 2018, WHICH WAS FOR, UH, ABOUT $66 MILLION THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING A REHAB PROGRAM THROUGH THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
BUT I DON'T KNOW THE SPECIFIC STREETS ON WESTGATE OR NOT HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED.
AND WESTGATE IS JUST AN EXAMPLE.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S USEFUL.
UM, I HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION, WHICH IS, UM, HAS YOUR DEPARTMENT EVER CONSIDERED FIGURING OUT WHAT CAN CITIZENS DO? AND, AND I THINK OF THINGS LIKE THE, ITS YOUR PARK TODAY.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A, THERE'S AN EFFORT THAT SAYS, YOU KNOW, ONCE A YEAR OR TWICE A YEAR, GO HELP THIS OUT.
YOU KNOW, SO OFFHAND, BIG TRUCKS, CONSTRUCTION VEHICLES, THAT SORT OF THING HAVE A BIGGER WEAR AND TEAR.
HAS THERE EVER BEEN A, A CONSIDERATION FOR MAKING LESS WORK FOR YOURSELF BY HELPING TO EDUCATE THE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD ON HOW TO BE LESS DAMAGING TO THE STREETS? JUST IT'S INTERESTING IDEA.
THE, THE HARD PART IS THAT THE THINGS THAT REALLY STRESS THE STREETS ARE OUT OF THE PUBLIC'S CONTROL.
IT'S USUALLY, LIKE I SAID, IT'S THE LARGE DUMP TRUCKS.
IT'S, IT'S THE BUSES AND SUCH LIKE THAT, THAT WE, WE WORK WITH THE PARTNERS EITHER AT D OR CAT METRO TO TRY TO SAY, HOW CAN WE BETTER, YOU KNOW, EITHER DESIGN THE STREET, TREAT THE STREET TO, TO DEAL WITH THE WEAR AND TEAR.
UM, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, INTERESTING APPROACH WE CAN LOOK AND THINK ABOUT.
I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THAT, BUT IT'S JUST HARD.
IT'S NOT LIKE, UH, PICKING UP LITTER OR, YOU KNOW, HELP CLEAR THE STREET UP AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT, IT, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT MORE INVOLVED WITH IT, BUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S A THOUGHT THAT WE'LL LOOK AT CUZ W WE ALWAYS TRY TO OUTREACH AND THINK OF NEW IDEAS, BUT, UH, THAT SPECIFIC FIXING THE STREET, I THINK IS A LITTLE BIT BEYOND SOMEONE'S, UH, CAPABILITY.
I MEAN CERTAINLY WOULDN'T BE A FIXTURE STREET DAY, BUT, YOU KNOW, IF THERE WAS JUST A, A LITTLE THING THAT PEOPLE COULD DO IN THEIR DAILY LIFE THAT MADE AN IMPACT.
AND I DON'T KNOW THAT THERE IS, WELL, WELL ONE, ONE THING IN MAY NOT BE THE STREET MAINTENANCE PLAN, BUT, UH, WE HAVE A INCREDIBLE THREE 11 APP HERE THAT IF YOU CAN, AND WHAT WOULD HELP IS IF YOU, IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, TAKE THE PICTURE, WHICH YOU CAN WITH THE APP AND IT THROWS IT TO IT, THEN WHAT WE CAN DO IS THEN WE CAN GO OUT AND ASSESS IT.
EITHER ONE, WE, IT HELPS US DRIVE, MAYBE ADD THIS TO A STREET PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PLAN OR THAT WE CAN DO A POTHOLE OR OTHER THINGS TO GO FIX IT.
BUT THAT, THAT ALSO HELPS US SEE, UH, TO MAKE ANY ADJUSTMENTS IN THE PLAN THAT WE NEED TO.
UM, LOOKING BACK AT THE BIG SCREEN, I SEE COMMISSIONERS, ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
[01:50:01]
I KNOW STREET PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE IS AN EXCITING SUBJECT THAT EVERYBODY LIKES TO GET INTO AND DRIVE.IT'S A JOKE EVERYBODY, UH, BUT, UH, I DO APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY CUZ WE WANT TO COME AT LEAST PRESENT TO YOU SO THAT YOU CAN HEAR WHERE WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE DOING EACH YEAR AND, UH, THAT, UH, APPLICATION OR THE GIS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON OUR, UH, WEBSITE.
SO YOU CAN GO IN THERE SO IT'LL BE A PUBLIC FACING SO THAT YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AND SEE WHAT'S GOING ON.
THE FIRST FIELDING IS WE'RE WORKING WITH THE COUNCIL DISTRICT, UH, OFFICES TO SAY, HEY, WHEN, UH, CONSTITUENT CALLS AND ASK WHAT'S GOING ON IN THEIR AREA, THEY CAN LOOK AT THAT.
BUT WE WANNA FILL THAT OUT SO EVERYBODY CAN SEE WHAT'S, WHAT'S GOING ON AND HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING AND BE ABLE TO ALSO WORK WITH THREE 11 WHEN SOMEONE CALLS AND SAYING, OH YEAH, THAT'S, THAT THAT TRUCK COMING THAT WAY IS DOING IS GONNA BE THERE FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME.
SO IT'S JUST A WAY TO BE TRANSPARENT AND SHARE MORE INFORMATION.
UH, I WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
UH, THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY.
AND CHRIS, I THINK I I I GAVE YOU ABOUT SIX MINUTES BEFORE YOUR COMPUTER SHUTS OFF
SO AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL AND HAVE A GOOD EVENING.
[BRIEFINGS]
INTO THE BRIEFINGS.UH, YEAH, DOWNTOWN COMMISSION.
UH, NOVEMBER MEETING GOT CANCELED.
THERE WAS NO DECEMBER MEETING, SO NO MEETING SINCE WE MET YET.
LAST JOINT SUSTAINABILITY, NO, DIANE WHEELER HERE.
UM, THEY RECEIVED THE CAP AND STITCH UPDATE THAT WE JUST RECEIVED.
UM, THEY ALSO HAD THE BREAKER LANE PROJECT BRIEFING.
UM, BREAKER LANE IS GETTING EXTENDED, UH, EAST AND IT'S GONNA JUST MAKE THE ROAD BETTER FOR EVERYBODY.
UM, AND THEY ALSO HAD THE ZER PARK RECOMMENDA OR ZER PARK VISION PLAN RECOMMENDATION, BUT I COULDN'T SEE WHAT THEY RECOMMENDED THAT ACTUALLY, UM, THAT, UH, SO PAR WASN'T ABLE TO PRESENT ON THAT.
THEY NEED MORE TIME BECAUSE THEY'RE GOING THROUGH THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD, I THINK, WHICH JUST ENDED YESTERDAY.
SO THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO COMMENT ON THAT.
SO WE MOVED THAT ITEM TO THE, UH, MARCH, UH, MEETING WHENEVER WE MEET IN MARCH.
UH, COMMISSIONER ABOUT THE PETITIONER ADVISORY.
LAST TWO MEETINGS WERE JOINT MEETINGS, SO OH,
SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED THAT CHECK.
UM, CITY COUNCIL, MOBILITY COMMITTEE COMMISSIONER ROGER CHAN.
WAS I THERE? DID I MISSED THAT? YEAH, THAT WAS IN NOVEMBER, BUT, UM, WE HAVE ANOTHER ONE COMING UP ON JANUARY 19TH, SO BE READY FOR THAT ONE.
YEAH, NOTHING, NOTHING TO REPORT THERE.
AND THEN, UH, C A C PER ATP, WHATEVER IT'S CALLED, THEY'RE
UM, SO, UM, WE'RE STILL, UH, WORKING THROUGH AS THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY IS, UM, THE CHANGES IN THE BUDGET TO PROJECT, UH, UH, CONNECT AND HOW THAT'S GOING TO INFLUENCE THE DECISIONS WE MAKE OF WHAT WILL ACTUALLY GET BUILT.
SO THAT STAFF CAME AND TALKED TO US ABOUT, UM, UH, WHAT, HOW THEY'RE MAKING THOSE DECISIONS, BOTH FROM A TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE AND FROM A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE.
THEY'RE VERY FOCUSED ON THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PART, SO THEY'RE WORKING HARD ON THAT.
UM, WE ALSO, UH, TALKED A LOT ABOUT, UM, UH, THERE WAS A PRESENTATION ON, UH, ANTI-DISPLACEMENT EFFORTS.
UM, AND, UH, AND THEY HAVE BEEN DOING SOME STUDIES AND ENGAGEMENT WITH FOCUS GROUPS THAT ARE, UM, IN TERMS OF THEIR PREFERRED STRATEGIES, UH, FOR, UH, DOING THAT.
SO THEY'RE WORKING ON THAT PIECE AS WELL.
THOSE WERE OUR TWO MAIN AGENDA ITEMS. AND I THINK THIS PIECE OF THE BUDGET THING IS THE BIG, I MEAN, THAT'S THE BIG THING THAT EVERYBODY'S MM-HMM.
AND SO I THINK YOU'RE GONNA SEE A LOT MORE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ROLLING OUT AND IF YOU HAVE ON THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SUBCOMMITTEE AS WELL.
SO IF YOU HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT, FEEL FREE TO, UH, REACH OUT TO ME INDIVIDUALLY AND I CAN TRY TO CA CAPTURE THOSE.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. WE HAVE QUITE A BIT FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. UM, WE HAVE THE GREAT STREETS UPDATE, UH, SUSAN COMING IN FEBRUARY.UH, WE NEED NEXT ON FEBRUARY 7TH, 2023, WE'RE GONNA BE BACK IN CITY HALL.
UM, SO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING SO ACCOMMODATING FOR WEBEX, BUT WE'RE GONNA BE BACK IN CITY HALL ON FEBRUARY, ON FEBRUARY 7TH.
SO WE HAVE GREAT STREETS COMING UP, UH, TENTATIVELY.
WE ALSO HAVE A GENERAL OVERVIEW PRESENTATION FROM OUR SIGNS AND MARKINGS DIVISION, UM, JUST TO GIVE YOU GUYS SOME UPDATES ON, YOU KNOW, UH, MAINTENANCE PRIORITIZATION, INVENTORY, THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, WE'RE DOING SOME OF THESE, UH, I THINK
[01:55:01]
IMPORTANT TO THE CITY, AND HOW WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE THINGS BETTER.UM, I THINK THERE'S, I THINK FROM WHAT VIN SAID, THERE'S A GENERAL LACK OF KNOWLEDGE FROM, UH, THE PUBLIC THAT THEY DON'T, THEY GET TO SEE A LOT ABOUT BIKES AND PEDESTRIANS AND RIGHT OF WAY, BUT NOT SO MUCH ABOUT SIGNS AND MARKINGS OR ARTERIAL MANAGEMENT AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, SO WE'RE GONNA START DOING THOSE THINGS SO THAT, SO YOU CAN EXPECT FOR, UH, FEBRUARY.
AND WE'RE ALSO GONNA HAVE PROBABLY OUR BIGGEST ITEM WILL BE THE ATX WALK BY ROLE, UH, UPDATED.
UM, OUR STAFF ARE PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
WE HAVE A FEW OTHER THINGS AS WELL, BUT THOSE ARE, UH, THE MAIN ONES AND WE'LL KEEP YOU GUYS UPDATED ON THAT.
AND WITH THAT, DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY AD HOC ANNOUNCEMENTS? WANNA SING A SONG? NO.
THEN WE CAN ADJOURN BY CONSENSUS.
ALL IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HANDS AND SAY HI.