[CALL TO ORDER]
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IT IS 1:03 PM THIS IS THE AUSTIN MOBILITY COMMITTEE.
WE ARE HERE IN AUSTIN CITY HALL.
I AM JOINED BY VICE CHAIR ZOE CADRE AND COUNCIL MEMBER NATASHA HARPER MADISON, WE ARE EXPECTING CHITO VELA IN JUST A FEW MINUTES, AND MCKENZIE KELLY IS NOT AVAILABLE TO JOIN US FOR THIS MEETING TODAY.
LET'S GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.
I SEE THERE IS NO PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
IS THAT STILL ACCURATE? YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
THEN LET'S GET GOING WITH THIS AGENDA.
[1. Approve the minutes of the Mobility Committee Meeting of January 25, 2024.]
ITEM NUMBER ONE IS APPROVING THE MINUTES OF THE MOBILITY COMMITTEE MEETING FROM JANUARY 25TH.MOTION IS MADE BY VICE CHAIR CADRE, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON.
THAT IS UNANIMOUS WITH THE THREE OF US ON THE DAIS.
ITEM NUMBER TWO IS AN UPDATE FROM THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION REGARDING ACTIONS FROM FEBRUARY 6TH, 2023.
DO WE HAVE CHAIR SUMMERS WITH US HERE TODAY? SHE WILL BE ATTENDING REMOTELY, BUT SHE HASN'T LOGGED ON YET.
JUST FLAG ME DOWN WHEN SHE DOES LOG IN AND WE'LL JUMP OVER TO HER SEGMENT.
IN THE MEANTIME, WE WILL MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER THREE, AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL UPDATE BY THE AUSTIN TRANS TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP CHAIR OF UTC HAS JUMPED ON IF YOU WANT TO.
[2. Update from the Urban Transportation Commission (UTC) regarding actions from the February 6, 2024, UTC meeting.]
YOU ARE READY, YOU ARE LIVE.AND WE WILL RECEIVE THE UPDATE FROM THE UTC.
AND I KNOW SOMETIMES THE PERMISSIONS MIGHT NEED SOMEONE TO BE MOVED AS A PANELIST.
MS. SUMMERS, IF YOU CAN UNMUTE ON YOUR END.
HELLO? YES, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YEP, WE GOT YOU.
WE ARE READY FOR YOUR UPDATE FROM THE UTC
UM, SO I KNOW THAT OUR, I THINK OUR VICE CHAIR, UH, REUBEN BROOKS, UH, CAME AND SPOKE WITH YOU LAST MONTH.
I WAS SORRY TO MISS, UM, I THINK YOUR MEETING TIME CHANGED AND SO I WASN'T, UH, AVAILABLE, BUT, UM, SO I'M BASICALLY REPORTING THIS MONTH ONLY ON THE ACTIONS FROM, UM, THIS, UH, MOST RECENT, UH, UTC MEETING THAT WE HAD ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH.
UM, SO, UM, UH, WE, UM, LOOKED AT, UM, WE GOT A PRESENTATION ON THE WAY THAT THE DUTIES ARE EVOLVING AND THE NEW STRUCTURE OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORK, SORT OF THEIR ORG CHART, WHICH WAS VERY, VERY HELPFUL.
UM, WE GOT A LIGHT RAIL, UM, UPDATE FROM, UH, AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
WE, UM, HEARD ABOUT THE NEW, UM, AUSTIN METRO BIKE, UH, PLANS, UH, SPECIFICALLY MOSTLY ABOUT THE STRATEGIC, UH, THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PLANS FOR, UH, ROLLING OUT THE NEW, THE NEW PROCESS.
AND, UH, WE ALSO HEARD ABOUT SOME GRANTS, UM, VERY INTERESTING ABOUT GRANTS THAT TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS IS APPLYING FOR RIGHT NOW.
WE WORKED ON OUR MEETING DATES, UM, AND I ACTUALLY WILL, WILL JUST PINPOINT THIS.
WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO PASS, UM, AN ITEM ON OUR, OUR AGENDA FOR A COUPLE CYCLES AROUND THE, UH, CAMPO TRANSPORTATION POLICY BOARD.
AND, UM, IT'S SORT OF IN RELATION TO, UM, THE EVENTS IN HOUSTON, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THEIR METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION AND WHAT THE CITY OF HOUSTON IS DOING, AND MAKE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS ON THAT.
WE HAVE SOME VACANCIES ON OUR BODY THAT HAVE IMPEDED US GETTING THAT DONE BECAUSE WE HAVE SOME MEMBERS THAT DO NEED, OR CURRENT MEMBERS THAT NEED TO RECUSE.
SO, UM, IF YOU COULD, UM, MAKE A, JUST MAKE A PLEA TO YOUR COLLEAGUES TO GET
I THINK WE HAVE TWO VACANCIES, ONE OF THOSE WE RECOGNIZE AS A VERY RECENT VACANCY OF SOMEONE WHO GOT A JOB IN A NEW CITY AND VACATED.
BUT, UM, I'LL JUST, I'LL JUST SAY THE MAYOR HAS NOT, MAYOR WATSON HAS NOT APPOINTED SOMEONE TO UTC, UM, WHICH IS A LITTLE, A LITTLE BIT OF A HEAD SCRATCHER TO ME.
SO, UM, IF WE COULD GET OUR BODY FILLED, I THINK WE COULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT WOULD BE SUPER HELPFUL TO OUR WORK.
SO IF YOU CAN ADVOCATE UP WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES FOR US, WE WOULD DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THAT.
UM, THAT'S REALLY WHAT WE HAD.
WE DIDN'T REALLY TAKE, UM, ANY RECOMMENDATION VOTES IN FEBRUARY, BUT I'M CERTAINLY AVAILABLE TO TAKE ANY, UH, TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
WE SHOULD HAVE A REALLY PACKED SPRING.
WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, MAKING SOME BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, SOME BONDING RECOMMENDATIONS, HOPEFULLY
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THIS CAMPO ITEM.SO WE HAVE A LOT, A LOT COMING UP THAT WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT.
DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAIR OF UTC? IT DOES NOT APPEAR, SO THANK YOU.
AND WE'LL CIRCLE BACK WITH OUR COLLEAGUES AND MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE HAVE VACANCIES FILLED ON THOSE, I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND WE APPRECIATE THE, THE VOLUNTEER WORK THAT GOES INTO THEM, AND WE'LL JUST DOUBLE CHECK ON THOSE.
[3. Austin Light Rail update by Austin Transit Partnership.]
READY TO MOVE TO THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP UPDATE.THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING US HERE TODAY.
UM, THE THREE OF US ARE FROM AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIPS.
MAYBE WE'LL JUST INTRODUCE OURSELVES QUICKLY.
I'M JENNIFER PINE, UH, PLANNING COMMUNITY AND FEDERAL PROGRAMS. LINDSAY WOOD ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION, AND PETER MULLIN, ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN.
ALRIGHT, UM, SO WE'LL START WITH, UH, AN UPDATE ON WHAT WE'VE UH, BEEN WORKING ON.
UH, AS I, I'M SURE YOU'LL RECALL, LAST JUNE, UH, THE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN WAS APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL, THE A TP BOARD AND THE CAP METRO BOARD.
UM, AND THAT IDENTIFIED THE FIRST PHASE OF LIGHT RAIL TO BE ADVANCED.
SO SINCE THAT TIME, DESIGN AND ENGINEERING WORK HAS BEEN UNDERWAY, UM, TO ADVANCE, UH, THE PROJECT DESCRIPTION TO BE SUITABLE TO CONDUCT OUR ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW, UM, WE'LL NEED TO CONDUCT THESE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH NEPA, WHICH IS THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT.
UM, THIS IS ONE OF A, A NUMBER OF REQUIREMENTS THAT WE HAVE BECAUSE WE ARE PURSUING FEDERAL GRANT FUNDING FOR THE PROJECT.
UM, SO WE ARE IN THE EARLIER STAGES OF THAT.
WE'RE CONDUCTING A SERIES OF PUBLIC MEETINGS RIGHT NOW.
WE'RE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT.
UM, AND THAT IS REFERRED TO AS SCOPING ON THIS GRAPHIC.
AND WHAT WE WANT TO ACCOMPLISH IS TO COMMUNICATE TO FOLKS WHAT WE'RE DOING, HOW THEY CAN PLUG INTO IT.
UH, IT DESCRIBE THE PROPOSED PROJECT THAT WE ARE EVALUATING AND, UH, IT IT WOULD BE TIMELY TO RECEIVE FEEDBACK ON THE ISSUES AND TOPICS THAT WE SHOULD BE SURE TO INVESTIGATE AT THIS STAGE.
UM, LATER IN THE YEAR, WE'LL BE COMING BACK OUT WITH A DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT THAT WILL BE A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW ON, UM, HOW THE ENVIRONMENT MIGHT BE CHANGED OR IMPACTED FOR GOOD OR ADVERSELY.
UM, DUE TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LIGHT RAIL PROJECT, THERE WILL BE A PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD ASSOCIATED WITH THAT DRAFT.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY WE WOULD RESPOND TO THOSE COMMENTS AND COMPLETE A FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT IN 2025.
UM, THERE ARE OTHER ASPECTS OF THE FEDERAL FUNDING PROCESS THAT WE'RE PURSUING AS WELL, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO BE DOING THAT FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
UH, SO WE ARE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR SLATE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS.
OUR VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE IS TONIGHT.
UM, WE ARE GOING TO BE AT TWIN OAKS LIBRARY NEXT TUESDAY.
UM, ONCE WE COMPLETE, UH, THIS WHOLE SET OF MEETINGS, WE WILL BE COMPILING EVERYTHING THAT WE HEARD INTO A REPORT THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THE PUBLIC TO, TO SEE AND UNDERSTAND.
SO FOR THE PROJECT ITSELF, UM, THE, THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS ESSENTIALLY THE, THE SAME AS WE WERE TALKING ABOUT LAST JUNE.
IT'S ABOUT 10 MILES OF LIGHT RAIL THAT WOULD BE, UM, STREET RUNNING, GENERALLY CENTER RUNNING, UM, UH, ON STREETS THROUGH, UH, ON GUADALUPE ON THIRD, UM, SOUTH CONGRESS AND EAST RIVERSIDE.
UM, AT THIS TIME WITHIN THE NEPA ANALYSIS, WE ARE ONLY LOOKING AT THE FUNDED PORTION OF THE PROJECT.
WE DID IDENTIFY THOSE TWO PRIORITY EXTENSIONS IN JUNE, NORTH TO CRESTVIEW AND ON THE EAST SIDE OUT TO THE AIRPORT.
UM, AND IF ADDITIONAL FUNDING IS IDENTIFIED TO ACCELERATE THOSE, WE WILL DO WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO INCORPORATE THOSE INTO THE FIRST PHASE AS WELL.
SO THE THINKING ABOUT THE PUBLIC, UM, INPUT THAT WE HEARD LAST SPRING AND THE TECHNICAL WORK THAT HAS FOLLOWED, UM, OUR PROPOSED PROJECT DOES INCLUDE A SET OF DESIGN OPTIONS AS WELL.
SO WE JUST WANNA STEP THROUGH, UM, WHAT IS BEING EVALUATED AT THIS TIME.
UH, SO THROUGH ADVANCING THE DESIGN, AS JEN DISCUSSED EARLIER, UH, AND DIVING DEEPER INTO UNDERSTANDING THE PROJECTS REQUIREMENTS, ITS ASSOCIATED FOOTPRINT, UH, HOW PEOPLE WILL ACCESS THE SYSTEM, REALLY ALL WITH THE, A FOCUS ON THE USER EXPERIENCE AND AND MAXIMIZING THAT EXPERIENCE.
FOR THE PHASE ONE LIGHT RAIL ALIGNMENT, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED A SET OF DESIGN OPTIONS THAT GENERALLY FALL INTO TWO CATEGORIES.
ONE IS THE STATIONS, THAT INCLUDES THE NUMBER OF STATIONS AND HOW CLOSELY THEY ARE SPACED AS WELL
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AS WHERE THE STATIONS ARE LOCATED.AND THE SECOND CATEGORY OF DESIGN OPTIONS, UH, FALLS UNDER MULTIMODAL INTEGRATION OR HOW THE TRAINS AND BUSES AND VEHICLES AND PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLISTS ALL INTERACT TOGETHER WITHIN THE STREETSCAPE.
ALONG THE ALIGNMENT, WE ALSO, KNOWING THAT THIS IS THE FIRST PHASE OF THE PROJECT, ARE CONSIDERING HOW WE BRING PEOPLE TO THE END POINTS.
SO LOOKING AT WHAT END OF LINE FACILITIES MAY BE NEEDED SUCH AS PARK AND RIDES AND, AND EVEN MULTIMODAL, UH, BUS TRANSFER ELEMENTS AT EACH OF THE NORTH, SOUTH AND EAST ENDPOINT OF PHASE ONE.
AND I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT WE ARE MAKING NO RECOMMENDATIONS AT THIS TIME ON ANY OF THESE OPTIONS.
WE ARE SEEKING FEEDBACK TO HELP INFORM OUR STUDY OF THE OPTIONS.
SO WE ARE ARE LOOKING TO UNDERSTAND COMMUNITY CONCERNS, OPPORTUNITIES, AREAS OF INTEREST ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF THEM, BE VERY CAREFUL.
THESE ARE NEW MICROPHONES AND SO THEY'RE VERY SENSITIVE, VERY S THINGS TOUCHES FROM, THEY, THEY MESS UP.
TRY TO BE GENTLE, BUT NOT GENTLE ENOUGH.
SO JUST TO TAKE YOU THROUGH THE ALIGNMENT AS WELL AS DESCRIBE SOME OF THE OPTIONS BEING CONSIDERED, UM, IN A LITTLE MORE DETAIL.
UM, WE'LL START AT THE NORTH AND THEN WE'LL, WE'LL HEAD SOUTH AND EAST FROM THERE.
UM, SO THE, THE NORTHERN TERMINUS OF THE FIRST PHASE OF LIGHT RAIL WOULD BE AT 38TH STREET.
UM, AND SO ASSOCIATED WITH THAT END OF LINE, AT LEAST IN THE FIRST PHASE, WE ARE LOOKING AT, UM, SOME, YOU KNOW, HOW WE ACCOMMODATE, UM, THE NECESSARY MULTIMODAL FACILITIES THAT LINDSEY TALKED ABOUT.
UM, THE ALIGNMENT THEN HEAD SOUTH ON GUADALUPE, UM, TOWARDS THE UNIVERSITY AREA.
AND THERE WOULD BE A STATION BOTH AT, UH, BETWEEN 27TH AND 29TH STREET.
WE'RE CALLING THE 29TH STREET STATION, UM, AS, AS WELL AS ONE, UM, AT THE UT CAMPUS ROUGHLY ADJACENT TO THE WEST MALL.
UM, THIS IS AN INTERESTING PART OF THE ALIGNMENT AS WELL BECAUSE IT'S AN AREA WHERE WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, SIGNIFICANT PEDESTRIAN, UM, VOLUMES, UM, AND BICYCLE AND SCOOTER VOLUMES AS WELL, AS WELL AS REALLY HIGH, UM, TRANSIT RIDERSHIP.
AND SO WE ARE, THE, THE ALIGNMENT THAT WE'RE STUDYING BASICALLY TAKES ALL PEDE, UH, SINGLE OCCUPANCY VEHICLES OFF OF THIS STRETCH OF GUADALUPE FROM 29TH STREET DOWN TO 22ND STREET, UM, SO THAT WE CAN ACCOMMODATE THOSE TRANSIT AND, UH, MULTIMODAL FACILITIES WITHIN THAT AREA.
UM, AND SO WE'LL BE STUDYING ALL OF THE, THE PROS AND CONS OPPORTUNITIES AND, AND IMPACTS OF, OF THAT PROPOSAL AS PART OF THIS PROCESS.
UM, CONTINUING SOUTH INTO DOWNTOWN, WE'RE, WE'RE STILL ON GUADALUPE, UM, AND IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA WE HAVE THREE STATIONS, KNOWN STATIONS.
ONE IS AT 15TH STREET, UM, ONE, THE CONGRESS AVENUE STATION IS ON THIRD STREET, UH, BETWEEN CONGRESS AND COLORADO.
UH, AND THEN WON THE CAESAR CHAVEZ STATION, WHICH IS AROUND, UH, TRINITY BETWEEN CAESAR CHAVEZ AND SECOND.
UM, WE ARE ALSO LOOKING AT THE POSSIBILITY OF ADDING A STATION, UM, IN BETWEEN THE CONGRESS AND 15TH STREET STATIONS, UH, IN THE VICINITY OF WOOLDRIDGE SQUARE.
UM, THAT'S AN IDEA THAT CAME OUT OF THE, THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THAT WE UNDERWENT LAST SPRING.
UM, AND A DESIRE TO HAVE STATIONS DOWNTOWN IN PARTICULAR THAT MIGHT BE MORE FREQUENT TO PROVIDE A GREATER ACCESSIBILITY TO THE SYSTEM.
SO WE ARE LOOKING AT THAT POSSIBILITY TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT TO SYSTEM SPEED, ACCESSIBILITY, RIDERSHIP, UH, YOU KNOW, NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACTS, ET CETERA.
UM, WE ARE ALSO LOOKING AT, UH, FOR THE CAESAR CHAVEZ STATION, WE'RE LOOKING AT TWO DIFFERENT WAYS OF, OF, UM, LOCATING THAT STATION.
ONE, UM, WOULD BE IN TRINITY STREET.
UM, SORT OF TYPICAL AS WE, YOU KNOW, MOST OF OUR STATIONS ARE, WERE WITHIN THE RIGHT OF WAY.
UM, SO ADJACENT TO THE CONVENTION CENTER, WHICH IS UNDERGOING ITS OWN, UH, RE-IMAGINING DESIGN PROCESS.
UM, UH, BUT WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY WHERE THE STATION COULD BE LOCATED AS PART OF A JOINT DEVELOPMENT, UM, ON THE BLOCK BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD STREETS AND TRINITY AND SAN JACINTO.
SO THAT'S A, A SITE THAT IS LOOKING AT FUTURE REDEVELOPMENT.
UM, AND THE IDEA IS THAT THE STATION COULD BE LOCATED IN THE GROUND FLOOR OF THAT DEVELOPMENT, UH, KIND OF ON THE 45 DEGREE TO HELP MAKE THAT TURN BETWEEN TRINITY AND THIRD STREET.
SO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, LOTS OF COMPLEXITIES WITH BOTH OPTIONS AND WE'RE GONNA BE STUDYING ALL THOSE SO THAT WE CAN MAKE A INFORMED RECOMMENDATION, UM, YOU KNOW, LATER IN THE FALL, ALONG WITH THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.
AND THEN WE HEAD SOUTH, UM, OVER THE RIVER ON A NEW BRIDGE.
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SO SOUTH OF LADY BIRD LAKE, WE HAVE THE STATIONS YOU SEE PROPOSED HERE IN THE BASE DESIGN AT WATERFRONT SOUTH CONGRESS, UL TORF AND TRAVIS HEIGHTS.WE ARE CONSIDERING THE DESIGN OPTION BOTH WITH AND WITHOUT THE TRAVIS HEIGHTS STATION, PARTICULARLY RELATED TO ITS UNIQUE SURROUNDINGS OF A PARK, A HISTORIC DISTRICT.
AND ITS PROXIMITY TO I 35, ALONG WITH ITS COMPLEXITY OF BEING ON A VERY CURVY AND HILLY PORTION OF RIVERSIDE DRIVE.
THE OTHER DESIGN OPTION NOTED HERE IS CENTERED AROUND THE JUNCTION OF THE THREE BRANCHES OF THE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM THAT COME TOGETHER SOUTH OF LADY BIRD LAKE AT THE WATERFRONT STATION.
AND THIS STATION'S ALSO VERY UNIQUE IN TERMS OF THE TOPOGRAPHY OR THE HILLS SURROUNDING IT, WHERE WE WILL HAVE A NEW BRIDGE ELEVATED OVER LADY BIRD LAKE TO THE NORTH SIDE.
THAT WOULD BE ON YOUR RIGHT IN THIS DIAGRAM.
AND WE ALSO HAVE HILLS APPROACHING THAT AREA OR COMING DOWN TO THAT AREA TO THE SOUTH FROM SOUTH CONGRESS AND EVEN ALONG EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE FROM THE TRAVIS HEIGHTS AREA.
SO THE TWO DESIGN OPTIONS THAT WE ARE CONSIDERING, UH, FOR THIS LOCATION ARE TO BRING THE, OR LAND THE BRIDGE BACK DOWN AT GRAND GROUND LEVER LEVEL, JUST SOUTH OF LADY BIRD LAKE BEFORE REACHING THE WATERFRONT STATION.
THAT WOULD MEAN BOTH THE STATION AND THAT RAIL JUNCTION OF THE NORTH, SOUTH AND EAST BRANCHES WOULD BE AT THE STREET LEVEL.
THE SECOND OPTION YOU SEE HERE IS EXTENDING THE NEW BRIDGE OVER LADY BIRD LAKE TO CONNECT INTO THOSE HILLS THAT I MENTIONED.
AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE LOCATING THE WATERFRONT STATION AND THE LIGHT RAIL JUNCTION ELEVATED ON THAT BRIDGE.
AND MOVING EAST IN THIS AREA, WE ARE LOOKING AT OPTIONS IN THE BASE DESIGN THAT INCLUDE THE PHARAOH AND METROPOLIS STATION, BUT AN ALTERNATIVE OPTION THAT WOULD COMBINE THOSE TWO STATIONS TO A SINGLE STATION LOCATED AT GROVE.
AND THIS OPTION AROSE OUT OF COMMUNITY FEEDBACK, SEEKING A MORE SEAMLESS CONNECTION TO A CC RIVERSIDE NORTH THERE AT GROVE, AS WELL AS INVESTIGATING AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A LIGHT RAIL STATION, UH, REALLY AT THE FRONT DOOR OF THE PLANNED AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT THAT THE CITY IS PLANNING AT GROVE.
AND PETER IS GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE, THE LAST REMAINING DESIGN OPTION HERE, UH, EAST OF I 35 BETTER.
UM, SO THE, THE RIVERSIDE CORRIDOR IS SOMEWHAT UNIQUE WITHIN THE ALIGNMENT, UM, JUST GIVEN ITS ITS WIDTH AND ITS IN SOME WAY SOME CASES IRREGULARITY.
UM, SO WE ARE LOOKING AT A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT WAYS IN WHICH TO CONFIGURE THE CROSS SECTION, UM, OF THE, OF RIVERSIDE AND THE ALIGNMENT, UM, BETWEEN THE LAKESHORE STATION AND THE YELLOW JACKET STATION.
UM, SO IN THE TOP YOU CAN SEE WHAT IS A, A MORE TYPICAL CROSS SECTION FOR US WHERE YOU HAVE THE, UM, THE LIGHT RAIL RUNNING IN THE CENTER OF THE STREET.
YOU HAVE TRAFFIC LANES ON EITHER SIDE OF THAT, AND THEN YOU HAVE BICYCLES AND TREE ZONES ADJACENT TO THE SIDEWALKS ON THE PERIMETER.
UM, BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS, OF THIS STRETCH OF RIVERSIDE, UH, WE ARE LOOKING AT AN OPTION WHERE SOME OF THOSE FACILITIES, UM, THE, PARTICULARLY THE BIKE LANE AND ALSO AN ADDITIONAL SIDEWALK WOULD BE COLLECTED INTO THE CENTER OF THE STREET ADJACENT TO THE GUIDEWAY.
UM, SO THAT YOU'D HAVE A KIND OF, ALMOST LIKE A CONTINUOUS URBAN TRAIL IN THE CENTER OF, OF RIVERSIDE, UM, BOULEVARD, UH, FOR THAT STRETCH OF THE ALIGNMENT.
UM, AND SO, UH, AGAIN, THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS TO BOTH THESE OPTIONS.
WE'LL BE DOCUMENTING ALL OF THAT, UM, AND LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES AND THEN GETTING FEEDBACK FROM THE PUBLIC ON THOSE.
UM, AND HERE ARE JUST SOME PRECEDENT IMAGES OF HOW THOSE PEDESTRIAN BICYCLING FACILITIES COULD BE DEVELOPED IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE LIGHT RAIL.
UM, LOTS OF GOOD EXAMPLES FROM AROUND THE WORLD THAT WE'RE DRAWING FROM AND HOPING TO ADAPT TO, UM, OUR CITY.
UH, SO AS WE MENTIONED BEFORE, WE ARE IN THE NEPA PROCESS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE JUST DESCRIBED THE PROJECT AND DESIGN OPTIONS THAT WE'LL BE EVALUATING.
SO JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT TO EXPECT LATER IN THE YEAR.
UH, THE EIS IT DOES LOOK AT THE IMPACTS ON THE NATURAL AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT TO BE SURE, BUT ALSO THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT AND THE CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT.
WE'LL BE DOING NOISE STUDIES LOOKING AT HISTORIC PROPERTIES SO THAT WE HAVE A, A COMPREHENSIVE SENSE OF WHAT THE POTENTIAL, UM, EFFECTS MIGHT
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BE OF IMPLEMENTING THIS PROJECT.UM, YOU KNOW, AND TYPICALLY YOU'LL SEE AN EIS STRUCTURED THAT IT COMPARES THE PROPOSED PROJECT TO A A NO ACTION ALTERNATIVE, UM, IN WHICH, YOU KNOW, THE PROJECT WOULD NOT BE BUILT.
AND THAT THAT'S REALLY TO SUSS OUT WHAT, WHAT CHANGES ARE THE RESULT OF IMPACTING THIS PROJECT VERSUS OTHER TRENDS OR, OR PROJECTS OR ACTIVITIES.
SO THIS IS OUR LAST SLIDE AND JUST WANNA CLOSE WITH A, A, A, A REITERATION OF WHAT'S TO COME, UM, AS WE COMPLETE OUR KINDA PUBLIC INPUT PERIOD RIGHT NOW.
WE WILL BE SORTING THROUGH ALL OF THAT AND CONTINUING WORK ON THE STUDIES.
UM, THAT WILL SUPPORT THE DRAFT EIS THE DRAFT EIS WILL BE RELEASED LATER IN THE YEAR, UM, AND WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A, A LENGTHY, UH, PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT PERIOD.
AND THEN WE ARE LOOKING TO CONCLUDE A FINAL EIS, UM, AND A RECORD OF DECISION, WHICH, UM, IS THE FTA, THE, THE F FDA'S ISSUANCE OF THE RECORD OF DECISION ESSENTIALLY INDICATES THE CONCLUSION OF THE NEPA PROCESS.
AND WE'RE LOOKING FOR THAT, UH, IN THE MIDDLE OF 2025.
SO THAT CONCLUDES OUR PRESENTATION, BUT, UM, WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
DO WE HAVE QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS? I SEE A COUPLE OF HANDS.
MAYBE LET'S DO THIS BY SLIDES SO THAT WE'RE HAVING THE SAME CONVERSATION AROUND THE SAME SLIDES, IF THAT'S OKAY.
SO LET'S START WITH SOME OF THE NORTHERN SEGMENTS.
ARE THERE QUESTIONS ON, UM, 38TH STREET, CRESTVIEW, UT CAMPUS IN PARTICULAR? WE WANNA START WITH YEAH, ALL THE WAY TO UT AND WHY DON'T YOU GO AHEAD AND KICK US OFF VICE CHAIR PADRE.
UH, SO MY SET OF QUESTIONS, UH, RELATE TO SLIDE.
I WANNA MAKE SURE I SAY THE RIGHT SLIDE NUMBER.
UH, SLIDE SIX, THE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL NORTH SECTION.
UM, SLIDE SIX SHOWS A STEADY AREA, UH, FOR A PARKING RIDE AT 30TH AND GUAD.
UH, AND THERE IS ALREADY A FUNCTIONING CAT METRO PARKING RIDE AT THE TRIANGLE LESS THAN ABOUT 10 BLOCKS NORTH ON GUAD.
UH, SO I GUESS MORE COMMENTS IN THEN I GUESS QUESTIONS.
UH, I'M JUST CONCERNED ABOUT A DOUBLING IN PARK AND RIDE PARKING RIDES IN HERE BECAUSE IT COULD BE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF OUR TRANSIT SYSTEM THAT SINCE IT IN INCENTIVIZES AUSTINITES TO DRIVE TO TRANSIT, UH, ESPECIALLY IF WE WERE, IF WE WERE SERIOUS ABOUT EXTENDING THE LIGHT RAIL TO HAVE A STOP AT THE TRIANGLE AND THE NOT TOO DISTANT, NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE.
SO DO Y'ALL HAVE ANY COMMENTS, THOUGHTS ON THAT? PART OF OUR ANALYSIS INCLUDES THE STUDY OF RIDERSHIP AND THE IMPACT OF HAVING A PARK AND RIDE VERSUS NOT HAVING A PARK AND RIDE ON THE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM RIGHT THERE AT THE END OF LINE.
I'M SORRY, COULD YOU REPEAT THAT? IT'S A LITTLE BIT, OH, SORRY.
UH, PART OF OUR STUDY OF THE END OF LINE FACILITY NEEDS WILL INCLUDE ANALYZING THE IMPACT TO RIDERSHIP OF HAVING A PARK AND RIDE VERSUS NOT HAVING A PARK AND RIDE LOCATED RIGHT THERE AT THE END OF LINE.
MM-HMM,
NOT HAVING ONE COULD POTENTIALLY RESULT IN PEOPLE PARKING IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS ANYWAY, UH, VERSUS HAVING ONE.
AND SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT YOU HAVE NOTED.
SO ALL PARTS OF THE STUDY OF UNDERSTANDING THE TRADE-OFFS AND NEEDS FOR END OF LINE FACILITIES LOCATED AT 38TH.
HAVE, HAVE, WE, I GUESS THIS IS MORE OF CURIOSITY, IT'S NOT A QUESTION THAT I ALREADY HAD, BUT, UH, WHETHER IT'D BE AUSTIN OR OR OTHER CITIES, DO WE SEE THAT CORRELATION THAT IF YOU HAVE A PARKING RIDE THAT ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO, TO GO THERE AND THEN TAKE THE PUBLIC TRANSIT? UM, YES.
UH, WE DO FIND THAT, UM, HAVING PARKING, UM, AT THE RIGHT SPOTS ALONG THE LINE DOES DRIVE RIDERSHIP, UH, UM, BECAUSE IT MAKES THE SYSTEM MORE USABLE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE PRETTY CLOSE, BUT MAYBE A LITTLE BIT TOO FAR TO WALK.
YOU OFTEN FIND, UM, THE MOST PARKING USAGE AT THE END OF LINE, UH, ON ANY KIND OF LIGHT RAIL PROJECT LIKE THIS.
BUT I WILL SAY THAT WE ARE CERTAINLY COGNIZANT OF THE FACT THAT THE PLAN IS TO EXTEND FURTHER NORTH, AND THAT JUST IS PART OF THE CALCULATION IN THINKING ABOUT WHAT'S REALLY NEEDED, UM, AT AN INTERIM END OF LINE.
SO THAT IS PART OF OUR ANALYSIS AS WELL.
UM, AND THEN I JUST GOT TWO MORE QUESTIONS THEN I'LL PASS IT OFF TO COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON.
UM, FIRST QUESTION, INCENTIVIZING PRIVATE DEVELOPERS BUSINESSES TO LEVERAGE THEIR EXISTING PRIVATE GARAGES
[00:25:01]
FOR CAT METRO PARKS AND RIDES COULD BE USEFUL.IS THIS THE, I GUESS THE INTENTION OF THE STUDY? WE ARE AT ALL THREE ENDS OF LINE CONSIDERING ANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR AVAILABLE EXISTING PARKING CAPACITY.
UH, BUT WE'RE ALSO STUDYING WHERE THERE MAY NOT BE SUCH AVAILABLE CAPACITY, WHAT NEW FACILITIES MIGHT BE NEEDED.
AND WE WILL LOOK AT THAT AT ALL THREE END POINTS.
UH, AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION HAS A TP CONSIDERED TRAFFIC IMPACTS FOR EXTENDING THE SOUTH SECTION BRIDGE OF THE LIGHT RAIL.
UH, AND I ASKED THAT BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE IT COULD BE A GOOD WAY TO MITIGATE, UH, BOTTLENECKING THE LIGHT RAIL AND, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, TRAFFIC, BUT, BUT JUST CURIOUS ON THAT.
THAT IS A KEY ELEMENT OF THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE BRIDGE EXTENSION VERSUS, UM, AN AT GRADE OR STREET LEVEL OPTION FOR THE WATERFRONT STATION AREA.
AND IT IS, I MENTIONED THE JUNCTION THERE THAT THE JUNCTION MAKES IT A VERY UNIQUE MOMENT IN THE ENTIRE SYSTEM WHERE WE HAVE A HIGH VOLUME OF TRAINS THAT ARE COMING AT ROUGHLY 10 MINUTE PEAK FREQUENCIES IN EACH OF THE INDIVIDUAL BRANCH LINES, BUT THAT MAKES IT A FIVE MINUTE FREQUENCY WHERE THEY JOIN TOGETHER AND LOOKING AT HOW WE MOVE PEOPLE MOST EFFICIENTLY CONSIDERING ALL MODES OF TRAVEL GIVEN THE, THE VOLUMES PRESENT THERE.
I APPRECIATE YOU ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS.
DO WE HAVE QUESTIONS FROM COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON VELA? YES.
UH, AND, AND MINE IS SLIDE NUMBER, UH, PAGE NUMBER 11, AND IT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN, UM, THESE TWO DESIGN OPTIONS.
AND I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE NO, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OPTION ONE AND TWO AND WHERE THE VEGETATIVE, I GUESS, SORT OF BORDERS ARE LOCATED AT, UM, AT EITHER END OF OPTION NUMBER ONE, BUT SORT OF CENTRALLY LOCATED ON OPTION NUMBER TWO.
AND I'M JUST CURIOUS ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO.
YEAH, SO THAT'S A, THAT'S A CENTRAL PART OF THE ANALYSIS WE'RE GONNA BE DOING.
AND, AND I APOLOGIZE BECAUSE IN SOME WAYS THESE CROSS SECTIONS ARE A LITTLE BIT, UM, THEY'RE THE ONLY, THEY'RE ONE SLICE RIGHT OF THE ENTIRE RIGHT OF WAY.
AND ACTUALLY ONE OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF OF RIVERSIDE OF THIS AREA IS THAT IT'S NOT CONSISTENT, RIGHT? IT'S KIND OF COMING IN AND OUT, WHICH MEANS THAT OUR ABILITY TO PROVIDE, UM, THESE TREE ZONES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE STREET RIGHT, ALSO VARIES, RIGHT? AND YOU HAVE TO COORDINATE THAT WITH UTILITIES, ET CETERA.
SO, UM, AGAIN, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE MEASURING IS WHAT IS THAT ACTUAL SIDE CONDITION LOOK LIKE IN THE TOP SECTION, RIGHT? OVER THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THIS SECTION OF THE ALIGNMENT ON RIVERSIDE, UM, YOU KNOW, VERSUS THE BOTTOM RIGHT? AND SO LOOKING AT NOT JUST IN SECTION, BUT ALSO IN THE KIND OF THE SITE PLAN CONDITION.
UM, AND, BUT THE, BUT AGAIN, PART OF THE IDEA OF WHERE WE STARTED LOOKING AT THE BOTTOM WAS THAT BY PUTTING SOME OF THESE FACILITIES IN THE MIDDLE, WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE CONTROL OVER WHERE WE CAN PUT TREES, WHERE HOW WE CONFIGURE THE BIKE LANES AND, AND THE, AND THE OR, AND OR SHARED USE PATHS, UM, IN THIS AREA JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE FEWER CONFLICTS WITH CURB CUTS AND ADJACENT PROPERTIES, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT ALL OF THAT.
AND I THINK BASICALLY, UM, YOU ANSWERED THE QUESTION, BUT I THINK MAYBE NOT EVEN AS IT PERTAINS TO THIS PARTICULAR EXAMPLE, BUT JUST CURIOSITY ABOUT THOSE TREE ZONES.
UM, ASIDE FROM THE LOGISTIC, THE LOGISTICAL POSSIBILITIES, IS THERE, UM, A BENEFIT TO THE TREE ZONE AND THE SORT OF THIS MULTIMODAL PEDESTRIAN CONSIDERATION BEING IN THE CENTER? WELL, THERE'S A BENEFIT IN THE SENSE THAT YOU CAN PROVIDE MORE CONSISTENCY OF THE TREE COVER TO THE PEDESTRIAN AND THE CYCLISTS, RIGHT? SO PART OF THE ANALYSIS, WHAT IS THE TREE COVERAGE ON THE PERIMETER OPTION, RIGHT? HOW MUCH TREE COVERAGE CAN WE ACTUALLY GET, UM, GIVEN ALL THE OTHER, YOU KNOW, THINGS THAT WE HAVE TO MANAGE VERSUS WHAT, WHAT CAN WE GET BY PUTTING IT IN THE CENTER BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THAT SHADE COVER IS, IS AN IMPORTANT ASSET TO THOSE FACILITIES.
AND SELFISHLY, I'M OBSESSED WITH AGRICULTURE AND FARM CULTURE AND ANY OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO PUT FRUIT BEARING TREES IN PUBLIC SPACES.
I, UH, RECENTLY DISCOVERED THAT TEXAS HAS A FORAGING BAN, UM, BUT AUSTIN DOES NOT NECESSARILY.
AND SO JUST ALWAYS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BLUR THE LINES AND STICK MY THUMB IN
[00:30:01]
SOMEBODY'S EYEBALL.SO I WAS JUST CURIOUS ABOUT, UM, WHETHER OR NOT THESE COULD BE FRUIT TREE, PUBLIC ACCESS, FRUIT TREE OPPORTUNITIES, UM, SORT OF ON A LARGER SCALE.
AND THAT WAS THE NATURE OF MY QUESTION THERE.
AND THEN, SO NEXT ON I, UH, PAGE NUMBER 10, I HAD A QUICK QUESTION ABOUT THE COMBINATION OF THE MONTOPOLIS AND PHARAOH STATIONS, UM, IN THAT SINGLE STATION AT GROVE.
I WAS JUST CURIOUS ABOUT, I MEAN, IT KIND OF SOUNDED DURING THE COURSE OF THE PRESENTATION, LIKE THERE WAS SOME GIVE AND TAKE, AND I'M JUST CURIOUS ABOUT, ARE THERE ANY GIVES THAT ULTIMATELY MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR, UM, POTENTIAL GO RIVER BATS A CC STUDENTS TO GET TO THE GROVE CAMPUS? UM, I THINK MAYBE YOU UNDERSTOOD MY QUESTION.
IT LOOKS LIKE YOU WERE LEANING IN THE ANSWER.
I THINK SO, UH, THE, IT IT DOES CHANGE THE STATIONS SPACING AND THE KIND OF CAPTURE AREAS OR THE WALK SHED SURROUNDING THE STATION WALK SHED.
SO THE DISTANCE TO REACH THE NEAREST STATION, DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU MAY BE COMING FROM ALONG THE ALIGNMENT, IS ONE OF THE KEY DIFFERENCES FOR HAVING EITHER THE, THE BASE DESIGN OF THE PHARAOH AND METROPOLIS OPTIONS, WHICH ARE ABOUT A HALF A MILE APART VERSUS COMBINING THEM TO THE GROVE STATION, UH, THAT IS, IS ROUGHLY RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT HALF OF, OF MILES MM-HMM.
SO IT, IT DOES CHANGE THE STATION SPACING TO THE ADJACENT YELLOW JACKET IN PLEASANT VALLEY, AND AS WELL AS THOSE REACHING WHATEVER MAY BE THEIR NEAREST STATION THAT POINTS IN BETWEEN.
UM, WE WERE HAVING A CONVERSATION RECENTLY WITH SOME FOLKS ON THE, UM, ONE OF OUR COMMISSIONS REPRESENTS PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, UM MM-HMM.
AND PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENTLY ABLED.
AND THERE WERE A SERIES OF CONSIDERATIONS AROUND, UM, FORWARD THINKING TRANSIT CONSIDERATIONS.
AND IT WAS SELFISHLY OBVIOUSLY ONE OF THOSE THINGS MORE OFTEN THAN NOT BOTH OF MY LEGS WORK, BUT, UM, I AM A PERSON WHO LIVES WITH LUPUS.
SOME DAYS MY LEGS DON'T WORK SO GREAT, BUT I'M ONLY THINKING ABOUT MOBILITY AND, AND, YOU KNOW, MY CHALLENGE IS WHEN I'M BEING CHALLENGED, I DON'T NECESSARILY THINK ABOUT IT OUTSIDE OF THOSE MOMENTS.
AND SO I APPRECIATED THAT ONE OF OUR COMMISSIONERS GAVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO THINK THROUGH WHAT SOME POTENTIAL CHALLENGES ARE.
UM, AND THEY WERE POINTING OUT FOR ME THAT CERTAIN CAMPUSES, AND I'M CERTAIN THAT, YOU KNOW, Y'ALL HAVE A ROBUST PARTNERSHIP WITH A CC AND OUR OTHER EDUCATION PARTNERS, BUT THEY WERE POINTING OUT TO ME THAT CERTAIN CAMPUSES ARE JUST GENERALLY SPEAKING, INHERENTLY MORE ACCESSIBLE.
AND APPARENTLY GROVE IS A SUPER ACCESSIBLE CAMPUS, WHO KNEW? BUT, UM, I, WHEN I WENT TO TAKE A LOOK, IT, IT'S LIKE LOADED WITH RAMPS.
THERE'S RAMPS AT EVERY ENTRY POINT.
I MEAN, SO IT'S SUPER A DA COMPLIANT THAT CAMPUS.
AND I THINK MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE THEY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO A LOT OF NEW BUILD STUFF AND NOT AS MUCH RETROFIT STUFF WITH SOME OF THE OLDER CAMPUSES.
SO THAT WAS JUST SOMETHING THAT CAME TO MIND AS I WAS LOOKING AT THIS.
IF WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET MORE FOLKS WITH, UM, UH, MOBILITY CHALLENGES, ACCESS TO CAMPUSES THAT HAVE JUST INHERENTLY HAVE MORE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S FRIENDLY, UM, A DA FRIENDLY, THEN I, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING TO BE CONSIDERED.
COUNCIL MEMBER VELA, JUST A, A QUICK QUESTION.
THIS MIGHT BE LIKE THE FOURTH TIME I SEE THIS BIRTHDAY
IT'S LIKE MY FAVORITE MOVIE, HUH.
UH, THE, UH, THINKING ABOUT, UH, UH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, CADRE'S, UH, QUESTION AND THINKING ABOUT EXTENSIONS, WHICH AGAIN, ARE ALWAYS A, A A A PRIORITY FOR ME.
UH, HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST TO GET FROM 38TH STREET TO IS IS THERE KIND OF A, A A, A GENERAL BALLPARK COST OF WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO GET TO 51ST STREET? BECAUSE IT JU IT JU DOES JUMP OUT AT ME THE 51ST AND WE'RE GONNA DO A PARKING RIDE.
AND I, I, I WAS VERY SKEPTICAL OF THE IDEA OF A PARK AND RIDE, BUT AS I'VE SAT THROUGH THIS PRESENTATION AND, AND LISTENED TO PEOPLE'S COMMENTS AND CONCERNS, UH, I THINK REEN BROOKS, UH, SAID IT REALLY WELL WHERE WE CAN EITHER DO A PARKING RIDE OR WE CAN DO A HIDE AND RIDE.
YOU KNOW, THAT THERE IS A CERTAIN NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT WILL DRIVE TO THE END OF THE LINE AND, YOU KNOW, STASH THEIR CAR WHEREVER THEY CAN, YOU KNOW, HEY, WE CAN EITHER JUST DO IT INFORMALLY OR WE CAN PREPARE FOR WHAT WE KNOW IS COMING.
AGAIN, IT'S PROBABLY NOT GONNA BE A THOUSAND PEOPLE, BUT YOU KNOW, IT'S GONNA BE IN THE HUNDREDS.
UH, AND THE TRIANGLE JUST WORKS SO MUCH BETTER AS A, YOU KNOW, THINKING ABOUT THE PARK AND RIDE, UH, I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, AGAIN, I KNOW THAT'S NOT GOING TO THE NEPA AND, AND, AND THOSE KINDS OF THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT WOULD BE THE NEAR TERM POSSIBILITY OF EVEN GETTING AN EXTENSION JUST THAT FAR TO ENABLE A LITTLE BIT BETTER, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, PARK AND RIDE ACCESS? SO I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT COST OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD OR, OR, UH,
[00:35:01]
IN FRONT OF ME, BUT GENERALLY SPEAKING, IT'S AROUND, UH, USUALLY 300 MILLION OR SO TO GET TO EACH ADDITIONAL STATION.UM, SO THAT WAS NOT PART OF THE FINANCIAL ENVELOPE FOR THE FIRST PHASE ALIGNMENT AND, AND IS WHY THE ALIGNMENT, UH, ENDPOINT WOULD BE AT IS PROPOSED TO BE AT 38TH STREET FOR PHASE ONE.
BUT WE ARE CONTINUING TO ASSESS COSTS AS WE ADVANCE THE PROJECT AND PROGRESS DESIGN AND UNDERSTAND, UM, THOSE, UM, OBJECTIVES AND, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO LOOK AT THAT CLOSELY, UH, APPRECIATE THAT.
AND AGAIN, LET'S HOPE MAYBE INTEREST RATES DROP, UH, UH, A LITTLE BIT, UH, FOR Y'ALL.
AND JUST OTHER, THE, THE WIND SHIFT ON US TOO, UH, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THOSE CONSTRUCTION COSTS COME DOWN, MAYBE INTEREST RATES COME DOWN AND ALL OF A SUDDEN MAYBE THERE'S ANOTHER STATION OR TWO IN THE, YOU KNOW, IN THE BUDGET.
UM, AND, AND THIS IS MORE OF A, OF A CAP METRO QUESTION, BUT I'M JUST GONNA, I'M GONNA THROW IT OUT, UH, UH, UH, TO Y'ALL TO GIVEN THE, THE 38TH STREET TO OLD TO
UH, UH, ONCE WE ADOPTED THE FIRST PHASE ALIGNMENT, THEY ARE, UM, HAVE BEGUN AND ARE CONTINUING TO STUDY WHAT MODIFICATIONS TO THE UNDERLYING BUS NETWORK MAY BEST COMPLIMENT THE LIGHT RAIL OPERATION.
AND WE'RE WORKING CLOSELY WITH THEM ON THAT.
UM, TO ALSO UNDERSTAND AS, AS THEY UPDATE THOSE PLANS, WHAT FACILITIES MAY BE NEEDED TO REFLECT THOSE UPDATED BUS SERVICE CONCEPTS AT EITHER END OF LINES OR OTHER TRANSFER POINTS ALONG THE SYSTEM.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE, UM, AT PLEASANT VALLEY, A KEY MULTIMODAL TRANSFER CENTER AND AN OPPORTUNITY THERE TO, UH, KIND OF MAXIMIZE THE, THE USE OF THE METRO RAPID INVESTMENT THAT IS, IS HAPPENING ALONG THE PLEASANT VALLEY LINE AND MAKING SURE THAT WE MAKE THAT CONNECTION AS SEAMLESS AS POSSIBLE FOR THE USERS OF THE ENTIRE TRANSIT NETWORK.
GRANT, I, I, WE VISITED THE HOUSTON LIGHT RAIL.
MY STAFF AND I VISITED THE HOUSTON, UH, LIGHT RAIL, AND ONE OF THE FEATURES THAT STOOD OUT, UH, TO, UH, TO US WAS THE END OF LINE BUS TRANSFER CENTERS THAT THEY HAD ON VIRTUALLY EVERY LINE.
WE DIDN'T GO TO ALL OF THEM, BUT, UH, IT, IT, THEY, YOU COULD SEE HOW EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY THE LIGHT RAILS AND THE BUSES INTERACTED, UH, AND, AND ALSO PROVIDE SHADE, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE RESTROOMS, PROVIDE, YOU KNOW, JUST MAKING THE OVERALL, UH, RIDER EXPERIENCE BETTER.
UH, SO THAT WAS A REAL EYE-OPENING, UH, TRIP TO, UM, TO, TO, TO HOUSTON.
I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE SCOPE THAT'S BEING INCLUDED IN THE NEPA ANALYSIS.
CAN YOU TALK US THROUGH WHY THE PRIORITY EXTENSIONS ARE NOT A PART OF THIS NOW OR IF THEY'RE A PART OF IT IN THE FUTURE? HOW DOES THAT WORK? ARE WE MISSING SOME TIMELINE IF WE DON'T DO THEM ALL NOW? OR WOULD THIS BE SOMETHING THAT'S JUST DOVETAILED IN AS, AS WHAT HAS BEEN ADOPTED RIGHT NOW GETS BUILT AND THEN YOU CAN DO NEPA ANALYSIS ON PRIORITY EXTENSIONS LATER? CAN, CAN YOU TALK ME THROUGH THE TIMING AND THE SELECTION OF WHAT'S BEING INCLUDED IN THE DOCUMENT RIGHT NOW? MM-HMM.
SO RIGHT NOW WE ARE LOOKING AT THE ABOUT 10 MILE, UM, INITIAL FUNDED PHASE.
UM, AND THE INTENTION IS THAT IF THE EITHER PRIORITY EXTENSION, UH, FUNDING IS AVAILABLE TO ACCELERATE IT, WE WOULD PIVOT TO INCLUDE THEM IN THIS FIRST PHASE.
AND HOW THAT HAPPENS PROBABLY DEPENDS ON AT WHAT POINT IN TIME IT DOES, UM, WHETHER IT MAKES SENSE TO FOLD IT INTO THIS CURRENT PROCESS WE HAVE.
IT MAY ALSO MAKE SENSE TO, UM, LOOK AT THE NEPA CLEARANCE AS A SEPARATE DOCUMENT, WHICH IS ALSO POSSIBLE.
UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD WORK OUT WITH FTA, UM, AT THAT TIME.
DOES THAT FULLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? I THINK SO.
I KNOW THERE'S JUST A LOT OF FOLKS OUT THERE THAT ARE WANTING TO MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT MISSING ANY BOATS THAT MIGHT BE OPTIONS PRETTY QUICKLY.
I KNOW THERE'S SOME CONVERSATION AROUND WHETHER, UH, THE FEDERAL AIR ADMINISTRATION MIGHT
[00:40:01]
ACTUALLY HELP WITH AIRPORT FUNDING TO CONNECT INTO LIGHT RAIL.OBVIOUSLY OURS ISN'T ON THE GROUND YET, AND SO I DUNNO THAT WE WOULD BE OF HIGHEST PRIORITY FOR THE FAA TO BE ABLE TO, TO WORK ON THAT WITH US.
BUT, UM, I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF INTEREST AND CURIOSITY IN TOWN FOR BOTH OF THOSE PRIORITY EXTENSIONS TO GET A GREEN LIGHT SOONER, YOU KNOW, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
UM, JUST BECAUSE WE KNOW IT'S GONNA HELP WITH RIDERSHIP AND HELP MAKE, MAKE PEOPLE, UM, BE ABLE TO RIDE TRANSIT A LOT MORE EASILY THAN, UM, IF WE DON'T INCLUDE THOSE EXTENSIONS.
SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT SEALING A DOCUMENT THAT THEN SAYS, OKAY, THE NEXT TIME WE WANNA TRY A PRIORITY EXTENSION, NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN WE'VE GOTTA START COMPLETELY OVER FROM SCRATCH VERSUS INCLUDING IT NOW.
I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE JUST WANT MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT WOULD THE LIFT BE AND IS IT BURDENSOME TO INCLUDE THEM NOW VERSUS JUST WAIT AND SEE WHAT THE FUNDING LOOKS LIKE LATER ON DOWN THE LINE.
NO, AND I, AND I, I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING AND APPRECIATE THOSE CONCERNS.
UM, WE DON'T BELIEVE THAT THERE'S A SCENARIO WHERE WE HAVE TO START ANYTHING OVER.
IT'S REALLY A MATTER OF DO YOU DO THE NEPA CLEARANCE AS PART OF THIS DOCUMENT OR A SEPARATE PARALLEL PROCESS.
UM, AND, AND CERTAINLY IT WOULD BE IN OUR INTEREST TO WORK AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, OUR, WE, WE WANT TO, YOU KNOW, BUILD THE BEST SYSTEM WE CAN, YOU KNOW, WITHIN THE RESOURCES THAT ARE AVAILABLE.
SO WE WOULD LOOK TO AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE, UM, YOU KNOW, RESPOND TO ANY CHANGE IN CONDITIONS.
UM, AND WE'RE ALSO REGULARLY COORDINATING WITH FTA AND SO NO, THEY'RE OF THE SAME MIND THAT WE WOULD WORK TOGETHER, UH, TO GET THE BEST SOLUTION, BUT WE, IT WOULD NOT NEGATE ANY OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE TO DATE.
SO THERE COULD BE A SCENARIO WHERE WE GET A FEW YEARS INTO CONSTRUCTION AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN EXTRA FEDERAL MONEY BECOMES AVAILABLE AND WE COULD GO AHEAD AND START THE NEXT PRIORITY EXTENSIONS IN THEIR PROCESS TOO.
SO WHILE, LIKE, WHILE WE'RE IN CONSTRUCTION ON A FIRST PHASE, UM, SO LET'S SEE.
YEAH, PROBABLY IF WE WERE TO IMPLEMENT A PRIORITY EXTENSION, YOU KNOW, AT A, AT A TIME LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD HAVE TO COMPLETE THE NEPA CLEARANCE SEPARATELY OR, YOU KNOW, JUST IF THAT'S HAPPENING, JUST HOW IT'S FUNDED.
THERE'S PROBABLY A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT SCENARIOS IF THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD ADD ON THE CONSTRUCTION.
UM, QUESTION WAS ALREADY ASKED, CAN YOU TALK ME THROUGH, IN LOOKING AT THE EAST RIVERSIDE OPTION FOR MERGING TWO OF THE STOPS INTO ONE AT THE, AT GROVE STREET, UM, WHAT TYPE OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IS, IS HAPPENING AROUND THOSE LINES? I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW MORE INFORMATION, BUT I'M NOT A, A RIDER OF THE CURRENT BUS SYSTEM ON EAST RIVERSIDE.
SO ARE THOSE CONVERSATIONS HAPPENING WITH THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE RIDING THEM OR HOW, HOW IS THE DECISION AROUND HAVING TWO STATIONS METROPOLIS AND IS IT PHARAOH VERSUS MERGING THEM INTO ONE STOP AT GROVE? CAN YOU TALK ME THROUGH HOW THAT DECISION'S BEING MADE AND WHO'S INVOLVED? SURE.
SO WE ARE, UM, JEN NOTED THE OPEN HOUSES THAT WE ARE CONDUCTING DURING THIS, UM, SCOPING PERIOD FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY.
WE ARE GATHERING FEEDBACK THROUGH THAT EFFORT, INCLUDING EVENTS HOSTED IN, IN THIS AREA.
UM, ONE WAS HOSTED AT THE METROPOLIS REC CENTER AND, AND GATHERED QUITE A BIT OF FEEDBACK AT THAT PARTICULAR EVENT ON THAT DESIGN OPTION BEING SO NEAR TO WHERE THE EVENT WAS HOSTED.
BUT REALLY WE ARE GATHERING IT THROUGH EVERY WAY POSSIBLE.
OUR VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE, WE'RE GOING TO NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS, HOA MEETINGS.
WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO BE EVERY SPACE THAT WE CAN BE TO GET AS MUCH FEEDBACK AND INPUT AS WE CAN TO INFORM OUR STUDY AND OUR RECOMMENDATION WOULD ULTIMATELY INCLUDE, UM, WILL BE INFORMED BY THAT INPUT, BUT ALSO ALL OF THE RIDERSHIP ANALYSIS AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.
AND WE WILL BE PUBLISHING THE, UH, THE RESULTS OF THAT STUDY AS PART OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT LATER THIS YEAR.
AND THEN THERE IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR FEEDBACK AND INPUT WITH THE PUBLIC REVIEW OF THAT DOCUMENT AND THE RESULTS OF THAT STUDY.
YES, REAL QUICK, UH, JOHANNES BANKS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MANAGER FOR A TP, WE'RE ALSO DOING SOME AT STOP OUTREACH IN THE AREA AND ON THAT CORRIDOR WHERE WE'VE PARTNERED WITH BRAND BESTIES AND WE HAVE THEM OUT THERE DURING, UH, PEAK RIDERSHIP TIME AT CAT METRO BUS STOPS TO MAKE SURE WE'RE TALKING TO PEOPLE WHO ARE RIDING THE BUSES ALSO.
AND A CC STUDENTS AS WELL, I'M SURE ON YOUR RADAR, GIVEN THE STOP SELECTION THAT, THAT MIGHT BE GETTING A DECISION SHORTLY.
[00:45:01]
QUESTION IS GOING TO BE ON THE SLIDE THAT HAS THE BRIDGE OVER THE LAKE.WHAT OTHER CONSIDERATIONS SHOULD WE BE AWARE OF? I MEAN, THERE'S OBVIOUSLY, IS THERE TIMING WITH KEEPING THE RAIL LINE AT ONE SOLID GRADE VERSUS HAVING IT DROP DOWN AND COME BACK UP? ARE THERE CONSIDERATIONS AROUND HAVING THE STOP NEED, UM, ELEVATORS MM-HMM,
WE ARE GOING TO BE ANALYZING THE OPERATIONS BOTH FOR LIGHT RAIL AND FOR THE OTHER MODES OF TRAVEL IN THIS AREA.
UH, WE'LL BE LOOKING AT ACCESS TO THE STATIONS AND, UM, THOSE, YOU KNOW, STAIRS, ESCALATORS, ELEVATORS, AS WELL AS HOW THE STATION CAN BE DESIGNED IN ITS SURROUNDING CONTEXT HERE.
UH, THERE'S THE PLANNED NEW DEVELOPMENT REALLY SURROUNDING THIS ENTIRE AREA AS PART OF THE SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT.
SO THERE'S THE OPPORTUNITY TO COORDINATE AND, AND COLLABORATE TO REALLY, UM, OPTIMIZE THIS STATION AREA AND MEET THE, THE NUMBER OF NEEDS FOR NOT ONLY MOVING PEOPLE, BUT UH, REALLY THE, THE PUBLIC SPACE IN THIS AREA CONNECTING TO TRAILS AND LADYBIRD LAKE BEING SO NEARBY.
THOSE ARE ALL GOING TO BE STUDIED.
I THINK THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS I'M GOING TO HAVE.
ARE THERE OTHER QUESTIONS THAT FOLKS HAVE THOUGHT OF ALONG THE WAY? SO, ALL RIGHT, I THINK THAT COVERS THE PRESENTATION FOR TODAY.
AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING IN AND GIVING US THESE SLIDES.
[4. Project Connect multimodal integration update.]
GOING TO BE ON PROJECT CONNECT MULTIMODAL INTEGRATION UPDATE, AND I'LL GIVE A BRIEF INTRO.THIS MULTIMODAL INTEGRATION OF BICYCLES AND PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES WITH THE TRANSIT FACILITIES THAT ARE GOING TO BE BUILT.
IT'S BEEN A MAJOR FOCUS OF MINE AND A LOT OF PEOPLE ON THIS D UM, FOR MANY, MANY YEARS.
UM, WE'VE SEEN HOW POWERFUL GOOD INTERMODAL CONNECTIVITY CAN BE.
AND SO IN 2020 WHEN WE KNEW THAT AUSTIN VOTERS WOULD BE WEIGHING IN ON WHETHER OR NOT TO FUND AND BUILD PROJECT CONNECT HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT SYSTEM, THE COMMUNITY ALSO RALLIED FOR COMPLIMENTARY INVESTMENT IN ACTIVE AND SAFE MOBILITY.
SO WE TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHAMPION THE 2020 SAFE AND ACTIVE MOBILITY BONDS, KNOWING HOW CRITICAL THE FUNDING WOULD BE TO GETTING PEOPLE TO AND FROM THE NEW PROJECT CONNECT LINES.
SO IN 2021, AS THE TRI PARTNERS ADOPTED JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT, WE CONTINUED TO HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS TOPIC, DIRECTING STAFF TO A SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT ABOUT MULTIMODAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS AROUND HOW, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE CITY FUNDING THROUGH CITY DOLLARS, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS CAP METRO'S PORTION AS AN ENTITY THAT'S VERY INTERESTED IN MULTIMODAL CONNECTIVITY AND FIRST MILE LAST MILE INITIATIVES, UM, AS WELL AS WITH THE A TP AND, AND THE TRE DOLLARS THAT WENT INTO THAT PLAN.
AND SO I'LL SAY THAT I KNOW THAT THE PARTNERS ARE TALKING ALL THE TIME.
UM, THERE'S A NUMBER OF INTERLOCAL AGREEMENTS THAT HELP THE CITY SOMETIMES FRONT LOAD THE WORK AND THEN GETTING REIMBURSED BY CAP METRO.
AND SOMETIMES THAT'S FLIPPED WHERE CAP METRO WILL BE THERE FIRST.
THEY GO AHEAD AND BUILD THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THEY WORK WELL TOGETHER WITH CITY PARTNERSHIPS.
SO WITH THAT, CAN YOU KICK OFF THE PRESENTATION AND TELL US MORE ABOUT WHERE WE STAND WITH THESE, THESE, UM, INITIATIVES? ABSOLUTELY.
THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE TODAY.
MY NAME IS ANNA MARTIN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR WITH THE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.
UM, THANK YOU FOR THE, THE INTRO TO THIS PRESENTATION.
UM, I WANNA NOTE THAT WHILE PROJECT CONNECT IS CERTAINLY THE LARGEST AND NEWEST INVESTMENT IN TRANSIT FOR THE COMMUNITY, WE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS TYPE OF WORK STRATEGICALLY FOR OVER A DECADE NOW.
SO I WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHERE WE'VE BEEN AND THEN WHERE WE'RE, WHERE WE SEE OURSELVES GOING, INTEGRATING WITH PROJECT CONNECT, SEE IF I CAN USE THIS.
SO I WANNA GO BACK TO, UH, JUST BRIEFLY BACK TO 2015.
UM, THAT'S REALLY WHEN OUR STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BEGAN.
CAPITAL METRO AND THE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORK STAFF BEGAN MEETING BIWEEKLY AND WE CALLED OURSELVES THE TRANSIT PRIORITY WORKING GROUP.
WE COLLABORATED ON PROJECTS THAT IMPROVED BUS OPERATIONS AND MAKE BUS SERVICE SAFER AND EASIER TO ACCESS.
WE REALLY BUILT ON THAT IN 2018.
UM, WE SIGNED OUR FIRST INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE TWO AGENCIES FOR THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF TRANSIT PROJECTS THAT ENHANCE OPERATIONS SAFETY AND ACCESS TPW.
OUR DEPARTMENT CREATED THE TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT
[00:50:01]
PROGRAM AND WE HAVE DEDICATED STAFF NOW ON OUR TEAM THAT WORK ON THESE TYPE OF PROJECTS.THE FOLLOWING YEAR, AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, COMPREHENSIVE MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN THAT GUIDES ALL OF OUR DECISION DECISION MAKING ON THESE ELEMENTS CITYWIDE AND THEIR SPECIFIC POLICY LANGUAGE RELATED TO SUPPORTING TRANSIT.
UM, JUMPING JUST ONE YEAR TO 2020.
WE KNOW THAT WAS SORT OF THE LANDMARK YEAR WHERE AUSTIN VOTERS APPROVED PROJECT CONNECT.
UM, AND AS CHAIR ELLIS, UM, ALSO SUMMARIZED, WE ALSO APPROVED THE 2020 SAFETY AND ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION BOND, WHICH INCLUDED $19 MILLION SPECIFICALLY FOR TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT PROJECTS.
ALSO INCLUDED FUNDING FOR SIDEWALK, BICYCLE AND TRAIL SYSTEMS THAT PRIORITIZE CONNECTIONS TO TRANSIT.
AND THEN IN 2021, UM, OUR DEPARTMENT UPDATED THE TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL, UH, THE TCM, AND THAT WAS APPROVED BY COUNCIL AND THAT DEFINES THE RULES, REQUIREMENTS AND TECHNICAL GUIDELINES FOR BUILDING MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE CITY.
AND THERE'S A CHAPTER DEDICATED TO TRANSIT AND INTEGRATING, UH, MULTIMODAL ELEMENTS INTO TRANSIT STOPS.
I JUST WANNA GIVE SOME EXAMPLES OF THE TYPES OF PROJECTS.
UM, THESE WERE SORT OF EARLY ITERATIONS OF, UM, MULTIMODAL INTEGRATION INTO, UM, BUS STOPS.
WE PRIORITIZE HAVING THE BUS STOP IN THE TRAVEL LANE TO PICK UP AND DROP OFF PASSENGERS, WHICH DECREASES DELAY, UM, FOR THE OPERATORS IN THE, IN THE FOLKS ON THE BUS, WE HAVE PEDESTRIAN AND CYCLIST FACILITIES BEHIND THE BUS STOP BEHIND THE CURB TO AVOID CONFLICTS WITH BUSES OR VEHICLES.
UH, THESE ARE SOME NEWER ITERATIONS JUST COMPLETED IN THE LAST YEAR OR SO.
BLESSED SPRINGS AT WILLIAM CANNON DRIVE, A GREAT EXAMPLE.
AND, UH, MOST RECENTLY, BARTON SPRINGS ROAD AT SOUTH FIRST STREET.
ANOTHER AREA WE'VE WORKED ON WITH WITHIN, UM, PARTNERSHIP WITH CAP METRO, OUR BUS HUBS, UM, THEY'RE REALLY CRITICAL FOR TRANSFERS AND LAYOVERS AND THEY'RE JUST NECESSARY FOR OPERATIONS, BUT HARD TO FIND THE SPACE TO STORE SEVERAL BUSES, UM, AT ONE TIME.
SO THIS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE, UH, THAT WE WORKED ON ON GROVE BOULEVARD, UM, RIGHT NEAR A CC RIVERSIDE, WHERE WE HAVE STORAGE FROM MULTIPLE BUSES AND THEN ROOM FOR PEDESTRIAN AND BIKE FACILITIES TO SERVE FOLKS ON THE CORRIDOR AS WELL AS THOSE GOING TO AND FROM THE BUS STOPS.
ANOTHER FOCUS AREA HAS ALWAYS BEEN TRA TRANSIT PRIORITY TO ENHANCE THE SPEED AND RELIABILITY OF THE LOCAL BUS.
SO WHILE YOU'RE PROBABLY VERY FAMILIAR WITH WHAT YOU SEE DOWNTOWN ON GUADALUPE STREET IN LAVACCA STREET, UM, AS WELL AS ON RIVERSIDE DRIVE, WE RECENTLY INSTALLED A BUS Q JUMP ON LAKELINE BOULEVARD AT HEB.
THIS WAS A LOCATION THAT WAS IDENTIFIED WHERE OPERATORS EXPERIENCED A LOT OF DELAY IN GETTING TO THE STOP.
AND THEN, UH, NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN, ACCESS TO BUS STOPS IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT.
BIKES AND PEDESTRIANS FEED TRANSIT.
SO OUR GOAL IS TO LOCATE OR RELOCATE BUS STOPS NEXT TO SAFE CROSSINGS, WHETHER THOSE ARE SIGNALS, BEACONS, OR MARKED CROSSWALKS.
SO SINCE THE PASSAGE OF PROJECT CONNECT, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CUT METRO A TP AND THE CITY HAS JUST DEEPENED, UM, OUR WORK TO DATE LARGELY HAS FOCUSED ON CAP METRO RAPID, WHICH WILL BE THE FIRST TWO LINES OPERATIONAL, UH, STARTING IN 2025.
AND THEN TO FOLLOW THAT LAST FALL, AS Y'ALL ARE AWARE, UH, COUNCIL PASSED A TX WALK BIKE ROLL.
THOSE WERE THE UPDATES OF THE SIDEWALK BIKEWAYS AND URBAN TRAILS PLANS THAT REEMPHASIZE, UM, PRIORITY TO TRANSIT AS A KEY ASPECT.
AND SO TO HIT ON THE CAP METRO RAPID PARTNERSHIP, THERE'S 7 77 STOPS BETWEEN THE PLEASANT VALLEY LINE AND THE EXPO LINE THAT ARE IN THE, SOMEWHERE IN THE PROCESS OF DESIGN PERMITTING AND CON AND CONSTRUCTION.
SO YOU'VE LIKELY SEEN THESE LOCATIONS OUT, UM, AROUND TOWN KEPT METRO.
TPW STAFF HAVE BEEN COLLABORATING CLOSELY ON DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE STATIONS AND THE SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE, INCLUDING FIRST, LAST MILE CONNECTIONS, INTERSECTION SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS, TRAFFIC SIGNALS, AND MORE.
UH, THESE STATIONS FOLLOW BEST PRACTICES IN TRANSIT FACILITY DESIGN.
WE HAVE SEPARATE FACILITIES FOR BIKES AND PS TO PRIORITIZE THEIR SAFETY.
THE STATIONS ARE ADJACENT TO PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS TO SUPPORT EASY, UM, SAFE CROSSINGS OF THE STREET AND THE BUS STOPS IN THE LANE NEXT TO THE CURB SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE DELAYED PULLING OUT AWAY FROM TRAFFIC.
AND THEN GETTING BACK IN AGAIN, THIS PARTNERSHIP WAS, UM, SUPPORTED AGAIN BY ANOTHER INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT
[00:55:01]
IN 2022.THE AGREEMENT ALLOWS CAP METRO TO INCORPORATE MULTIMODAL ELEMENTS INTO THEIR METRO RAPID PROJECT, UH, WITH REIMBURSEMENT FROM THE CITY.
HERE'S ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A NEW STATION THAT WAS BUILT ON MAINOR ROAD, UM, AT NORTHEAST DRIVE.
AND AGAIN, MANY MORE TO COME THROUGH THE REST OF 24 AS WE GET READY FOR REVENUE SERVICE TO START IN 25.
SO AGAIN, I WANNA UM, JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO TALK ABOUT A A TX WALK BIKE ROLE AND WHY THAT'S IMPORTANT HERE.
UM, WE RE UM, THOSE PLANS WERE REIMAGINED AND ADOPTED BY COUNCIL LATE LAST YEAR, AND EACH ONE SPEAKS SPECIFICALLY TO GUIDING INVESTMENTS, UM, TO TRANSIT ACCESS.
SO FOR THE SIDEWALKS AND SHARED STREETS PLAN, WE WANNA ENABLE PEOPLE TO WALK TO AND FROM TRANSIT STOPS FOR THE BICYCLE PLAN.
INTEGRATING WITH AND FEEDING TRANSIT IS A MAJOR FOCUS.
AND EVEN THE URBAN TRAILS PLAN, UM, THE PRIORITIZATION INCLUDES 20% NEAR HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT.
AND SO AS WE MOVE FORWARD, THIS IS GONNA BE JUST SO IMPORTANT TO MAKE THE, MAKING THE NETWORK AND THE SYSTEM WORK TOGETHER.
WE KNOW THAT TRANSIT NEEDS TO BE FEED NEEDS TO BE FED BY OTHER MODES.
THAT COULD BE PARKING AT A PARKING RIDE, BUT WHEN THAT'S NOT AVAILABLE, IT CAN BE FED BY, UM, PEDESTRIAN OR BICYCLE ACCESS.
UM, WALKING ACCESS IS SOMEWHAT LIMITED.
MOST PEOPLE WILL WALK UP TO A HALF MILE TO REACH A TRANSIT STOP.
WE KNOW WITH THE, UM, BICYCLE CAPTURE IS MUCH FARTHER, ESPECIALLY WITH THE UPTAKE IN E-BIKE USE, WE CONSIDER THE BICYCLE CATCHMENT AREA TO BE ABOUT TWO MILES.
SO WHEN YOU COMBINE THOSE TOGETHER, THAT'S 16 TIMES.
UM, THE LAND AREA THAT YOU COULD POTENTIALLY CAPTURE FOLKS, UM, TO GO TO A STATION TO RIDE TRANSIT.
SO THIS IS A HUGE OPPORTUNITY FROM A LAND USE PERSPECTIVE, BUT IT ALSO IMPLIES THAT THE FIRST, LAST MILE CONNECTIONS WILL BE ATTRACTIVE AND SAFE.
SO WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE IN PRACTICE? UM, REALLY HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THIS EXAMPLE.
UM, WE HAVE THE MCAL STATION, WHICH WILL BE OPENING IMMINENTLY, MAYBE EVEN THIS WEEKEND FOR THE FIRST GAME.
UM, SO IF I CAN DIRECT YOU TO THE FIGURE HERE, YOU CAN SEE THE MCAL STATION THERE CALLED OUT WITH A RED DOT ON THE SLIDE.
THE VERY SMALL CIRCLE AROUND MCAL STATION IS GENERALLY THE WALK.
SHE, SO YOU MIGHT, IF YOU LIVE IN THAT ZONE OR DRIVE TO THAT ZONE, YOU'D BE COMFORTABLE WALKING TO THE STATION.
THE MUCH LARGER CIRCLE IS THE TWO MILE, UH, CATCHMENT ZONE WHERE WE WOULD HOPE TO CATCH CAPTURE SOMEONE ON A BIKE OR AN E-BIKE.
SO WE'VE BEEN PLANNING FOR SOME TIME FOR THE MACAL STATION, UH, TO OPEN, AND THAT WILL BE SHORTLY FOLLOWED BY THE BROADMOOR STATION.
SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE TWO MILE CATCHMENT AREA, WE HAVE THE FUTURE EXTENSION OF THE RED LINE TRAIL, WHICH WILL CONNECT UP TO THE NORTHERN WALNUT CREEK TRAIL.
WE HAVE EXISTING BIKE LANES ON DUVAL ROAD AND ON KRAMER LANE, AND THEN AN UPCOMING PROJECT PLANNED ON RUTLAND DRIVE.
SO WHEN YOU PUT ALL THOSE PIECES TOGETHER, YOU CAN SEE THAT WE'RE REACHING DEEP INTO THE NEIGHBORHOODS, UM, CLOSER TO LAMAR AND RUNDBERG IS, AND ALSO ON THE WEST SIDE OF MOPAC.
AND IT REALLY EXPANDS THE REACH OF TRANSIT IN THESE ZONES.
SO LOOKING AHEAD TO THE FIRST PHASE OF AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL, AND I'M JUST USING THIS MONTOPOLIS STATION AS AN EXAMPLE, AS WE HEARD, UM, LINDSAY TALK ABOUT, WE'RE STILL, UM, THERE'S STILL SOME UNKNOWNS ABOUT WHETHER THE STATION WILL ULTIMATELY LAND.
UH, YOU CAN SEE THE SMALL CIRCLE IS THE HALF MILE WALKING CATCHMENT ZONE AROUND THE STATION AND LARGER CIRCLE, UM, THE POTENTIAL BIKE CATCHMENT ZONE.
SO WHAT WE'LL BE DOING, WE'LL BE REVIEWING OUR EXISTING PLANS, MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE ADEQUATE PLANS TO CONNECT TO AND FROM THESE STATIONS.
WE'LL PERFORM A GAP ANALYSIS, WHAT'S MISSING, UM, AND THEN WE'LL BE PRIORITIZING FUTURE INVESTMENTS TO ENSURE ACCESS TO STATIONS.
SO THE SAME EXERCISE THAT WE'VE BEEN UNDERTAKING THE LAST COUPLE YEARS FOR THE RED LINE STATION, WE'LL DO THAT, UM, FOR ALL OF THE FIRST PHASE OF THE AUSTIN LIGHT RAIL AS WELL.
SO TO TO TO SUMMARIZE TODAY WHERE WE'RE HEADED, OUR TEAM, UM, AS YOU ALLUDED TO CHAIR ELLIS, WE, WE WORK WITH A TP ON A WEEKLY OR MORE BASIS, UM, ABOUT THE DESIGN OF THE LIGHT RAIL AND HOW ALL OF THE ELEMENTS LOOK IN THE STREET.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO THAT, UM, WITH A FOCUS ON THE STATION LAYOUT, HOW ALL THESE ELEMENTS INTEGRATE INTO A STATION AND WHAT THE BIKE AND PED PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES LOOK LIKE ALONG THE LRT LINES.
WE'RE ALSO GONNA BE WORKING ON THE METRO BIKE EXPANSION AND THE CRE CREATION OF SUPPORTING MOBILITY HUBS.
WE'RE GONNA FOCUS ON THE FIRST, LAST MILE CONNECTIONS, UM, NOT JUST
[01:00:01]
AROUND THE LRT STATIONS, BUT ALSO THE COMMUTER RAIL STATIONS, THE METRO RAPID STATIONS, AND POTENTIAL METRO EXPRESS STATIONS AS WELL.AND WE'RE WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE ETOD TEAM ON THE STATIONARY PLANNING AND PRIORITIZING MULTIMODAL INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT THAT MODE SHIFT THAT WE'RE STRIVING FOR.
SO THAT IN A SNAPSHOT IS KIND OF WHERE WE'VE BEEN, UM, AND WHERE WE'RE HEADED WITH THESE INVESTMENTS.
SO WITH THAT, UM, THAT'S THE LAST SLIDE I HAD AND I WILL BE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
DO WE HAVE QUESTIONS FROM COMMITTEE MEMBERS? LET'S START WITH VICE CHAIR CADRE QUESTIONS.
AND I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE, UH, STATION OPENING UP AT THE STADIUM AND I'LL BE TAKING THE, UH, LIGHT RAIL TO UH, Q2 ON ON SATURDAY.
UM, I REALLY ENJOYED THE PRESENTATION.
I REALLY THANK YOU FOR, FOR PRESENTING TO, TO US TODAY.
UM, I, I HAD A FEW QUESTIONS, UH, ON, ON THE SLIDES.
SHOULD I, SHOULD I GO BY PAGE, OR IS IT, I THINK ON THIS ONE IT'S SHORT ENOUGH PRESENTATION.
YOU CAN PROBABLY JUMP TO WHICHEVER SLIDE YOU WANT QUESTIONS ON.
SO MY FIRST QUESTION IS, UH, HOW WE'RE INCORPORATING DATA ON BIKE AND SCOOTER USAGE TO MAKE PLANNING AND INFRASTRUCTURE DECISIONS? YEAH, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
UM, WE LOOK AT IT FROM A NETWORK PERSPECTIVE, SO NOT NECESSARILY JUST WHERE THE, THE TRIPS ARE TODAY, BUT WHAT CONNECTIONS WE CAN MAKE MM-HMM.
SO THE CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN ROUTES IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
UM, WE'RE ALSO INVESTING THIS NEXT YEAR IN SOME BIG DATA TO GET, UM, A LITTLE BIT MORE REFINED ABOUT HOW PEOPLE ARE MOVING AROUND TOWN.
SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO SEE MORE FINE GRAINED IF THEY'RE MAKING A TWO MILE TRIP OR THEY'RE MAKING A 10 MILE TRIP AND WHERE THEY'RE STARTING AND ENDING.
SO I THINK THAT WILL HELP EVEN PUT A FINER POINT ON WHERE WE MAKE FUTURE INVESTMENTS.
UM, BUT OUR MODAL PLANS ARE FAIRLY COMPREHENSIVE AND FOCUSED ON THE NETWORK AS A WHOLE.
UH, LIME HAS TOLD US THAT SKY'S THE LIMIT WITH THE TOTALITY OF ACCESS.
UH, THEY'RE WILLING TO GIVE US FOR WHERE THE, WHERE THEIR RIDERSHIP IS.
IS THIS SOMETHING THE CITY IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF? I MISSED THE FIRST PART.
COULD YOU REPEAT THAT? OH, SORRY.
UH, JUST THE FIRST LITTLE SECTION I SAID LIME HAS TOLD US, UH, SKY'S THE LIMIT WITH THE TOTALITY OF ACCESS THEY'RE WILLING TO GIVE US FOR WHERE THEIR RIDERSHIP IS.
IS THIS SOMETHING THE CITY IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF LIME AS IN THE LIKE, SCOOTERS? SCOOTERS? YEAH.
UM, I'LL HAVE TO, I, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHECK WITH MY OKAY.
PARTNERS AT SMART MOBILITY THAT WORK MORE CLOSELY WITH THE SCOOTER COMPANIES.
IF YOU DON'T MIND JUST REACHING OUT TO US AS AN OFFICE AND YEAH, I'D BE HAPPY TO INFORMATION.
AND THEN, UM, I KNOW WE'RE EAGERLY AWAITING THE RETURN OF THE AUSTIN CORE TRANSPORTATION PLAN.
UH, HOW DO YOU EXPECT THE PROJECT CONNECT MULTIMODAL INTEGRATION TO INCORPORATE THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS? THAT'S, THAT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE CORE TRANSPORTATION PLAN FOR A COUPLE YEARS NOW, AND REALLY THE GOAL THERE WAS TO UNDERSTAND THAT PROJECT CONNECT WILL DRIVE CHANGES TO OUR STREET SYSTEM, AS WILL THE CAPITAL EXPRESS PROJECT, AND TO PLAN ON HOW WE MIGHT CHANGE DOWNTOWN STREETS TO ADAPT TO THAT.
UM, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF PUBLIC OUTREACH AND, UM, I THINK WE'LL BE READY TO BRING THOSE PLANS BACK FORWARD AGAIN IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
BUT THAT WILL REALLY BE OUR, UM, A LAYER DEEPER THAN THE AS SMP AND, AND TELL US HOW, UM, AND WHERE WE SHOULD INVEST IN OUR DOWNTOWN STREETS TO, TO OPTIMIZE ACCESS TO TRANSIT AS WELL AS, UM, OTHER DESTINATIONS IN DOWNTOWN.
AND THEN A BIG, A BIG TAKEAWAY FROM THE UELI TOP, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS WAS TO MAKE IT, TO MAKE A COMMITMENT FOR MOVING PEOPLE, NOT JUST CARS.
SO MY QUESTION IS, WHAT HAVE STAFF'S CHALLENGES BEEN AND WHAT DO YOU FORESEE AS CHALLENGES TO ENSURING WE'RE MOVING AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE? I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN POINT TO ONE CHALLENGE.
I'LL SAY THAT'S BEEN OUR, UM, OUR NORTH STAR, IF YOU WILL.
WE TALK ABOUT IT EVERY SINGLE DAY AT THE OFFICE, AND THAT'S THE A SMP GOAL OF HAVING 50% OF TRIPS, COMMUTE TRIPS BEING DONE, NOT BY SINGLE OCCUPANCY VEHICLE.
SO WE SORT OF, WE HAVE AN ALL HANDS APPROACH TO THAT, WHETHER IT'S, UM, THE URBAN TRAIL PROGRAM, UM, THE SIDEWALKS TEAM, THE BIKEWAY PROGRAM, OUR TRANSIT ENHANCEMENT TEAM, UM, EVEN TELEWORK POLICIES, LIKE ALL OF THOSE THINGS WORK TOGETHER TO GET US THERE.
UM, DO YOU KNOW WHAT NUMBER WE'RE AT RIGHT NOW? UH, IF THE GOAL IS 50, WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW, I JUST SAW AN UPDATE, I BELIEVE IT WAS AT 63%.
MOST OF, I'LL SAY MOST OF THE UPTAKE THOUGH, HAS BEEN THE INCREASE IN TELEWORK.
THAT WAS AN EASTER EGG RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF MOBILITY COMMITTEE.
[01:05:02]
ALL RIGHT.DO WE HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS BEFORE I JUMP IN? WHY DON'T YOU GO AHEAD, COUNCIL MEMBER VELA, UH, FIRST JUST CONGRATULATIONS.
UH, I MEAN, AND IT WASN'T JUST TRANSPORTATION, IT WAS CAP METRO AND, AND A TP AS WELL, BUT THE MCAL STATION AND, AND HONESTLY, UH, AUSTIN FC UH, LOOKING FORWARD TO THE GRAND OPENING ON SATURDAY MORNING.
UNFORTUNATELY, I THINK MY SON HAS A BASKETBALL GAME IN THE MORNING.
I DON'T KNOW IF I'M GONNA BE ABLE TO MAKE IT, BUT I REALLY WANT TO BE THERE.
UM, AND I JUST WANTED TO MENTION THAT WHEN WE WENT THE OTHER DAY TO SEE THE, THE, THE OPENING, WE GOT A KIND OF A SNEAK PREVIEW THAT'S GONNA BE A PARK AND RIDE THAT, THAT, UH, THE AUSTIN FC AND Q2 HAS AGREED THAT ON NON-GAME DAYS, UH, FOLKS CAN PARK AND RIDE THE MCAL, UH, THE RED LINE THERE INTO DOWNTOWN.
SO I'M VERY CURIOUS AS TO SEE HOW THAT, UH, WORKS OUT AND WHAT KIND OF RIDERSHIP THE MCAL, UH, STATION WILL GENERATE.
THERE'S ALSO A TON OF APARTMENTS GOING UP RIGHT AROUND THE MCAL STATION, SO THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR, YOU KNOW, CAR FREE LIFESTYLE FOR FOLKS THAT ARE, UH, RENTING IN THOSE APARTMENTS AGAIN, YOU KNOW, REALLY, UH, UH, EXCITING, UH, OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, JUST A QUESTION WITH REGARD TO, AGAIN, ACHIEVING OUR, OUR TRANSIT AND MOBILITY GOALS AND THINKING ABOUT THE, THE EODS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE SEEN SOME INFORMATION ON, ON PRESENTATIONS ABOUT, UH, THE STREET GRID, UH, THAT I, I THINK ABOUT FOR EXAMPLE, THE NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER, UH, AND A POTENTIAL STATION RIGHT THERE.
UH, THERE'S NO CONNECTING STREETS.
IT'S JUST, YOU KNOW, HUGE, UH, PROPERTIES WITHOUT ANY WAYS TO GET TO THAT.
HOW ARE WE LOOKING AT PLANNING TO, TO KIND OF PUSH THROUGH SOME STREETS TO KIND OF CREATE A MORE GRID-LIKE, UH, UH, PATTERN THERE THAT WOULD ENHANCE MOBILITY AND, AND HOPEFULLY FEED INTO THE, INTO THE LIGHT RAIL WHEN IT GETS UP THERE? YEAH, GREAT QUESTION.
THAT, THAT AREA UP THERE IN NORTH LAMAR IS CHALLENGING, RIGHT? WITH, WITH US 180 3 CUTTING RIGHT THERE AS WELL.
I'LL SAY THAT, UM, THE A S AND P PLAN HAS A ROADWAY CAPACITY ELEMENT, WHICH IDENTIFIES MISSING STREET CONNECTIONS TO FILL IN SOME OF OUR GRID.
UM, SO ANYTIME A DEVELOPMENT COMES IN, WE'RE REFERENCING AGAINST THE A SMP PLAN AND THEN, UM, EITHER HAVING DEVELOPERS BUILD ROADS OR AT LEAST DEDICATING RIGHT OF WAY SO WE CAN EVENTUALLY MAKE SOME OF THOSE CONNECTIONS.
I HAVEN'T LOOKED IN PARTICULAR RECENTLY AT THAT AREA TO SEE WHAT THE, THE PLAN PROJECTS MIGHT BE.
SOMETIMES IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO BE A FULL ROAD.
IT CAN BE JUST KIND OF A, AN AN EASEMENT OR, YOU KNOW, JUST, UH, TO, TO GIVE 'EM A CONNECTION SO THAT UH, YOU KNOW, A MILE LONG WALK TURNS INTO A HALF MILE LONG WALK.
SO, UH, WELL THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS? I THINK CHEETO TOOK MOST OF WHAT I HAD WRITTEN DOWN.
SOMETIMES THAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU COME UP WITH GOOD QUESTIONS.
UM, I DO WANNA POINT OUT THE MCAL STATION OPENING IS PART OF PROJECT CONNECT.
SO I KNOW THAT THE LIGHT RAIL IS THE BIG SHINY OBJECT EVERYONE IS FOCUSING ON, BUT THERE IS TONS OF WORK HAPPENING ON MULTIMODAL ISSUES.
UM, THE METRO RAPID LINES, TWO OF THE THREE HAVE ALREADY GOTTEN FEDERAL GRANT FUNDING AND ARE BEING DEPLOYED.
MACAL STATION IS ABOUT TO OPEN.
SO THERE ARE REAL DELIVERABLES HAPPENING IN OUR COMMUNITY ALL THE TIME, EVEN THOUGH WE ARE ALSO EXCITED ABOUT LIGHT RAIL, UM, COMING INTO OUR AREA.
LET ME SEE IF I CAN COME UP WITH ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR YOU.
HOW ABOUT, UM, THE LANCE ARMSTRONG BIKEWAY? THERE HAS BEEN SOME DISCUSSION ABOUT IT MOVING FROM THIRD STREET WHERE IT CURRENTLY SITS UP TO FOURTH STREET.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT THE CITY WOULD BE ENGINEERING AND HANDLING, OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE HAPPENING THROUGH A TPI? I KNOW WE TOLD YOU WE WERE DONE WITH YOUR SEGMENT, BUT NOW IT'S A, ANOTHER OVERLAP CONVERSATION.
AND THAT BRINGS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE IT'S A MORE SEAMLESS CONNECTION TO THE EAST SIDE, UH, THROUGH THE DOWNTOWN STATION AND OVER TO THE, UM, THE LAB ON THE EAST SIDE OF 35.
UM, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, SINCE THAT'S AN IMPACT OF THE LIGHT RAIL THAT A TP WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FUNDING DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF RELOCATING IT TO FOURTH STREET.
AND WE'LL OF COURSE WORK WITH THEM AS A PARTNER IN ALL THE DESIGN ELEMENTS.
AND I'M SEEING A NOD FROM A TP AS WELL THAT THAT IS THE CASE.
UM, THAT'S VERY EXCITING AND I APPRECIATE, UM, COUNCIL
[01:10:01]
MEMBER VELOS QUESTION ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE CITY MONITORING SOME OF THOSE GAPS THAT WE NEED TO FILL.I KNOW WE COMMONLY SEE THESE COME UP WHEN WE'RE DOING PUD ZONING CASES, WHERE THE CONVERSATION'S A LITTLE MORE FLEXIBLE ABOUT COMMUNITY BENEFITS.
UM, BUT DEFINITELY WANNA MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF OUR DEPARTMENTS ARE AWARE OF WHERE THESE GAPS ARE SO THAT, UM, WHEN THE OPPORTUNITY COMES, WE'RE WE'RE READY TO FILL THOSE GAPS READY TO PROVIDE THAT MULTIMODAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, 'CAUSE I KNOW THAT A LOT OF FOLKS IN OUR COMMUNITY ARE SEEING THOSE BIKE LANES GET IMPLEMENTED AND THEY'RE VERY EXCITING.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE THE BARTON SPRINGS ROAD VISION ZERO PILOT, I BELIEVE, UNTIL THE 25TH.
THE CITY IS COLLECTING FEEDBACK ON THAT'S CORRECT.
HOW WELL THAT'S FUNCTIONING FOR FOLKS OR IF THERE'S ANY ADJUSTMENTS TO BE MADE.
AND I HAVE SEEN FIRSTHAND THE, THE CREATIVE ENGINEERING THAT'S HAPPENING BETWEEN MAKING SURE THAT BIKES HAVE ACCESSIBILITY AND THAT THE BUSES CAN APPROPRIATELY PULL OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND NOT BE CROSSING OVER THE BIKE LANE.
AND SO I'VE, I'VE SEEN SOME REALLY GOOD, GOOD WORK ON THAT HAPPENING.
UM, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT COMMUNITY OUTREACH? LIKE SOME OF OUR FOLKS THAT WE KNOW ADVOCATE IN THIS SPACE, LIKE ADAPT SAFE STREETS, UM, YOU KNOW, ANYONE INVOLVED IN OUR OUTSIDE COALITIONS THAT CARE A LOT ABOUT THESE.
DO YOU COMMUNICATE WITH THEM REGULARLY SO THAT THEY HAVE THIS INPUT AHEAD OF TIME FOR WHEN WE'RE READY TO BUILD THESE, UM, AMENITIES? SO THERE WAS A, A LOT OF COMMUNICATION, A LOT OF FEEDBACK BEFORE THE ADOPTION OF THE A TX WALK BIKE ROLE.
UM, AND THAT'S REALLY THE BEST PLACE TO UNDERSTAND EVERYONE'S PRIORITIES AND WHAT THEIR ISSUES AND CONCERNS ARE.
WHEN WE GET TO THE PROJECT LEVEL, WE'RE TYPICALLY, UM, WE'RE COMMUNICATING WITH THE COMMUNITY WITH A FOCUS ON THE BUSINESSES AND THE RESIDENTS MORE IMMEDIATELY USING THE STREET.
UM, AND AGAIN, WE, WE HEAR FROM SOME OF THOSE SAME GROUPS THROUGH THAT OUTREACH AS WELL.
SO WE, WE TRY TO HIT THEM WAY BACK IN THE PLANNING AND THEN ON THE PROJECT LEVEL AS WELL.
ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS ITEM? I'M NOT SEEING ANY HANDS.
I THINK THAT TAKES US TO OUR LAST
[5. Identify items to discuss at future meetings.]
ITEM, WHICH IS TO IDENTIFY FUTURE ITEMS. JUST SO EVERYONE'S AWARE THAT IS HERE.OUR NEXT MEETING IS MARCH 28TH.
WE ARE TENTATIVELY THINKING ABOUT BRINGING UP THE I 35 CAP ANDIT PRIORITIZATION THAT I KNOW, UM, VICE CHAIR CADRE HAS BROUGHT UP AS WELL, JUST SO WE KIND OF KNOW WHAT DECISIONS NEED TO BE MADE MOVING FORWARD FOR THOSE.
WE'VE HAD CONVERSATIONS AROUND PEOPLE PARKING IN BIKE LANES, A VISION ZERO UPDATE POTENTIALLY.
AND THEN APRIL 25TH WE ARE LIKELY GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT SOME MORE PROJECT CONNECT, SUPPORTIVE CODE AMENDMENTS, UM, ETOD, MAYBE PARKING REGULATIONS, SIDEWALK AND URBAN TRAILS PROGRAMS UPDATE THAT I THINK THE, THE COUNCIL WILL NEED SOME MORE INFORMATION ON AS THOSE PLANS MOVE FORWARD.
AND THEN MAY IS NATIONAL BIKE MONTH.
SO FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE COMMITTEE FOR AS MANY YEARS AS I'VE BEEN CHAIRING IT, WE ALWAYS DEDICATE MAY TO BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE.
IT'S ALSO AIR QUALITY AWARENESS WEEK AND WORLD ASTHMA DAY AT THE SAME TIME.
SO WE'LL BE FOCUSING ON METRO BIKE UPDATES, AIR QUALITY AND TRANSPORTATION WORK THAT IS CURRENTLY A CONVERSATION IN OUR COMMUNITY A TON OF FOLKS ARE HAVING.
AND THEN FLEET ELECTRIFICATION IS SOMETHING THAT I HOPE WE CAN BRING UP AS A BODY.
'CAUSE I KNOW THAT THE CITY, OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND UM, CAP METRO HAVE ALL SET SOME METRICS FOR FLEET ELECTRIFICATION.
AND SO WE KNOW THERE'S, UH, HIGH DEMAND AND HIGH DESIRABILITY OF MAKING SURE THAT, UM, AS PEOPLE ARE RIDING BUSES THAT WE'RE DOING SO IN A WAY THAT IS ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY.
AND THEN WE HAVE A WHOLE SLEW OF OTHER FUTURE ITEMS THAT MIGHT BE COMING LATER THIS YEAR OR INTO NEXT YEAR.
SO THIS IS A MOMENT, IF ANYONE ELSE WANTS TO PUT MORE IDEAS IN, WE COULD TRY TO FIND NEW APPROPRIATE TIMELINES.
COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
AND I'M NOT EXACTLY CERTAIN WHERE THIS WOULD GO OR IF IT NEEDS TO ARISE TO THE LEVEL OF BEING CONSIDERED BY THE COMMITTEE, BUT TWICE NOW I'VE HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH CONSTITUENTS WHO EXPRESSED THIS CONCERN.
AND THEN NOW IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, I'VE PERSONALLY INTERACTED WITH THIS CONCERN.
SO AT THE CORNER OF AL AND 12TH, YOU CANNOT MAKE A RIGHT TURN BECAUSE OF THE NEW BIKE LANES.
IT COMPLETELY ATE UP THE OPPORTUNITY TO TURN RIGHT THERE, WHICH IS CAUSING KIND OF A TRAFFIC ISSUE AT KOMAL AND 12TH.
AND SO I JUST WANTED TO TALK TO SOMEBODY ABOUT WHAT THOSE CONSIDERATIONS LOOK LIKE WHEN INSTALLING THE BIKE LANE WOULD IMPEDE UPON THE ABILITY FOR US TO HAVE A CONTINUOUS TRAFFIC FLOW.
I, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT EXACTLY GOES INTO THAT CONSIDERATION.
UH, DID SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE MAKE THE ASSESSMENT THAT IT WAS MORE VALUABLE FOR US AS A, A CITY TO HAVE ACCESS TO THE BIKE LANE THERE THAN TO HAVE ACCESS TO THE ABILITY TO TURN RIGHT.
SO JUST BEING ABLE TO UNDERSTAND IT BETTER WOULD BE A GREAT START FOR ME BEING ABLE TO EXPLAIN IT TO MY CONSTITUENTS.
I BELIEVE, AND MY NEIGHBORS NOW
I, I THINK WE'LL BE ABLE TO FIND THOSE ANSWERS FOR YOU.
I KNOW I DID A, A WALK ALONG WITH SOME OF THE, UH, TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC
[01:15:01]
WORK FOLKS IN MY DISTRICT.I HAD A TRICKY LEFT HAND TURN FOR THE SAME REASON.
UM, AND SO THEY WERE ABLE TO DO SOME CREATIVE THINKING AND, AND MAKE THAT TURN WORK A LITTLE BIT SMOOTHER.
BUT, UM, SOME OF THESE, AS THEY BUILD OUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE, I THINK ARE GONNA TAKE THAT ON THE GROUND CASE BY CASE.
HOW IS THIS FUNCTIONING IN REAL TIME CONVERSATION? UM, BUT I WAS ABLE TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS OF STAFF AND THEY CAME OUT WITH ME AND MY TEAM AND WE LOOKED, WE PUT OUR EYEBALLS ON IT TOGETHER AND SAID, LET'S WATCH THIS FOR A WHILE AND SEE HOW IT PLAYS OUT IN REAL TIME.
UM, AND WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO COME UP WITH SOME REALLY CREATIVE WAYS TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE CAN GET WHERE THEY NEED TO GO IN THE TIME THEY NEED TO GET THERE.
AND I THINK THAT ACTUALLY JUST MAYBE GAVE ME AN IDEA OF HOW WHAT WE COULD DO IS SORT OF SKETCH OUT SOME OF OUR TRICKIER EXCHANGES AND THEN MAYBE MOVE FORWARD WITH, YOU KNOW, YOU GUYS JUST HOP IN ONE OF OUR, WE WILL CLEAN THE CARS BEFORE YOU HOP IN ONE OF OUR CARS AND
BUT I THINK THAT'S THE KIND OF THING WHERE IT'S JUST, YOU KNOW, A QUARTER MILE STRETCH THAT COULD GET OVERLOOKED IF YOU'RE NOT HAVING TO TRAVERSE THAT EXCHANGE ALL THE TIME.
I'LL JUST START, SEE IF WE COULD START SKETCHING OUT WHERE WE HAVE THESE TRICKY PLACES AND HOPEFULLY, UM, THE BODY COULD HELP US FIGURE OUT A METHOD FOR BRINGING THOSE FORWARD AS A PACKAGE OF CONSIDERATIONS AS OPPOSED TO ONE-OFFS FOR OUR TRANSPORTATION FOLKS.
AND I KNOW THAT ME, MY OFFICE, UH, VICE CHAIR CADRE AND HIS OFFICE HAVE BEEN HAVING CONVERSATIONS AROUND SOME OF THE PARKING AND BIKE LANES AND, UM, DEBRIS CLEANUP AND THINGS LIKE THAT THAT, THAT WE HAVE SEEN HAPPENING.
WE'LL SEE IF WE HAVE ROOM IN THE SUB QUORUM TO EITHER INCLUDE YOU OR JUST WE CAN PLAY IT OUT ON THE MESSAGE BOARD, SEE IF THERE'S ADVICE AND INSIGHT THAT YOU CAN ADD IN THAT CAPACITY.
DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER FEATURE ITEMS WE WANTED TO TACK ON AT THIS POINT? IT APPEARS WE HAVE FINISHED OUR BUSINESS FOR THE DAY.
IT IS NOW 2:20 PM AND OUR COMMITTEE MEETING IS ADJOURNED.
THANK YOU ALL FOR THE CONVERSATION.