[00:00:04]
[CALL TO ORDER]
6 0 2, UH, FEBRUARY 24TH, 2025.UM, VICE CHAIR MINORS, UH, COMMISSIONER CARROLL, VICE CHAIR MINORS IS, IS, IS PRESENT.
VICE CHAIR, UH, OR COMMISSIONER CARROLL PRESENT.
COMMISSIONER GALLES IS PRESENT REMOTELY.
ARE WE HAVING SOUND ISSUES OR SOUNDS LIKE IT LOOKS LIKE IT.
LET THE TECH KNOW THAT WE ARE HAVING AUDIO ISSUES WITH THE VIRTUAL ATTENDEES OR VIRTUAL COMMISSIONER.
COMMISSIONER GILLES, YOU TRY AGAIN.
UH, COMMISSIONER LUKINS PRESENT.
AND COMMISSIONER WALLACE PRESENT.
UM, DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMUNICATION SCHEDULED? UM, CHAIR, NO ONE HAS SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
UM, AND PART OF ME, I JUST WANTED, UH, TO, TO SAY A FRIENDLY REMINDER.
AND IF YOU'RE JOINING VIRTUALLY, PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR ATTENDANCE SHEET BEFORE THE MEETING IS CALLED TO ORDER.
IF YOU'VE ALREADY EMAILED ME, I'VE RECEIVED IT.
UM, BUT JUST WANTED TO GIVE A FRIENDLY REMINDER.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
THE APPROVAL OF OUR LAST MEETING, UH, THE MEETING MINUTES, UH, FROM JANUARY 27TH, 2025.IS THERE ANYONE LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE? MOTION TO APPROVE.
PARDON? YOU HAVE TO HAVE YOUR CAMERA ON THERE.
[2. Staff briefing regarding the process for corridor planning. Presented by Cole Kitten, Transportation and Public Works. Sponsors: Vice Chair Meiners and Commissioner Carroll]
RIGHT.WE'LL MOVE ON TO OUR STAFF BRIEFING OF THE DAY, OR TODAY.
IT'S, UH, STEP READING REGARDING THE COURT ORDER PLANNING, UH, PRESENTED BY, UH, COLE KITTEN WITH THE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS.
YOU GOTTA TURN THE, HIT THE BUTTON.
[00:05:01]
JOINING VIRTUALLY.SO THEY, CTM ASKED IF YOU COULD, UM, HOP ON THE OTHER MIC.
UM, COULD YOU GIVE THE PRESENTATION FROM RIGHT HERE? 'CAUSE THAT MIC'S NOT CONNECTED.
CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME NOW? UM, HELLO.
MARKS, UH, REPRESENTING, UH, TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS TODAY, UM, ON BEHALF OF THE DIVISION AND COLE KITTEN.
UM, I WILL, UM, I MAY NOT BE ENTIRELY, UM, YOU KNOW, AS FULLY CONVERSANT ON ALL OF THE DEEP DETAILS THAT COLE COULD PROVIDE YOU TODAY, BUT, UM, I DO OVERSEE OUR TRANSPORTATION PLANNING WORK FOR THE DEPARTMENT AND, UM, CAN GIVE YOU, UM, AN OVERVIEW OF THE MATERIAL THAT COLE WAS INTENDING TO, UH, GO OVER WITH YOU TODAY.
AND ANY DETAILED QUESTIONS, UM, I'M UNABLE TO ADDRESS IN HIS ABSENCE, I'LL TAKE BACK, UM, AND REPORT BACK TO YOU.
SO WE DO HAVE TWO BRIEFINGS FOR YOU TODAY.
ITEM TWO, UM, IS A QUICK, QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE CAPITAL PLANNING, UH, AND PROGRAMMING WORK THAT WE'RE PUTTING TOGETHER, UM, AT TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS.
THIS IS A, UH, A DECK THAT WE SHARED WITH MOBILITY COMMITTEE LAST WEEK.
I THINK, UM, COLE'S INTENT HERE IS, UM, JUST TO KIND OF, UM, PROVIDE SOME CONTEXT FOR, UM, HOW TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS IS PRIORITIZING CAPITAL PROJECTS MOVING FORWARD.
UM, I KNOW IN AUSTIN, UM, WE HAVE A LONG HISTORY WITH THE CORRIDOR PLANNING PROCESS AND CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENTS AND, AND, UM, BONDS TO FUND CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENTS.
AND SO WE'RE STARTING TO, YOU KNOW, AS WE WRAP UP SPENDING OF THOSE BONDS LOOK FORWARD, UM, TO THE NEXT TRANCHE OF COMPLETE STREET STYLE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS IN AUSTIN.
AND THIS WILL HAVE SOME BEARING TO, UM, ITEM NUMBER THREE ON YOUR AGENDA.
UM, THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN, UM, AUSTIN CORE TRANSPORTATION PLANNED, UM, AND WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS COMING OUT OF THAT PLAN.
SO, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I DON'T HAVE A CLICKER.
UM, WELL, I'LL JUST REALLY BRIEFLY SUMMARIZE, YOU KNOW, THE HISTORY OF CORRIDOR PLANNING IN AUSTIN.
I THINK MANY OF, YOU'RE PROBABLY ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THAT, BUT REALLY THE INTENT OF OF THIS DECK IS TO KINDA IDENTIFY THE PROCESS AHEAD OF US FOR, UM, IDENTIFYING AND PRIORITIZING A PIPELINE OF, UH, LARGE SCALE CIP AND COMPLETE STREETS PROJECTS MOVING FORWARD.
UM, AGAIN, I WON'T BELABOR THIS, BUT, YOU KNOW, UM, I, UM, AM THOUGH I'M AN AUSTIN NATIVE, HAVE BEEN LIVING OUTSIDE OF THE CITY FOR 20 YEARS, AND SO I WASN'T HERE DURING THESE YEARS.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, STARTING AS BACK AS, AS FAR AS 2009, UM, I KNOW THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF WORK IDENTIFYING STRATEGIC CORRIDORS FOR INVESTMENT, UM, HERE IN AUSTIN.
UM, AND TEEING THOSE UP FOR, UM, COMPLETE STREETS BOND IMPROVEMENTS, UH, IN, UM, AGREEMENT WITH THE 2014 COMPLETE STREETS POLICY ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL.
UM, AND THEN, UM, A SERIES OF BOND IMPROVEMENTS TO FUND THOSE PRIORITIZED CORRIDOR, INCLUDING IN 2016 TRANSPORTATION MOBILITY BONDS.
UM, AND THEN, UH, WITH THE ADOPTION IN 2019 OF THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, UM, STARTING TO LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR FUTURE CORRIDOR NEEDS, UM, BEYOND THAT INITIAL TRANCHE OF COMPLETE STREETS PROJECTS, UM, AND THEN ANOTHER BOND IN 2020 AS, UM, THE TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, UM, HAS KIND OF REFORMED INTO KIND OF A SINGLE ENTITY.
WE, UH, WERE INITIALLY DIVIDED BETWEEN PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION.
YOU KNOW, WE'VE BROUGHT ALL OF OUR CAPITAL PLANNERS TOGETHER TO CREATE, UM, MORE COHERENCE FOR HOW WE, AS A NEW DEPARTMENTS PRIORITIZE OUR CAPITAL INVESTMENTS.
UM, SO WHILE, UM, CURRENTLY, UH, IN 20 24, 20 25, OUR CAPITAL DELIVERY, UM, COLLEAGUES ARE CONTINUING TO DELIVER ON AND, AND WRAP UP THOSE 2016 AND 2020 BOND INVESTMENTS, OUR NEW TEAM IS, AS I SAID, LOOKING FORWARD, UM, TO HOW WE CREATE KIND OF A, A RATIONAL AND SYSTEMIC APPROACH TO PRIORITIZING COMPLETE STREETS INVESTMENTS MOVING FORWARD.
[00:10:01]
A GRAPHIC TIMELINE OF EXACTLY WHAT I JUST TOLD YOU, SO I'LL GO AHEAD AND CLICK TO THE NEXT SLIDE.UM, OUR, OUR CURRENT INTENT IS, UM, TO IDENTIFY NEEDS WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND OUR A SMP, UM, DOES AN EXCELLENT JOB OF THAT.
IF YOU DIG INTO KIND OF THE PROJECT'S DATABASE OF THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, YOU WILL SEE THAT IT DOES A VERY GREAT JOB OF IDENTIFYING, UM, MULTIMODAL NEEDS ALONG EACH OF OUR CORRIDORS, BE THEY, UM, IN SOME INSTANCES VEHICULAR CAPACITY, BUT MORE OFTEN, UM, TRANSIT, BICYCLE, PEDESTRIAN NEEDS, UM, AND IDENTIFYING WHERE THOSE MODAL NEEDS OVERLAP IN A KIND OF COMPLETE STREETS CONTEXT.
UM, OUR JOB NOW IS TO, UM, YOU KNOW, TAKE THAT UNIVERSE OF NEED AND DEVELOP A, UM, A DEFENSIBLE AND RATIONAL WAY TO PRIORITIZE THOSE NEED THAT THAT REFLECTS NOT JUST TPW POLICIES, BUT ADOPTED, UM, CITY POLICY AS WELL.
UM, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DO A LOT OF PLANNING IN AUSTIN, LIKE IN ALL CITIES.
SO I THINK IT'S, YOU KNOW, IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW ALL OF THESE PLANNING EFFORTS, UM, TALK TO EACH OTHER AND HOW THEY RELATE.
AS I MENTIONED, KIND OF AT THE TOP OF OUR PLANNING HIERARCHY AND TRANSPORTATION IS OUR A SMP IDENTIFYING NOT JUST, UM, OUR TRANSPORTATION POLICIES, BUT, BUT AS MENTIONED THOSE, UH, BASELINE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DECADES.
AND THEN WE HAVE, UH, KIND OF NESTED BENEATH THAT, OUR MODAL PLANS, OUR BICYCLE PLAN, OUR URBAN TRAILS PLAN, SIDEWALKS AND CROSSINGS, UM, THAT DO THAT KIND OF NEEDS IDENTIFICATION AT A FINER SCALE.
UM, SO FOR EXAMPLE, IDENTIFYING, WE NEED THIS TYPE OF BICYCLE FACILITY HERE ON THIS CORRIDOR.
WE NEED, UM, X NUMBER OF CROSSINGS HERE ALONG THIS SEGMENT TO CLOSE A CROSSING GAP.
SO THE NEEDS IDENTIFICATION THERE IS, IS MUCH MORE FINE GRAIN.
UM, YOU'LL SEE IN A MOMENT THAT, UH, THE TRANSPORTATION TEAM IS ALSO GEARING UP TO DO SOME MORE ON THE GROUND ANALYSIS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS AND SMALL AREAS.
UM, I'LL BRIEF YOU IN JUST A MOMENT ON THE AUSTIN CORE TRANSPORTATION PLAN, WHICH DRILLS DOWN INTO THE CENTER CITY AND THE DOWNTOWN AREA, UM, TO PUT AN EVEN FINER LENS ON THAT ANALYSIS, UM, WE'LL BE KICKING OFF OTHER NEIGHBORHOOD PLANS TOO, VERY SOON, INCLUDING IN WINDSOR PARK.
UM, AND THIS EXERCISE WILL BE VERY MUCH A SYNTHESIS OF IDENTIFYING NOT JUST THE NEEDS FROM THE MODAL PLANS, BUT WORKING WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO IDENTIFY, UM, THE POTENTIAL PROJECT BASED SOLUTIONS TO THOSE NEEDS AND START TO PRIORITIZE THOSE PROJECTS, BOTH THE MODAL PLANS AND THE AREA PLANS FEED INTO OUR CAPITAL PROGRAM, WHETHER THAT BE SMALL SCALE SPOT IMPROVEMENTS, UM, WHICH, YOU KNOW, TEND TO BE MUCH SIMPLER TO IMPLEMENT, WHICH TYPICALLY DON'T TAKE, YOU KNOW, A, YOU KNOW, MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, UH, TO MOVE FORWARD.
UM, SO SIDEWALK SPOT IMPROVEMENTS, UH, QUICK BUILD BICYCLE IMPROVEMENTS, FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, WHEN THOSE GET, UM, TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF FUNDING COMMITMENT, UM, THOSE, AND WHERE WE HAVE MULTIPLE MODAL NEEDS AND MULTIPLE KIND OF PROGRAMMATIC, UM, AND MAINTENANCE CONCERNS OVERLAPPING INTO, FOR EXAMPLE, A CORRIDOR COMPLETE STREETS PROJECT, THOSE WILL FEED INTO OUR LARGE SCALE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PLAN.
UM, AND THIS LARGE SCALE CIP IS REALLY THE CRUX OF OUR CURRENT, UM, PRIORITIZATION EFFORT.
UM, SO THE INTENT HERE IN PRIORITIZING INVESTMENTS IS LIKE EVERYONE, UM, YOU KNOW, IN YOUR DAILY HOUSEHOLD BUDGET, UM, I'M SURE THERE ARE ALWAYS MORE NEEDS THAN YOU HAVE FUNDING TO ADDRESS.
AND SO, AS RESPONSIBLE STEWARDS OF PUBLIC DOLLARS, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE DEDICATING OUR LIMITED EXPENSES TO THE HIGHEST NEED, UM, IN A WAY THAT REFLECTS CITY POLICY.
SO THE WAY WE'RE GONNA GO ABOUT THIS IS REALLY LOOKING AT THE, THE STRATEGIC PLAN ANCHORS, UM, THAT HAVE BEEN ADOPTED BY COUNCIL.
SO THOSE ARE THESE, UM, VALUES, THESE CITY VALUES YOU'RE SEEING IN ORANGE EQUITY, AFFORDABILITY,
[00:15:01]
INNOVATION, UH, PROACTIVE PREVENTION, ET CETERA, CROSSWALK, THOSE TO THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN OUR A SMP.AND THOSE ARE WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IN BLUE HERE.
UM, AND REALLY CREATING THAT KIND OF ONE-TO-ONE NEXUS BETWEEN OUR PRIORITIZATION CRITERIA AND ADOPTED CITY POLICY.
WE ARE ALSO, UM, AS WE PRIORITIZE NEEDS FOR NEAR TERM VERSUS LONGER TERM IMPLEMENTATION, WE'RE ALSO TRYING TO PUT TOGETHER A KIND OF MUCH MORE, UM, DISCIPLINED, UH, PIPELINE FOR DEVELOPING PROJECTS AND QUEUING THEM UP FOR CONSTRUCTION DOLLARS.
UM, I THINK WE'VE HAD SOME TROUBLE AS, AS FAR AS I'M TOLD IN THE PAST, OF KIND OF TAKING BIGGER BITES, UM, WITH BOND PROJECTS AND CONSTRUCTION DOLLARS.
UM, THEN, YOU KNOW, WE AS A CITY HAVE IN THE PAST BEEN EFFECTIVELY ABLE TO DELIVER.
UM, SO SAID DIFFERENTLY, YOU KNOW, GOING OUT FOR CONSTRUCTION DOLLARS ON A PROJECT THAT MAY NOT NECESSARILY HAVE BEEN FULLY DEVELOPED FROM AN ENGINEERING PERSPECTIVE BEFORE GOING AFTER CONSTRUCTION DOLLARS.
AND, YOU KNOW, UNFORTUNATELY, WHEN, WHEN THAT HAPPENS, YOU, YOU KNOW, COME ACROSS, UM, UNFORESEEN COSTS, UM, AND, UM, A SCOPE THAT YOU DIDN'T NECESSARILY, UM, BUDGET AGAINST.
AND SO WE WANNA BE MUCH MORE DISCIPLINED ABOUT TAKING EACH OF OUR CAPITAL PROJECTS KIND OF THROUGH THESE INCREMENTAL GATEWAYS, STARTING IN THE LEFT WITH, UM, TAKING IDENTIFIED NEEDS AND STARTING OUT BY FUNDING THOSE FOR PROMO PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING REPORTS TO GIVE US A REALLY GOOD IDEA OF WHAT THE SCOPE, EXTENT AND BUDGET OF THAT PROJECT NEEDS TO BE.
UM, ONCE WE HAVE THAT KIND OF, UM, POOL OF DEVELOPED ERS, THEN IDENTIFYING THE HIGHEST PRIORITY AND MOST FEASIBLE FROM THAT POOL TO PROCEED TO THE NEXT STEP, UM, WHICH IS, UH, DESIGN AND ENGINEERING.
AND THEN ONCE WE HAVE THAT POOL DEVELOPED, UM, IDENTIFYING THE PRIORITIES, UM, FROM THAT SET TO PROGRESS TO PERHAPS A BOND ELECTION OR HAVING THOSE QUEUED UP AND READY TO GO AFTER, UM, FEDERAL OR LOCAL GRANT FUNDS FOR CAP, THE ACTUAL CAPITAL IMPLEMENTATION.
AND THIS IS REALLY GONNA HELP US, UM, STAY ON BUDGET, KNOW EXACTLY WHAT A PROJECT COSTS BEFORE WE ACTUALLY START DIGGING.
SO, UM, WE ARE ACTIVELY, UH, DEVELOPING THAT EVALUATION CRITERIA, UM, TO REFLECT POLICY.
WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO SO, ESPECIALLY AS WE START TO KIND OF, UM, PREPARE AND GEAR UP FOR A POTENTIAL CITYWIDE BOND ELECTION, UM, AND IDENTIFYING ANY TRANSPORTATION PRIORITIES THAT WE WOULD ADVOCATE FOR BEING INCLUDED IN THAT.
UM, WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PROJECTS ALREADY IN THE PIPELINE, SO WRAPPING UP THOSE, UM, BOND PROJECTS THAT ARE CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH.
UM, AND THEN ONCE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE WORKED WITH, UM, OUR COMMITTEE, UM, COLLEAGUES AND AT UTC, UM, IN PARTICULAR ON THOSE EVALUATION CRITERIA, STARTING TO QUEUE UP THOSE NEW PRIORITIES TO START THE PIPELINE MOVING FORWARD AS NEW PROJECTS, UM, TO MOVE THROUGH KIND OF ONE, UM, LOCK AT A TIME, IF YOU WILL.
UM, I THINK THAT MAY BE MY LAST SLIDE.
UM, THIS IS A BIT OF A, AS I SAID, A TEASER FOR, UM, WHERE WE'LL BE TAKING, UM, THE OUTPUTS OF THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN CORE TRANSPORTATION PLAN.
UM, BUT WANTED TO PROVIDE YOU THAT SAME OVERVIEW THAT WE'VE BEEN SHARING WITH COUNSEL.
HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS NOW.
UM, OR, UM, CHAIR, IF YOU PREFER TO TAKE ALL QUESTIONS AFTER MY, UM, SECOND BRIEFING, I'M HAPPY TO DO THAT AS WELL.
UM, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND ASK ANY QUESTIONS NOW IF ANYBODY HAS ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CHAIR, COMMISSIONER LADNER.
YOU ARE, UM, I'M, I'M JUST CURIOUS A LITTLE BIT, YOU MENTIONED A POTENTIAL BOND COMING UP, SO I'M, I'M CURIOUS, ARE WE, SO WE'RE AT THE BACK END OF THE LAST BOND CYCLE.
AND THEN, UM, SO THERE'S POTENTIAL FOR THAT.
AND THEN I WAS CURIOUS A LITTLE BIT, AND MAYBE YOU CAN'T SPEAK TO THIS, UH, ABOUT THE WORD INNOVATION AND HOW THAT'S BEEN INTEGRATED INTO KIND OF STREETSCAPE PLANNING.
AND THEN I THINK THE ONE WORD THAT I'M MISSING HERE, PLACEMAKING,
[00:20:01]
IF THAT'S BEEN INCLUDED, AND IF NOT, IF IT WILL BE IN THE FUTURE.UM, PLACEMAKING, I'LL START WITH THE LATTER, UM, IS ONE OF OUR TRANSPORTATION PLANNING, UM, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES IN THE A SMP.
UM, AND SO WE DO NEED TO CONSIDER THAT AS WE CROSSWALK THAT, UM, WITH OUR EVALUATION CRITERIA.
UM, THESE, IT'S A LITTLE BIT TRICKY WITH PLACEMAKING BECAUSE WHAT WE'RE DEVELOPING NOW REALLY IS A, UM, PRIORITIZATION FOR LARGE SCALE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS RATHER THAN DESIGN CRITERIA, FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, SO YOU DON'T SEE A LOT OF KIND OF, YOU KNOW, PLACEMAKING TENDS TO BE SOMETHING THAT GETS HASHED OUT AS PROJECTS GO FURTHER THROUGH DESIGN.
UM, THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT, UM, THERE'S NOT AN OPPORTUNITY TO IDENTIFY POLICY BEHIND PLACEMAKING THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, ENCOURAGES, UM, OR EVEN REQUIRES PROJECTS TO EVALUATE PLACEMAKING OPPORTUNITIES TO THE GREATEST EXTENT OR, OR TO WRAP THAT INTO, YOU KNOW, TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA, MANUAL UPDATES, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN WE GET TO DESIGN REQUIREMENTS AND DESIGN STANDARDS FROM THE CIP PRIORITIZATION PERSPECTIVE, IT BECOMES A LITTLE HARDER TO WEAVE IT IN.
UM, BUT WE NEED TO ACCOUNT FOR IT SOMEHOW.
THE OTHER QUESTION YOU ASKED WAS ABOUT INNOVATION.
UM, YOU KNOW, I'LL DISCLAIM MY ANSWER BY SAYING THIS IS AN ACTIVE, LIKE, REAL TIME CONVERSATION.
WHAT ARE OUR PRIORITIZATION CRITERIA GOING TO BE FOR EACH OF THESE CATEGORIES? INNOVATION IS ONE OF THEM.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S OPPORTUNITY FOR THINGS LIKE, YOU KNOW, DOES THE PROJECT SCOPE HAVE AN INNOVATIVE FUNDING APPROACH? FOR EXAMPLE, ARE WE LEVERAGING OPPORTUNITIES WITH EACH OTHER AS A CITY ACROSS DEPARTMENTS, UM, ACROSS, UM, WITH OUR FUNDING, UM, AND REGIONAL PARTNERS? IS THIS A JOINT, AN EFFECTIVE JOINT VENTURE, UM, WITH ONE OF OUR REGIONAL PARTNERS? UM, SO INNOVATIVE FUNDING STRATEGY IS ONE IDEA I'LL THROW OUT THERE.
UM, THERE'S ALSO INNOVATIVE SCOPE ELEMENTS, UM, LIKE, UM, UH, INTERCONNECTED TRANSIT SYSTEMS, FOR EXAMPLE, A SMART SIGNALS THAT TALK TO EACH OTHER, UM, OR ITS TO ALLOW, UM, BUSES TO, UH, JUMP CUES, FOR EXAMPLE.
I THINK THERE'S ALSO, YOU KNOW, FROM A SCOPE PERSPECTIVE, THINGS LIKE, UM, LOW HEAT, ASPHALT, UM, PERMEABLE PAVEMENT.
SO I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF IDEAS BEING THROWN OUT THERE.
UM, NOTHING CONCRETE YET, BECAUSE WE'RE STILL KIND OF STORMING AND FORMING.
SO I'LL HAVE TO COME BACK WITH YOU ON, ON HOW WE'RE RECOMMENDING APPROACHING THAT, BUT OPPORTUNITY, CERTAINLY.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS? COMMISSIONER, UH, LEMME GO TO COMMISSIONER CARROLL FIRST AND I'LL COME TO YOU.
I'M CURIOUS IF YOU COULD ELABORATE MORE ON WHEN YOU'RE ACTUALLY PLANNING THESE CORRIDORS.
WHAT PRINCIPLES ARE YOU USING? UH, 'CAUSE I KNOW YOU POINTED TO THE A SMP AND THE A SMP CALLS FOR THINGS LIKE STREET TREES AS A, AS A POLICY, UH, BUT I'M SEEING CORRIDORS BEING BUILT OUT WITHOUT STREET TREES, SO I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE REASONING IF, IF THAT'S A, A POLICY FROM THE A SMP AND YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE FOLLOWING THAT, WHY AREN'T WE GETTING STREET TREES? VERY GOOD QUESTION.
UM, WE, I AM GONNA LOOK AT MY, UH, FRIEND KEVIN HOWARD ON SCREEN HERE, WHO IS
UM, BUT ALSO LOOKING AT KIND OF OTHER KIND OF, UM, PROGRAMMATIC AND KIND OF INTERDEPARTMENTAL AND, AND SPACE BARRIERS, UM, TO GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE RIGHT OF WAY.
AND THAT TARP WORKING GROUP, UM, IS ACTIVELY ENGAGING IN IDENTIFYING THOSE BARRIERS AND WILL BE PUTTING TOGETHER, UM, RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION, UM, WHICH COULD INCLUDE, UM, EFFECTIVELY CODIFYING SOME OF THOSE REQUIREMENTS AS BASELINE SCOPE ELEMENTS MOVING FORWARD, UM, UP, UM, AUGMENTING CAPITAL AND, UH, CIP BUDGETS TO ENSURE THAT GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IS INCLUDED.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, OTHER APPROACHES AND OTHER NEEDS TO, UM,
[00:25:02]
STREAMLINE THE PROVISION OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, AND ADDRESS SOME OF THOSE BARRIERS THAT PERHAPS SOME OF THOSE CORRIDOR PROJECTS ENCOUNTERED IN THE PAST.UM, SO IT'S NOT, UM, AN ISSUE, UH, THAT'S BEING ADDRESSED THROUGH THIS PRIORITIZATION EFFORT, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY, UM, UH, BEING ADDRESSED, UM, VERY STRONGLY THIS YEAR BY THAT TARP GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE WORKING GROUP.
IT'S GOOD TO HEAR THAT THAT PROCESS IS HAPPENING.
WOULD THAT BE SOMETHING THAT'S RETROACTIVE AND AFFECT CORRIDORS THAT HAVE ALREADY SEEN IMPROVEMENTS, OR WOULD IT ONLY BE FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENT? UM, IF IT'S A NEW REGULATION, UM, THOSE TEND TO APPLY TO IMPROVEMENTS MOVING FORWARD.
I CAN'T SPEAK TO WHAT THE BARRIER WAS ON SOME OF THE ALREADY INSTALLED CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENTS, WHETHER, YOU KNOW, THERE WERE WATER LINES UNDERNEATH OR NOT ENOUGH RIGHT OF WAY OR OVERHEAD UTILITY LINES.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THOSE WERE, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, IN, IN TIME THAT THERE WON'T NECESSARILY BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER OR NOT THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO RETROFIT.
AND FIRST OF ALL, APOLOGIES TO, UH, OUR SPEAKER AND EVERYBODY FOR, UH, NOT BEING THERE IN PERSON.
UM, I PROMISE I'M NOT DRIVING RIGHT NOW, BUT I GOT CAUGHT, UH, IN TRANSIT TODAY.
UM, UH, MS. MARKS, THANK YOU FOR THE, THE, THE PRESENTATION.
UM, A COUPLE THOUGHTS AND, UM, I, I, I ECHO DAVID, UH, COMMISSIONER CARROLL'S CONCERNS ABOUT THE STREET TREES, AND I'M IMAGINING COMMISSIONER HOWARD WILL HAVE SOME MORE FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS, BUT, UM, WE AS A COMMISSION HEARD A PRESENTATION FROM ERIC BAILEY, UH, A FEW MONTHS AGO ON THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM.
BETWEEN THAT AND, AND YOUR PRESENTATION, IT FEELS LIKE THERE'S SORT OF, WHAT'S GOING ON SET IS THAT THERE IS A MOUNTING TO A, A BIG RETREAT FROM HOW, HOW THE ORIGINAL CORRIDOR, THE BOND THE CORRIDOR PROGRAM WAS LAID OUT, UH, HOW THOSE PROJECTS WERE GOING TO BE MANAGED, THE, UH, THE COMPACT WITH THE VOTERS THAT WAS PART OF, UH, PUTTING THAT BOND FORWARD.
UM, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, I I'M NOT NECESSARILY ADVOCATING ONE WAY OR THE OTHER OTHER THAN TO, TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IT'S A BIG SHIFT AWAY FROM THE BOND BEFORE THE COMPLETION OF THAT WORK.
WHAT CONCERNS ME IS THAT IT IS BECOME PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE CITIZENS OF AUSTIN TO GET ANY INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THOSE PROJECTS ARE BEING.
THERE'S, THERE'S KIND OF A BASIC GIS WITH SOME VERY BASIC CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULES, BUT AFTER THE DECISION WAS MADE TO KIND OF WRAP CPO INTO THE, INTO THIS NEW CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES, UH, SCHEMATICS WERE TAKEN OFFLINE.
THERE'S NO PUBLIC INFORMATION AVAILABLE ABOUT, ABOUT THE, THE THINGS THAT ARE BUILDING.
AND, UM, UH, THE AIRPORT BOULEVARD CONSTRUCTION IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW, BUT THERE IS NO RESOURCE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.
AND I'VE, I'VE CERTAINLY LOOKED, UM, DETAILING OUT WHAT, WHAT IS BEING CONSTRUCTED THERE.
SO THE PUBLIC HAS REALLY NO WINDOW INTO WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS CONCERNS ME SINCE THIS WAS, UH, UH, A, A BOND ELECTION.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE, THERE IS, I EXPECT, UH, STILL, UH, THE EXPECTATION GENERALLY FROM THE PUBLIC THAT THAT STREET TREES AND OTHER KIND OF CHARACTER DEFINING ELEMENTS PLACEMAKING, UM, THAT WERE IN THE ORIGINAL BOND AND IN SOME OF THE SCOPE OF THE PER ARE GOING TO BE IMPLEMENTED.
BUT IT APPEARS THAT THERE'S BEEN A DISTINCT MOVE BY THE CITY AWAY FROM DOING THAT.
AND I'M CONCERNED THAT THIS IS, IS NOT A DECISION THAT IS, IS BEING, UH, VISIBLE TO THE PUBLIC.
SO THAT'S NOT A QUESTION, I KNOW THAT'S JUST A RANT, BUT IT'S, IT'S FRUSTRATED ME THAT, UM, UH, AF AFTER ERIC BAILEY'S PRESENTATION AND, AND THERE CONTINUES TO BE NEXT TO NO AVENUE FOR THE PUBLIC TO GET ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THESE, UH, ONGOING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.
I, UM, I, I WISH I KNEW MORE ABOUT THIS, UM, BUT, UM, I APPRECIATE THAT COMMENT AND I'LL DO WHAT I CAN TO DIG IN WITH MY COLLEAGUES AT, UM, CAPITAL DELIVERY AND SEE WHAT'S GOING ON THERE.
I APPRECIATE THAT, AND I KNOW YOU INHERITED THIS AND, UH, APPRECIATE YOUR WORK ON IT.
VICE CHAIRMAN MYERS, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR NO? OKAY.
UM, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THE
CAN YOU HEAR ME? IT'S, IT'S REAL FAINT.
[00:30:05]
HOW'S THAT? IT'S BETTER.LET'S SEE IF WE COULD RAISE IT UP HERE.
UM, I HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THE, UH, APPROACH FOR THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING.
UM, HAVE THERE BEEN, UM, ANY KIND OF SUB SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES INTO HOW THE ENGINEERING IS ANTICIPATING DESIGN CHANGES, UM, OR, OR LIKE A DESIGN APPROACH ON THESE CORRIDOR PROJECTS? UM, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE, ARE THE, UM, IS THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING CONSIDERING STREET TREES AND KIND OF THE ADDED COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT? UM, YES.
THANK YOU FOR TAKING ME UP THERE.
UM, I, UM, I GATHER THAT, UH, WE AS A CITY HAVE, UH, LEARNED A LITTLE BIT FROM THE PREVIOUS CORRIDOR PROGRAM.
UM, AND WE ARE NOW, UM, MAKING A CONCERTED EFFORT TO, UM, INCLUDE A, UM, BUDGET FOR GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN, UM, CORRIDOR PROGRAM CORRIDOR AND COMPLETE TREES PROJECTS MOVING FORWARD JUST BASED ON, UM, HISTORICAL COST OF THINGS LIKE MOVING UTILITIES, UM, TO ACCOMMODATE TREES, FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, SO WE'VE GOT SOME KIND OF, UM, EXTRACTED HISTORICAL DATA FROM THOSE PREVIOUS PROJECTS THAT WE'RE MOVING FORWARD, UM, SO THAT WE CAN CREATE, UM, HAVE THAT GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE LINE ITEM MOVING FORWARD.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? ALL RIGHT.
WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO YOUR SECOND PRESENTATION HERE.
[3. Discussion and action to recommend the Austin Core Transportation Plan to City Council. Presented by Cole Kitten, Transportation and Public Works]
AND ACTION ITEM, UH, TO RECOMMEND TO THE, TO RECOMMEND THAT THE AUSTIN COURT TRANSPORTATION PLAN TO THE CITY COUNCIL AS, UH, PRESENTED BY, UH, MICHELLE MARKS.AND, UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT, UM, BEFORE I START HERE, UM, COLE TELLS ME THAT, UM, A, AN ACTION ON YOUR PART, UM, ISN'T NECESSARILY REQUIRED, UM, BUT IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION, UM, WE'RE HAPPY TO CARRY THAT FORWARD TO PLANNING COMMISSION, UM, WHO I BELIEVE WE'RE BRIEFING TOMORROW, UM, WHO WILL BE MAKING A RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL.
SO JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT WITH YOU.
THE AUSTIN COURT TRANSPORTATION PLAN, UM, THIS IS, UM, OUR, ONE OF OUR FIRST SMALL AREA MOBILITY PLANS THAT YOU'LL SEE COMING FORWARD.
UM, WE'RE KICKING OFF THIS, UM, AREA MOBILITY WORK WITH, UH, THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
UM, YOU'LL, I'LL EXPLAIN WHY IN JUST A MOMENT, BUT I THINK IT'S, OH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
UM, SOMEWHAT INTUITIVE THAT WE HAVE, UM, A LOT GOING ON IN DOWNTOWN.
UM, A LOT OF KIND OF CAPITAL PROJECTS, PUBLIC LED WORK IN PARTICULAR, UM, THAT WE NEED TO ACCOUNT FOR AT A KIND OF TRANSPORTATION NETWORK LEVEL.
UH, SO LET'S SEE, WHERE SHOULD I BE POINTING THIS THING THIS WAY? OH, THERE WE GO.
UM, SO THE, UM, WHY ARE WE UPDATING THE TRANSPORTATION PLAN FOR DOWNTOWN? UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S JUST A LOT OF CONTEXT, UM, THAT WE NEED TO KIND OF, UM, GET SYSTEMIC ABOUT, UM, AND KIND OF HAVE A COHESIVE APPROACH TOWARD.
WE'VE GOT, UM, YOU KNOW, SINCE THE, UM, PREVIOUS, UH, TRANSPORTATION PLAN FOR DOWNTOWN, THERE'S JUST BEEN A LOT OF, I THINK, CHANGES GENERALLY IN BEST PRACTICES TO TRANSPORTATION, BE THAT IN KIND OF TRANSIT, UM, DESIGN AND PRACTICES OR IN KIND OF BEST PRACTICES REGARDING BICYCLE FACILITIES.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THOSE NATIONAL BEST PRACTICES, BUT ALSO, UM, JUST TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF CHANGE THAT'S GONNA BE GOING ON IN AND AROUND DOWNTOWN.
UM, AS WE KNOW, UM, I 35 WILL BE COMPLETELY RECONSTRUCTED.
UM, THE KIND OF MEANS AND ROUTES FOR ACCESSING, UM, I 35 AND CROSSING I 35 ARE COMPLETELY CHANGING.
UM, WE'VE GOT, UM, OUR PROJECT CONNECT, UM, CORRIDORS COMING THROUGH DOWNTOWN AS WELL, UM, WITH BRAND NEW TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.
UM, WE'VE GOT A NEW CONVENTION CENTER.
WE, YOU KNOW, HAVE, UM, DEMONSTRATION AND PHASE ONE PROJECT COMING IN ON CONGRESS AVENUE, FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, THERE IS, WE JUST NEED TO STEP BACK GIVEN ALL OF THIS CHANGE.
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UM, AND THE IDEA IS TO CREATE A UNIFIED VISION FOR TRANSPORTATION, BOTH KIND OF AT A NETWORK SCALE, UM, IN DOWNTOWN, UM, BUT ALSO DRILLING DOWN TO A CORRIDOR SCALE MOVING FORWARD.UM, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT GONNA BELABOR ALL OF THIS, UM, BUT WE ARE REALLY LOOKING TO KIND OF BUILD FROM THIS KIND OF CRESCENDO OF, UH, PLANNING WORK THAT'S GONE INTO DOWNTOWN STARTING, YOU KNOW, BACK IN THE EARLY AUGHTS WITH, UM, THE INITIAL DOWNTOWN ACCESS AND MOBILITY PLAN AND ORIGINAL GREAT STREETS MASTER PLAN, UM, ALL THE WAY THROUGH, UM, THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN, UM, FROM, YOU KNOW, 10 OR SO YEARS AGO.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE, UM, YOU KNOW, NOT LOOKING TO REINVENT THE WHEEL HERE SO MUCH AS, UM, REFINE.
UM, I'VE ALREADY MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, THE WHY AND ALL OF THE THINGS WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOUNT FOR, INCLUDING JUST THE NEW POLICY DIRECTION FROM THE RECENTLY ADOPTED A SMP.
UM, AND THINKING, AGAIN, GIVEN ALL OF THE KIND OF NEW CONSTRUCTION COMING AT US IN THE NEXT 20 YEARS, HOW DO WE NOT JUST GET PEOPLE AROUND, BUT, YOU KNOW, MANAGE OUR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM AND OUR DEMAND ON THAT SYSTEM? SO, UM, THIS IS, UM, A WORK IN, UH, PROGRESS FOR MANY YEARS STARTING KIND OF PRE PANDEMIC.
IT'S TAKEN A LITTLE BIT OF TIME FOR US TO GET TO THIS FINISH LINE GIVEN KIND OF, UM, A YEAR PLUS, UH, PAUSE WE HAD ON THE WORK DURING THE PANDEMIC.
UM, BUT WE, UM, BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THAT PAUSE, UM, HAVE BEEN OUT WORKING WITH STAKEHOLDERS, WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY, UM, TO INFLUENCE WHAT I'M GONNA SHOW YOU TODAY.
WHERE WE ARE NOW IS KIND OF CIRCULATING THAT, UH, WORK TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS IN ADVANCE OF, UH, TAKING THE ACT PLAN TO CITY COUNCIL, UM, LATER THIS SPRING.
UM, JUST A NOTE ABOUT THE ENGAGEMENT THAT COLE AND HIS PLANNING TEAM, UM, DID, UH, EMBARK UPON.
IT WAS, IT WAS PRETTY EXTENSIVE, UH, WORKED WITH MORE THAN 80 STAKEHOLDERS DOWNTOWN AND IN REALLY CLOSE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN ALLIANCE.
UM, NUMEROUS, I THINK, NOT JUST PUBLIC EVENTS, BUT SURVEYS THAT REALLY DIRECTLY INFLUENCED, UH, THE ALTERNATIVES, UM, AND THE CONCEPTUAL CROSS SECTIONS THAT ARE IN, UH, THE ACT PLAN ITSELF.
UM, AND THEN, SO SOME OF THAT SURVEY, KIND OF THE DATA POINTS OVER 2000 RESPONDENTS, UM, REFLECTING, UM, CITY OF AUSTIN DEMOGRAPHICS, 20 MEETINGS, 19 NEWSLETTERS.
UM, SO, UM, A SECOND SURVEY WITH KIND OF NEARLY AS MUCH FEEDBACK AS WELL.
UM, SO LOTS OF PUBLIC INPUT IN WHAT YOU'RE GONNA SEE IN THAT DRAFT PLAN.
UM, IN ESSENCE, UH, THE KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE ACT PLAN ARE, UM, THE IDENTIFICATION OF, OF WHAT WE'RE CALLING PRIORITY PROJECTS, UM, WHICH ARE REALLY THOSE THAT ARE, UM, RECOMMENDED FOR NEARER TERM IMPLEMENTATION, GIVEN THE RELATIONSHIP THAT THESE, UM, STREETS HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, THE NEW I 35 OR, UM, THE NEED TO IMPROVE THEM FOR, YOU KNOW, THE TRANSIT SYSTEM OR THE BIKE MASTER PLAN.
UM, SO THOSE ARE, UM, THE EAST WEST, REALLY, FIFTH, SIXTH, SEVENTH, AND EIGHTH, THOSE STREETS THAT ARE DOING THE HEAVY LIFTING, UM, IN A MULTIMODAL WAY, EAST WEST.
UM, THE PLAN ALSO IDENTIFIES KIND OF A SECOND TIER SUPPORTING PROJECT LIST, WHICH IT'S RECOMMENDING BEING KIND OF MORE OF A MIDTERM IMPLEMENTATION RANGE, UM, AND THEN KIND OF ONGOING NEEDS IN GREEN HERE, UM, THAT COULD BE KIND OF, UM, IMPLEMENTED WITH, UM, VIA OUR, UH, LOCAL MOBILITY, UH, PROGRAMS, FOR EXAMPLE.
SO OPPORTUNITIES TO KIND OF KEEP PUSHING THE ENVELOPE ON THESE KIND OF TERTIARY STREETS.
UM, THE RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, ARE VERY MULTIMODAL IN NATURE.
WHEN YOU DIG INTO THE CROSS SECTIONS IN THE ACT PLAN, YOU'RE GONNA SEE A LOT OF, UM, TRANSIT ONLY LANES, UM, A LOT OF BICYCLE FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS, PEDESTRIAN IMPROVEMENTS.
THE IDEA HERE IS TO, UM, REALLY MAKE SURE THAT THESE STREETS ARE MOVING PEOPLE THE WAY THEY NEED TO DO.
UM, AND WE INCLUDE THESE, THIS SLIDE HERE, LOOKING AT INTERSECTION
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LEVEL OF SERVICE, UM, TO LET FOLKS KNOW THAT WE HAVE THE VEHICULAR, UM, CAPACITY VEHICULAR PERFORMANCE KIND OF RANGE TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT IN DOWNTOWN.UM, OUR INTERSECTIONS HERE, UM, FROM A VEHICULAR STANDPOINT ARE, UM, DO HAVE A VERY HIGH LEVEL OF SERVICE.
UM, SO MAKING THOSE MULTIMODAL IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN OUR DOWNTOWN, WE DON'T ANTICIPATE SIGNIFICANT, UM, DETRIMENTAL IMPACTS TO VEHICULAR LEVEL OF SERVICE, WHICH IS GOOD.
UM, SO WALKING THROUGH, UM, SOME OF THE NETWORK IMPROVEMENTS, AGAIN, ONE OF THE KEY NEEDS HERE WITH ACT IS TO LOOK AT EACH OF THESE STREET CONCEPTS, UM, AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM A NETWORK PERSPECTIVE.
SO THOSE, UM, PRIMARY AND SECONDARY, UH, CHUNKS OF PROJECTS ARE CREATING, UM, TRANSIT ONLY LANES IN A KIND OF, UH, SYSTEMIC WAY THAT ENHANCES, UH, CAT METRO SERVICE.
UM, IT ALSO CREATES, UM, A, AN ALL AGES, UH, BICYCLE NETWORK HERE AS YOU'RE SEEING IN BLUE, UM, IN OUR DOWNTOWN.
UM, SO REALLY THINKING ABOUT THAT FROM A NETWORK PERSPECTIVE.
UM, THE PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, THAT, UM, ARE IN THE ACT PLAN, AGAIN, THIS ALLUDES TO THE PRESENTATION I JUST GAVE.
WE IDENTIFY THOSE NEEDS IN THE ACT PLAN.
THE ACT PLAN IDENTIFIES PRELIMINARY CONCEPTUAL STREET SCAPE APPROACHES FOR ALLOCATING THE RIGHT OF WAY TO ADDRESS THOSE MULTI MULTIMODAL NETWORK NEEDS.
WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE THROUGH THAT PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE THAT I WALKED YOU THROUGH EARLIER FROM THOSE NEEDS, IDENTIFYING PRIORITIES FOR PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING, FROM THOSE 30% DESIGN AND FROM THOSE CONSTRUCTION.
UM, JUST AS DISCUSSED EARLIER, UM, I'VE GOT A COUPLE EXCERPTS, UM, HERE JUST, UH, TO WALK YOU THROUGH WHAT YOU'LL SEE IN THE ACT PLAN.
UM, WHILE THE PLANNING TEAM, UM, KIND OF DELVED INTO NETWORK PERFORMANCE, THEY ALSO DUG IN AND LOOKED AT EACH CORRIDOR IN THE NETWORK TO IDENTIFY, UM, RECOMMENDED CONCEPTS FOR HOW TO ALLOCATE THAT LIMITED RIDE OF WAY SPACE TO THOSE, UH, DEMANDS ON THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.
SO YOU'LL SEE RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, FOR EACH CORRIDOR BROKEN DOWN BY SEGMENT FOR THE NUMBER OF VEHICULAR LANES, UM, FOR, UH, TRANSIT ONLY LANES WHERE THOSE NEED TO RUN.
UM, AND FOR BICYCLE, THE BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN REALM AS WELL.
UM, WE, UH, IN THE ACT PLAN IDENTIFY, UM, THE RECOMMENDED DIMENSIONS FOR THOSE, UH, MULTI THOSE, UH, MODAL COMPONENTS OF THE RIGHT OF WAY AS WELL, UH, WHICH ISN'T REFLECTED ON THIS SCREEN.
UM, WE PROVIDE CONCEPTS IN CROSS SECTION FOR EACH OF OUR STREETS HERE.
WE'RE LOOKING AT A, A CONCEPT FOR FIFTH STREET.
UM, WE ALSO SHOW IT IN KIND OF A PLAN AND METRIC VIEW AS WELL, JUST RECOGNIZING THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF VARIATION THAT HAPPENS WITH A STREET CONCEPT ONCE YOU START, YOU KNOW, GETTING INTO PLAN, EXCUSE ME.
UM, AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT AS WE GET INTO THAT PER, UM, THAT'S WHEN WE'RE GONNA KIND OF GET INTO THIS, UH, WORLD OF WHERE ARE THE UTILITIES LOCATED? CAN THE TREES GO THERE? UM, WHERE ALONG THIS BLOCK FACE DO WE NEED TO KIND OF WEAVE THE BICYCLE LANE TO ACCOMMODATE FOR LOADING AND UNLOADING, UH, TO PROVIDE A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS REALM? WHERE DO WE WANT ALONG THIS BLOCK FACE TO NOT DO THAT SO THAT WE CAN ACCOMMODATE, YOU KNOW, A WIDER PEDESTRIAN REALM EXPERIENCE, YOU KNOW, AND, AND ALLOW FOR THINGS LIKE OUTDOOR DINING.
SO THAT KIND OF, HOW DOES THIS CONCEPT APPLY, NOT JUST A BLOCK BY BLOCK, UM, UH, PERSPECTIVE, BUT SOMETIMES EVEN PARCEL BY PARCEL THAT HAPPENS DURING, UH, THE PR AND THE DESIGN PROCESS.
UM, SO THE NEXT STEP FOR WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IN THESE CONCEPTS IS TO IDENTIFY THOSE PRIORITIES FOR PER AND THEN START TO WORK ON THOSE DETAILS TO FIGURE OUT HOW THE CONCEPT KIND OF HARD LINES A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, DURING DESIGN.
UM, I'LL SKIP THROUGH THE DETAILS.
YOU KNOW, THIS IS WHERE COLE NORMALLY WALKS THROUGH,
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YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE FINER GRAIN DETAILS, UH, THAT THE, IN TERMS OF DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCEPTUAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THOSE SUPPORTING PROJECTS AND, UH, PRELIMINARY PROJECTS.UM, HE IS MUCH MORE CONVERSANT, UM, IN THE DETAILS THAN I AM.
SO PLEASE DO LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY, UM, QUESTIONS UPON HAVING SCANNED THESE THAT I CAN TAKE BACK TO HIM.
AND THEN THESE KIND OF SYSTEM-WIDE STRATEGIES BEYOND KIND OF THE, UH, PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CAPITAL RECOMMENDATIONS ARE THINGS LIKE, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE UPDATE OUR, YOU KNOW, MAYBE PEDESTRIAN OR BICYCLE DESIGN, UH, REQUIREMENTS AND STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES SYSTEM-WIDE TO CREATE KIND OF A FRIENDLIER, UM, BICYCLE ENVIRONMENT, YOU KNOW, NOT JUST DOWNTOWN, BUT SYSTEM-WIDE.
UM, HOW DO WE, UH, PROVIDE FOR THINGS LIKE MOBILITY HUBS, UM, AND MICRO MOBILITY DOWNTOWN? THESE ARE MORE I WOULD CALL, LIKE PROGRAMMATIC IMPROVEMENTS RATHER THAN CAPITAL.
UM, THE, UM, ACT PLAN ALSO ACCOUNTS FOR THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.
SO, UM, WHERE THE RUBBER HITS THE ROAD HERE IS, UM, THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR THESE SO RECOMMENDED PRIMARY AND SECONDARY, UM, CAPITAL PROJECTS.
I'LL START WITH THAT FIRST BULLET.
UM, AND THE ACT PLAN DOES PROVIDE SOME VERY KIND OF PLAN, I WOULD CALL PLANNING LEVEL, UM, UH, COST ESTIMATES, UM, TO HELP US KIND OF IDENTIFY THE, THE, THE LIFT THE, THAT WOULD BE NEEDED TO MOVE FORWARD A BIG PROJECT LIKE, UM, UH, A COMPLETE STREETS PROJECT ON SIXTH STREET OR FIFTH OR OR SEVENTH, FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, THE INTENT WAS JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT CONCEPTUALLY WE WERE RECOMMENDING, UM, DESIGNS AND CONCEPTS RATHER THAT WERE FEASIBLE, UM, AND THAT WE WERE DOING A GOOD JOB COORDINATING THESE CONCEPTS WITH PROJECT CONNECT, WITH THE I 35 CAPITAL EXPRESS, UM, TECH DOT PROJECT.
UM, AND HERE'S JUST KIND OF A CUT SHEET OF WHAT THAT FEASIBILITY AND, UM, ANALYSIS AND, AND PLANNING LEVEL COST ESTIMATE LOOKS LIKE FOR EASE OF THESE.
SO, UM, WE'VE DONE OUR HOMEWORK.
THESE ARE FEASIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, OUR NEXT STEP FOR THESE, UM, IS TO, YOU KNOW, TAKE THESE PRELIMINARY, UM, CIP RECOMMENDATIONS FROM ACT PLAN AND TO RUN THEM THROUGH THAT PROCESS THAT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT, IDENTIFYING ALL OF OUR, YOU KNOW, CIP NEEDS CITYWIDE, UM, IDENTIFYING HOW WE'RE GONNA PRIORITIZE, UM, THOSE NEEDS USING, UM, OUR POLICY MILEPOSTS, AND FIGURING OUT WHICH OF OF THOSE PRELIMINARY ACT PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, WE WOULD WANNA, YOU KNOW, START THE PER PROCESS AND DESIGN PROCESS FOR SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
SO, UM, UH, WE DON'T HAVE WHAT I WOULD CALL AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, PER SE, UM, FOR THE ACT PLAN THAT IDENTIFIES HERE ARE THE FIVE PROJECTS WE'RE GONNA BUILD IN YEARS ONE THROUGH FIVE AND YEARS FIVE THROUGH 10.
THESE NEEDS WILL BE PRIORITIZED AMONGST ALL NEEDS CITYWIDE MOVING FORWARD, UM, AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE PART OF THE DISCUSSION, UM, AS WE IDENTIFY PRIORITIES FOR FUTURE BONDS FOR, UM, GRANT APPLICATIONS, UM, WHEN WE HAVE THOSE CCIP DOLLARS, UM, AVAILABLE TO ALLOCATE.
UM, SO, UH, IN THE COMING WEEKS, UH, WE DO, UH, I'LL JUST START ACTUALLY BY SAYING THIS FULL PLAN IS POSTED ON SPEAK UP.
UM, SO I DO ENCOURAGE YOU IF AND WHEN YOU HAVE TIME TO KIND OF DIG INTO SOME OF THOSE CONCEPTUAL DETAILS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, WE ARE ACTIVELY TAKING, UM, COMMENT AND FEEDBACK ON SPEAKUP, THEN WE'LL BE SUMMARIZING AND BRINGING THAT COMMENT, UM, TO CITY COUNCIL, UM, WITH THE PLAN LATER THIS SPRING.
UM, YOU CAN SEE KIND OF YOUR COMMISSION HERE, KIND OF ONE THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH, UH, FEBRUARY 24TH.
UM, WE, UM, WILL BE PLANNING, UH, BRIEFING PLANNING COMMISSION TOMORROW, UH, UTC AND, UH, OTHERS KIND OF IN THE COMING WEEKS AS WELL.
SO, UM, HAPPY TO TAKE YOUR, UM, FEEDBACK, UM, AS A COMMISSION, UM, IF YOU LIKE.
UM, ALSO, PLEASE, PLEASE DO, UM, FEEL FREE AND, AND ENCOURAGED RATHER TO PROVIDE US INDIVIDUAL FEEDBACK, UM, VIA EMAIL OR VIA THIS KIND OF SPEAK UP VENUE AS WELL.
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ALL COLE HAD QUEUED UP HERE, SO I'M, UM, HAPPY TO TAKE QUESTIONS.ALRIGHT, WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
YEAH, I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION ON, I, YOU HAVE REFERENCED THE GREAT STREETS PLAN SEVERAL TIMES IN YOUR PRESENTATION, AND I'M CURIOUS, IS THIS BEING COORDINATED WITH THE GREAT STREETS MASTER PLAN UPDATE OR WITH THE 2001 GREAT STREETS PLAN? YEAH, THANK YOU.
UH, MY UNDERSTANDING AND, UM, HAPPY TO HEAR FROM MY COLLEAGUES IS, UM, WE'RE SCOPING THE GREAT STREET SEMESTER PLAN UPDATE.
UM, SO THAT HAS NOT KICKED OFF YET.
OUR INTENT HERE IS TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH OUR COLLEAGUES AT GREAT STREETS AS WE, UM, GET INTO THE PER PROCESS AND DOING THAT WORK I MENTIONED OF FIGURING OUT HOW THESE CONCEPTS ACTUALLY HARD LINE, UM, AT A BLOCK BY BLOCK LEVEL.
UM, SO WE'RE KIND OF IN THIS MIDDLE PERIOD KNOWING THAT GREAT STREETS IS GOING TO BE UPDATED SOON.
UM, AND, UM, DEFINITELY I WOULD CALL IT, UM, A CONVERSATION, AN ONGOING CONVERSATION AND COLLABORATION.
AND THEN A SECOND QUESTION TANGENTIAL TO THAT, IS THIS BODY IS WRITING THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, WHICH HEAVILY AFFECT THIS AREA.
AND SO I, IS THE SAME GOING TO BE TRUE? I MEAN, FOR COORDINATING SOME OF YOUR IMPROVEMENTS TANGENTIALLY WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES REWRITE IN ADOPTION PROCESS? UM, I AM, UM, NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT.
IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY MAY BE PUBLIC REALM GUIDELINES OR PRIVATE YEAH.
UM, AGAIN, I THINK THAT, UM, THAT SORT OF, UH, DESIGN DETAIL WOULD COME LATER IN THE PROCESS.
UM, DURING THE DESIGN PROCESS, WE, YOU KNOW, I WOULD CALL WHAT WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW, UM, FAT LINE CONCEPTS, UM, WHEN WE GET TO THINGS LIKE TREE GRATES AND MATERIALITY AND STREET FURNITURE, UM, I THINK THAT SORT OF FINE LINE DETAIL WOULD, WOULD COME IN LATER DURING, UM, YOU KNOW, THE DESIGN AND ENGINEERING WORK.
AND THEN MY FINAL COMMENT ON THIS WOULD BE THAT, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE'VE HEARD THIS SEVERAL TIMES FROM THIS BODY, EVEN JUST TONIGHT, THAT, YOU KNOW, WE KEEP SEEING THESE PLANS THAT ARE PUT OUT TO THE PUBLIC, THAT SHOW THESE GREAT IMAGES AND EVERYTHING HAS TREES IN IT.
AND I'VE WORKED ON TWO CORRIDOR MOBILITY PLANS WHERE WE PLANTED, I THINK A TOTAL OF THREE TREES, UM, FOR THE BURNETT ROAD CORRIDOR AND FOR, FOR TWO PROJECTS RELATED TO THE BURNETT ROAD CORRIDOR.
AND SO WE SHOW ALL THESE IMAGES TO THE PUBLIC WHERE WE SEE THESE BEAUTIFUL TREES AND THESE BEAUTIFUL PLANS.
AND THEN ONCE WE GET INTO ENGINEERING, YOU KNOW, WE'RE BEING TOLD LIKE, OH, NOPE, NOT FEASIBLE.
SO IT, WE'RE SELLING SOMETHING THAT WE'RE NOT REALLY ABLE TO PROVIDE.
SO I WOULD STRONGLY ENCOURAGE Y'ALL TO JUST DOUBLE CHECK WHERE WE'RE, WHERE WE'RE SHOWING THINGS TO, TO THE PUBLIC AND TO OTHER COM BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS THAT IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO BE FEASIBLE WHEN IT'S IMPLEMENTED.
AND, UM, I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER REASON WHY WE'RE TRYING TO GET MUCH MORE, UM, DILIGENT ABOUT THE PHASES OF DESIGN, BECAUSE WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT EARLIER THROUGH THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING PROCESS, IF AND WHERE, AND TO WHAT EXTENT WE HAVE POTENTIAL UTILITY CONFLICTS WITH STREET TREES.
WE'RE SHOWING THEM IN OUR CONCEPTUAL PACKAGE HERE, BECAUSE CONCEPTUALLY THAT IS OUR OBJECTIVE AND WE WANNA MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
UM, THAT COMBINED WITH DOING THE PR EARLIER, COMBINED WITH, UM, A, A CAPITAL APPROACH THAT ESTABLISHES THAT GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE LINE ITEM.
IT'S NOT JUST PAY FOR TREES, BUT MAKING SURE WE'VE GOT ENOUGH MONEY IN THERE TO WORK WITH OUR UTILITY PROVIDERS TO MOVE UTILITIES, UM, WHERE, UM, PRACTICAL, POSSIBLE FEASIBLE.
UM, WE, I THINK WE'VE ALL LEARNED A LOT FROM THE PREVIOUS CORRIDOR PROGRAM EFFORTS.
UM, AND THEN WE KNOW STREET TREES WAS, UM, ONE OF THE BIG, UM, MISSED OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO DO BETTER THIS ROUND VICE CHAIRMAN WINNERS.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, I WOULD LOVE TO BELABOR THE POINT ABOUT THE TREES.
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MAJOR CORRIDORS NORTH OF MARTIN AIRPORT, WHERE THERE HAVE BEEN, UH, RECENT INVESTMENTS.AND I WILL SAY THAT, UM, AS SOMEONE WHO IS TRANSIT DEPENDENT, IT HAS BECOME ALMOST UNUSABLE FOR ME, UH, FIVE MONTHS TO SIX MONTHS OUT OF THE YEAR JUST BASED ON HOW HOT IT IS.
UM, SO TO ME IT'S JUST LIKE THROWING MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN IF WE MAKE THESE INVESTMENTS AND WE DON'T HAVE THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT THEM TO ACTUALLY MAKE THEM USABLE.
UM, SO THAT'S MY FIRST KIND OF SOAPBOX, TANGENT.
UM, THE OTHER, UH, THING THAT I WANT TO MENTION IS THAT ANYTIME WE SEE THESE PLANS ABOUT, UH, MOBILITY DOWNTOWN, WE ALWAYS GET THIS SNAPSHOT OF DOWNTOWN.
AND IT DRIVES ME CRAZY BECAUSE WE LIVE IN A CITY, A METRO AREA THAT EXTENDS FAR BEYOND, FAR BEYOND DOWNTOWN.
IF WE'RE THINKING ABOUT I 35, IF WE'RE THINKING ABOUT PROJECT CONNECT, WE KNOW THAT THAT IS GOING TO HAVE RAMIFICATIONS THAT GO WELL BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF DOWNTOWN.
SO IT'S GREAT TO SEE HOW WE'RE GONNA BE MOVING PEOPLE IN AND OUT OF, UH, THE DOWNTOWN PROPER AREA.
UM, BUT HOW ARE WE GETTING PEOPLE INTO DOWNTOWN? HOW ARE WE GETTING THEM AROUND DOWNTOWN? I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE, THE THINGS THAT'S ALWAYS MISSING IS HOLISTICALLY, WHERE DOES DOWNTOWN FIT INTO THE BROADER PLAN? AND HOW ARE WE GOING TO INCREASE CAPACITY FOR PEOPLE TO GET DOWNTOWN AND TO ENJOY DOWNTOWN AND NOT JUST WORRY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY GET THERE? THANK YOU.
I COULDN'T AGREE MORE WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAID.
UM, I, UM, I AGREE THAT TREES ARE PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, AND CRITICAL TO THE PEDESTRIAN NETWORK.
AND, UM, WE WILL CONTINUE, UM, TO, TO STEP BACK SIMULTANEOUSLY WHILE WE'RE DOING THESE SMALL AREA PLANS, UM, AND LOOK AT THE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK FROM A CITYWIDE PERSPECTIVE AS WELL.
UM, WE ARE, WE HAVE GREAT OPPORTUNITY WITH, UM, THE TRANSIT INVESTMENTS THAT ARE MOVING FORWARD RIGHT NOW, UM, TO HELP ANSWER THAT QUESTION, HOW ARE FOLKS GONNA GET DOWNTOWN? UM, I WILL SAY THAT, UH, MY TEAM AND MY COLLEAGUES AT TRANSPORTATION AND, AND, UM, AS WELL AS OUR, UM, PARTNERS AT OTHER AGENCIES ARE WORKING NOW TO THINK ABOUT, UM, HOW ARE FOLKS GOING TO MOVE AROUND, UH, IN THE NEAR TERM, ESPECIALLY, UH, AS I 35 AND, UM, PROJECT CONNECT.
AND, UM, SEEMINGLY EVERYTHING ELSE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
UM, HOW ARE FOLKS GOING TO, UH, MOVE REGIONALLY AND LOCALLY WITHIN OUR CITY? UM, SO THAT IS, WE DID ACTUALLY JUST, UH, RECEIVE A $50 MILLION GRANT FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, UM, CALLED THE CLIMATE POLLUTION REDUCTION GRANT.
UM, AND WE'RE USING THE $50 MILLION FUNDS, UH, FOR EXACTLY THAT TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE'RE GONNA KEEP FOLKS MOVING OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS AND KEEP PEOPLE MOVING, UM, INTO AND OUT OF DOWNTOWN.
SO THANK YOU FOR THAT COMMENT.
I, I HOPE WE'VE CASHED THAT FEDERAL CHECK QUICKLY.
UM, I, I WANNA SAY I'M, I AM MOSTLY REALLY IMPRESSED BY THE STREET SECTIONS THAT I'M SEEING IN THIS PRESENTATION.
UM, PARTICULARLY THE PROTECTED BIKE LANES THAT SAID, I WOULD OFFER A STRONG WORD OF CAUTION ON THE VEHICLE PARKING ADJACENT TO THE BICYCLE LANES.
UH, I HAVE PERSONALLY WITNESSED SEVERAL CONFLICTS DOWNTOWN ON THIRD STREET WITH PASSENGERS, UH, INTERACTING WITH THOSE BICYCLES, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE BICYCLES ARE COMING FROM BEHIND THEM MM-HMM
AND SO THERE'S A, THERE'S A CONFLICT POINT THERE.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, IF WE'RE TRYING TO MEET THE GOALS OF THE A SMP, WE REALLY WANT TO ENCOURAGE THOSE, THOSE BICYCLES TO TAKE THAT.
UM, SECONDLY, AND THIS SORT OF PIGGYBACKS ON VICE CHAIR MINOR'S COMMENT, AND, AND I RESPECT THE FACT THAT THIS PLAN STARTED SEVERAL YEARS AGO, UM, BUT I WOULD SAY WE'RE SEEING SIGNALS FROM CITY COUNCIL THAT THERE'S A HIGH POSSIBILITY THAT THE SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT AREA COULD BE INCORPORATED INTO DOWNTOWN.
HAS THERE BEEN ANY INTERNAL DISCUSSIONS ABOUT PERHAPS A FUTURE AMENDMENT TO THIS PLAN TO INCLUDE THAT AREA, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THAT, YOU KNOW, EVERYONE KNOWS THE HARDEST THING IN THIS TOWN TO DO IS TO CROSS THE RIVER.
SO, YOU KNOW, HOW WOULD THESE TWO AREAS
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INTERACT? THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.UM, THANK YOU FOR YOUR FIRST COMMENT.
UM, I THINK THERE ARE A LOT OF UNKNOWNS THAT HAVE TO GET WORKED OUT WITH SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT FIRST.
UM, BUT, UM, I THINK JUST SITTING WHERE I AM TODAY THAT, UM, A POTENTIAL AMENDMENT IS NOT OUTSIDE THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY.
UM, BUT THERE HASN'T BEEN ANY DISCUSSION, NO DISCUSSION YET.
I THINK THERE'S JUST NOT ENOUGH NAILED DOWN THERE SURE.
UM, BUT, UM, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A VIABLE FUTURE.
COMMISSIONER HOWARD, I THANK YOU FOR YOUR SECOND PRESENTATION.
UM, UH, I JUST WANTED TO ASK A QUESTION.
I'M, I'M NOT SURE I'M FULLY DIGESTING ALL OF THE MAPS SO QUICKLY, BUT, UM, WHEN YOU COMPARE THE STREET SECTIONS TO THE GREAT STREETS MASTER PLAN, UM, AND ITS TWO-WAY CONVERSIONS, UH, DOES THIS PLAN IMPLEMENT THOSE TWO-WAY CONVERSIONS? UM, DOES IT IMPLEMENT THEM WITH EXCEPTION? CAN YOU KIND OF, UH, COMPARE THOSE TWO FOR US? THE GREAT STREETS MASTER PLAN FROM 2001? YES.
AND I THINK THAT MAY BE IN LARGE PART WHY IT'S BEING UPDATED THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, A LOT HAS HAPPENED BETWEEN NOW AND 2001, AND, YOU KNOW, FRANKLY, MOST OF THE, THE, UH, DIRECTIONALITY CHANGES THAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE ACT, UM, ARE REALLY DRIVEN BY KIND OF MODAL AND CONTEXTUAL NEEDS THAT HAVE EMERGED SINCE, UM, THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, IN THE ENSUING 24 YEARS.
SO, UM, I'M GONNA SAY NO, IT'S NOT, UM, 100% REFLECTIVE.
UM, WE ARE MAKING DIRECTIONAL CHANGES WHERE WE KNOW, UM, ACCESS AND EGRESS FROM THE FREEWAY IS CHANGING SUBSTANTIALLY, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, RAMPS ARE CHANGING VERY MUCH, UM, GIVEN THAT, YOU KNOW, TDOT IS PROPOSING, UM, A NEW, YOU KNOW, WHAT THEY CALL BOULEVARD STYLE FRONTAGE ROAD, UM, ALONG THE EDGE OF DOWNTOWN CIRCULATION PATTERNS ARE GOING TO CHANGE, UM, VERY MUCH.
UM, WE'RE ALSO TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT THE, UM, DIRECTIONALITY IS REFLECTIVE OF WHAT THE TRANSIT NEEDS ARE HERE, UM, AND WHERE WE NEED TO PROVIDE EITHER EAST, WEST OR NORTHBOUND, UM, TRANSIT ONLY LANES.
UM, SO THAT'S A LONG-WINDED WAY OF SAYING NO, NOT EXACTLY, BUT FOR GOOD REASON.
I JUST WANTED TO ADD ONTO THAT ONE.
SO I NOTICED ON THE FIFTH STREET, UM, SECTIONS THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A PORTION OF FIFTH STREET, UM, AS YOU APPROACH THE FRONTAGE ROAD THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN, UM, CONVERTED TO TWO WAY, BUT IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THAT IS CONTINUING.
CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE, THE DECISION PROCESS ON, ON THAT? UM, COMMISSIONER, THAT'S ONE, UH, DETAIL I MAY HAVE TO TAKE BACK TO MY TEAM, UM, JUST NOT HAVING BEEN, UM, IMMERSED DEEP ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER THAT KNOWLEDGEABLY, BUT, UM, I'LL, I'LL GLADLY FOLLOW UP WITH YOU ON THAT.
AND I WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR BOTH YOUR PRESENTATIONS.
UM, I, UM, HAVE BEEN LOOKING, UM, MORE CLOSELY AT THE, THE MAPS AND THE IN PDF AND I, I DO WANT TO ECHO SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN SHARED.
I FEEL AS THOUGH THE CLARITY OF THE INFORMATION, UM, AND, AND THE OPAQUENESS OF WHICH I'M RECEIVING THE INFORMATION IS, IS SOMEWHAT CONCERNING.
UH, I FEEL AS THOUGH THERE'S A SCALE, UH, ISSUE HERE.
IT SOUNDS AS THOUGH, UM, WHAT'S BEEN PUT FORWARD, WHAT'S BEING PRESENTED HAS BEEN, YOU KNOW, ALMOST DECADES IN THE MAKING.
AND, UM, THIS IS GOING TOWARDS COUNCIL AND OTHER COMMISSIONS AFTER US.
HOWEVER, THE MAPS, UH, ARE, UH, VERY HIGH LEVEL, BROAD STROKES.
AND THEN, UM, ZOOMED IN CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVES CONCERNING ELEMENTS OF PER, AS YOU PUT IT, SIGNAGE, LIGHTING, GREENING, UM, THAT ARE NOT NECESSARILY INVOLVED WITHIN THIS PHASE.
AND SO THERE IS CONFUSION ON, ON MY SIDE ANYWAY, UM, WITH THOSE TWO SCALES.
UM, I FEEL AS THOUGH THE BROAD STROKES, UM, WOULD HAVE OR SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN SERVICE OF THIS INFORMATION A WHILE BACK, GIVEN, UM, HOW LONG THIS HAS BEEN IN DISCUSSION.
UM, AND SO TO BE PUTTING IT THROUGH STILL AT SUCH HIGH LEVEL, BROAD STROKES, UM, FOR INFORMATION TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC AS WELL AS THE COMMISSIONS, UM, I FEEL, UH, I I'M NOT ABLE TO FULLY COMPREHEND,
[01:05:01]
UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHETHER THIS IS, UH, ULTIMATELY CAPTURING EVERYTHING WE WOULD IDEALLY LIKE IT TO, UH, THESE SORTS OF, UM, PLANS SHOULD BE VERY FORWARD LOOKING, UM, FORWARD LOOKING TO, YOU KNOW, 20, 35, 20 AND BEYOND.UM, AND SO I, I LOOK AT WHAT'S PRESENTED HERE, AND I WONDER WHEN ARE WE COMING AROUND TO, TO THE NEXT VISION PLAN FOR DOWNTOWN MOBILITY? BECAUSE THIS IS ALREADY SORT OF COVERING ISSUES OF CONCERN TODAY.
HOW IS IT GOING TO TACKLE ISSUES OF CONCERN FOR DOWNTOWN AUSTIN FOR TOMORROW? WE REALLY WANT TO LIMIT, UM, VEHICULAR TRAFFIC IN DOWNTOWN AUSTIN.
UM, THIS IS GOING SOME WAY ON A FEW STREETS TO TACKLE INTERSECTION CONGESTION.
UM, UH, I DON'T REALLY FEEL AS THOUGH THAT'S REALLY, UH, AN OVERVIEW OF FORWARD LOOKING, UM, THAT THAT REALLY IS WHAT THE CITY IS DESERVING.
UM, THERE WILL BE FURTHER DESIGN, UM, FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD.
UM, I THINK EVERYONE'S TALKED ABOUT TREES.
THERE ARE ALTERNATIVE METHODS TO GREENING OTHER THAN TREES PLANTERS, UM, WAYS TO COMBAT HEAT ISLAND EFFECT, UM, THAT WILL NEED SPACE AND ACCOMMODATION.
THEY MAY NOT BE GOING UNDERGROUND IN THE SAME WAY WITH ROOTS, BUT CERTAINLY NEED TO BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION.
I, I'M, I, I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE SEEING A WIDER BICYCLE NETWORK AND MORE PEDESTRIAN, UH, ALLOCATION AROUND WHAT WILL BE THE FUTURE LIGHT RAIL.
UM, I, I'M JUST CURIOUS HOW THE CITY WILL TACKLE, UM, A VISIONING FOR DOWNTOWN FOR THE NEXT, UH, YOU KNOW, 10, 20, 30 YEARS BEYOND THIS.
AND THAT'S NOT REALLY A QUESTION.
I'M JUST VOICING, UM, SHARING MY THOUGHTS AND CONCERNS ABOUT, UM, HOW LONG THIS PLAN HAS TAKEN TO, TO GET TO THIS POINT.
AND PERHAPS IT'S A QUESTION OF HOW COULD THIS PROCESS BE IMPROVED, UM, FOR THE FUTURE VERSIONS OF THIS SAME TYPE OF PLAN.
ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? CHAIR A PAIR OF COMMENTS, UH, IF I MAY.
COMMISSIONER WISH, UH, FIRST REAL FINE GRAINED.
UM, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE CITY, UH, CHARTER PROHIBITS, UH, BICYCLE RIDING ON SIDEWALKS IN CERTAIN SECTIONS OF DOWNTOWN RIGHT NOW.
UM, THESE, THESE OFF STREET BIKE LANES, UM, WHILE PROBABLY A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION ARE THEY MUDDY THE WATER.
SO A, A, A VERY, VERY FINE TUNED PIECE OF, UM, UH, COMMENTARY FOR THE TEAM WOULD BE TO MAYBE LOOK AT HOW THIS PLAN DOES OR DOES NOT CONFLICT WITH, WITH THAT CHARTER.
UM, AND WHETHER CHANGES TO THAT TO, UM, TO THAT REGULATION NEED TO HAPPEN.
UH, UH, ZOOMING OUT, I I ECHO SOME OF THE COMMENTS OF MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS.
I, I WANT TO THROW SUPPORT BEHIND THIS BECAUSE IT IS AN OBVIOUS IMPROVEMENT OVER THE, UH, EXISTING BOARD TRANSPORTATION PLAN.
UM, BUT THAT SAID, I, I HAD THE SAME THOUGHT THAT COMMISSIONER MCKINNEY DID WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE SLIDES IS THAT, UH, THOSE, THOSE NICE LOOKING TREES LOOK A LOT LIKE THE CORRIDOR PLANS DID THAT, UM, THAT WE HAD.
AND WITH THE, WITH THE MARRIAGE OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS TO SEE THIS PLAN BEING TRANSPORTATION ONLY, I WONDER WHO IS, WHO IS OUT THERE, WHO IS GONNA ADVOCATE FOR THE REST OF THAT PUBLIC REALM, IF NOT THIS COMMISSION? UM, SO I, YOU KNOW, TO ME, I PURSUING ANY OF THESE PROJECTS WITHOUT A, WITHOUT A, YOU KNOW, A TECHNICAL GUARANTEE OF STREET TREES, WE WOULD BE, UM, REMISS IN OUR DUTY, UM, IN THE PUBLIC REALM TO, TO, UH, SUPPORT THAT WITHOUT ASSURANCES THAT THE STREET TREES WOULD BE NOT JUST SOMETHING THAT WE THINK IS NICE, UM, BUT SOMETHING THAT IS, THAT YOU DON'T DO THE PROJECTS WITHOUT, WITHOUT THAT, THAT PIECE OF IT.
SO IT'S REALLY HARD FOR ME TO, UH, TO WANNA HAVE THIS COMMISSION PUT SUPPORT BEHIND THE TRANSPORTATION PLAN WITHOUT, WITHOUT STRONGER ASSURANCES OF HOW, HOW THE PUBLIC REALM, UM, IMPROVEMENTS WOULD, WOULD BE, UH, NOT AN AFTERTHOUGHT TO THAT, NOT SOMETHING THAT GETS CAST ASIDE WHEN WE RUN OUTTA MONEY, BUT SOMETHING WHERE THAT IS, UH, AN ESSENTIAL PIECE OF EACH PROJECT.
ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? ALRIGHT, SO THIS, UH, IS, UH, ON THE, UM, AGENDA AS AN ACTION ITEM.
WOULD ANYBODY LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION?
[01:10:02]
NOT AT THIS TIME, COMMISSIONER LADNER.COMMISSIONER LUCIN YOUR MIC, PLEASE.
UH, I RECOMMEND I MAKE A MOTION, I MOVE THAT WE, UH, UH, RECOMMEND APPROVAL OF THIS, UH, A CT PLAN COUNCIL.
SO THE MOTION ON THE TABLE IS THAT WE MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE THIS, UH, A CT PLAN TO COUNCIL.
IS THERE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND.
COMMISSIONER CARROLL'S A SECOND.
UM, AND SO ANYBODY LIKE TO MAKE ANY DISCUSSIONS OR ANY, UH, AMENDMENTS, FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS? IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE WAS A COUPLE OPPORTUNITIES THERE TO ADD SOME COMMISSIONER MCKINNEY, I THINK ON ONE OF THE SLIDES THAT WAS PRESENTED, THERE WAS A REQUIRED COORDINATION WITH THE I 35 EXPANSION PLAN AND ONE OTHER, ONE OTHER PLAN THAT I DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO WRITE DOWN.
UM, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BEHOOVE US TO REQUIRE CONTIN TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S REQUIRED COORDINATION BETWEEN THE GREAT STREETS MASTER PLAN UPDATE AND THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES UPDATE THAT'S OCCURRING.
UM, AND TO, AND I GUESS TO REQUIRE, I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THIS NEEDS TO BE STATED WITH THE COUNCIL DIRECTION ON THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT CONTINUED COORDINATION WITH THE, THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE WORKING GROUP AT THE CITY.
I THINK THOSE THREE ENTITIES NEED TO BE PART OF THE REQUIRED COORDINATION ON THIS MOVING FORWARD.
SO YOU'RE PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO REQUIRE THAT COORDINATION BETWEEN GREAT STREETS, THE GREAT STREETS UPDATES, THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDE, UH, URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINE UPDATES, AND THE CONTINUED COORDINATION WITH THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE WORKING GROUP.
IT WASN'T A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT YET.
IT WAS MORE JUST KIND OF POSING IT OUT THERE TO THE GROUP TO SEE IF OKAY.
THOSE WERE GOTCHA ITEMS THAT WE THOUGHT WERE RELEVANT TO THIS.
I MEAN, TO BE QUITE HONEST, I, I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THIS IS SOME, HOW THIS FITS IN WITH SOMETHING THAT THIS BODY WOULD RECOMMEND OR NOT RECOMMEND.
I, TO ME, THIS IT'S SO HIGH LEVEL AND I MEAN, WHAT, WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES AND WHAT WE OVERSEE AS PART OF THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM AND THE CITY, YOU KNOW, AND, AND OUR CITY, YOU KNOW, SUSTAINABILITY GUIDELINES.
I DON'T, I DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHY THAT THIS IS SOMETHING AT ALL THAT THIS BODY IS RECOMMENDING OR NOT RECOMMENDING.
UM, I THINK A BRIEFING WAS, WOULD BE, WOULD'VE BEEN SUFFICIENT.
UM, I JUST DON'T THINK PERSONALLY THIS FALLS WITHIN OUR PURVIEW.
ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE QUESTIONS, COMMENTS ABOUT THAT? UH, COMMISSIONER HOWARD? UM, I, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT, UH, WHAT WE HEARD FROM MICHELLE PERHAPS WAS THAT THIS WASN'T A REQUIRED ACTION FROM US.
UM, YEAH, THAT, UH, IT'S GOING TO PLANNING COMMISSION, YOU KNOW, IT'S, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE NOT, UH, REQUIRED STOP ON THIS RAILROAD.
UM, BUT THEY'RE COMING HERE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, UH, TO SEEK OUR, OUR INPUT AND BUY-IN.
UM, AND I THINK IN, IN THAT, I THINK URBAN, YOU KNOW, THE DESIGN COMMISSION OR, UH, AS I WOULD LIKE TO CALL IT THE URBAN DESIGN COMMISSION, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT THERE ARE, THERE ARE A LOT OF, THIS IS VERY HIGH LEVEL, BUT THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS THAT FALL TO THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL.
UM, BUT YEAH, I, I WOULD, I KIND OF ECHO A, A NUMBER OF THE THINGS THAT OTHER FOLKS HAVE SAID ABOUT KINDA THE LEVEL OF DETAIL.
IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT IS TOUGH WITHOUT THE ASSURANCES, UM, THAT URBAN DESIGN IS CONSIDERED, UM, APPROPRIATELY.
LIKE, WHEREAS AT A HIGH ENOUGH LEVEL WHERE IT'S DIFFICULT TO KNOW, UM, AND THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING, UH, WILL HAPPEN AFTER.
UM, AND SO I, IT IS, I, WHILE I, WHILE I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT I, I THINK THIS IS WITH, THIS SHOULD BE WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF URBAN DESIGN.
I ALSO DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE ENOUGH DETAIL, UM, TO MAKE A DETERMINATION, UH, WHETHER THIS BODY SHOULD RECOMMEND.
SO COMMISSIONER LADNER QUESTION TO THE, THIS WORK, TO THE, UH, DESIGN GUIDELINE WORKING GROUP.
AND THAT WOULD BE, DO THEY SEE ANY, UH, POTENTIAL
[01:15:01]
CONFLICT WITH THIS PLAN AND WHERE THEY ARE THUS FAR WITH THE GUIDELINES? SO YOUR COMMENT WAS TO, UH, TO COORDINATE WITH THE WORKING GROUP? YEAH, I'D JUST LIKE TO WONDER, I MEAN, THE WORKING GROUP IS RIGHT HERE,UM, THE, THE SHORT ANSWER IS THAT THIS IS A, A HIGH LEVEL DOCUMENT, UH, WHEREAS THE GUIDELINES, YOU KNOW, DIVE MUCH DEEPER THAN THIS.
SO ON A HIGH LEVEL, THERE'S NO INHERENT CONFLICTS THAT I SEE.
BUT AGAIN, THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS, RIGHT? THE, THE INTERNAL DRAFT WAS SENT TO TPW AND THEY PROVIDED SOME COMMENTS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THE FOLKS WORKING ON THIS PLAN WERE, WERE THE ONES THAT PROVIDED COMMENTS, BUT WE DID RECEIVE COMMENTS ON THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE GUIDELINES.
COMMISSIONER HOWARD, I, UM, I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE THINGS IN THE DRAFT GUIDELINES THAT WOULD BE RELATED TO THIS.
AND WE MAY BE, YOU KNOW, THIS PLAN, DEPENDING ON HOW IT'S EXECUTED, UM, COULD PRECLUDE, UM, CERTAIN GUIDELINES FROM BEING MET, UM, RELATED TO STREET DESIGN.
UM, AND I, I WOULD SAY SOME OF THOSE, UH, ARE RELATED TO, YOU KNOW, MINIMIZING CROSSING DISTANCES AND, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, PHYSICAL PROTECTION FOR BIKES AND PETS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK, AND THEN ALSO, UH, PROTECTION FROM, UM, THE ELEMENTS.
UH, I THINK THERE'S A NUMBER OF THINGS THAT, OBVIOUSLY THE RIGHT OF WAY DESIGN HAVE A HUGE, UH, IMPACT ON, UH, ALMOST EXCLUSIVE IMPACT ON, UM, BUT, UH, BASED ON THE LEVEL WHERE WE ARE, IT'S, UM, IT'S, IT, IT'S KIND OF, IT'S CHALLENGING BECAUSE IF NOT CONSIDERED AT THIS LEVEL, WE MAY NOT GET IT.
UM, BUT ALSO IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO GET A IN-DEPTH UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT'S, WHAT'S PRACTICAL AND FEASIBLE AND WHAT, UM, WHAT DESIGN PRIORITIES ARE GONNA BE MADE IN THE, IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS PLAN, UH, FROM THIS, FROM THIS, UH, LEVEL OF DOCUMENT.
THAT BEING SAID, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A VERY CONVENTIONAL APP.
I I WOULDN'T SAY CONVENTIONAL, BUT IT'S, UM, THIS IS NOT PARTICULARLY ABSTRACT FOR A PLANNING DOCUMENT.
UM, AND SO IT, WELL, WELL, I FIND OUR POSITION A LITTLE BIT CHALLENGING.
COMMISSIONER GILLIS, THANK YOU, CHAIR.
I THINK JUST TO CONTINUE ON FROM, UM, WHAT COMMISSIONER HOWARD WAS JUST SAYING, I THINK ONE ELEMENT THAT JUMPS OUT AT ME AS BEING EXCLUDED FROM THIS, IF I JUST LOOK AT THE PROJECT COST, UM, COST ESTIMATE BREAKDOWN, AGAIN, I'M AWARE THIS IS VERY HIGH LEVEL, BUT IT'S, IT, THE DELLS IN THE DETAIL, THINGS THAT ARE NOT INCLUDED AT THIS STAGE RUN THE RISK OF NOT BEING EVER INCLUDED.
UM, SIGNAGE WAY FINDING, I THINK THOSE SORTS OF ELEMENTS ARE PART OF A COHESIVE PLAN FOR MOBILITY FOR DOWNTOWN AUSTIN.
I DON'T SEE ANY MENTION OF, OF ALLOCATION WITHIN ANY OF THESE COST BUCKETS FOR, UH, A COMPREHENSIVE WAY FINDING, UM, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE AS PART OF THIS.
AND I THINK THOSE ELEMENTS IN, IN, AS IT'S PART OF OUR PURVIEW, GO A LONG WAY FOR PUBLIC SAFETY, UM, FOR ACCESSIBILITY, UM, CERTAINLY IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT BIKE ROUTE AND TRANSIT ROUTE AND, UM, ORIENTATION WITHIN DOWNTOWN, I WOULD SEE THAT AS A HUGE ELEMENT THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN THIS COST.
UM, ESTIMATE BREAKDOWN AT THIS STAGE, EVEN JUST AS A LINE WITHIN, UH, WHAT SEEMS TO BE HERE, LANDSCAPE, PEDESTRIAN STREETSCAPE, AND BIKE LANES, I WOULD INCLUDE WAY FINDING AND SIGNAGE AND THEN ADD THAT, UH, AS A, AS A SORT OF ESTIMATE SO THAT IT DOESN'T GET LEFT OUT FURTHER DOWN, DOWN THE LINE.
UM, I, I FIND IT VERY CONCERNING HOW, HOW HIGH LEVEL THIS IS, UM, BECAUSE WE'VE SEEN WHAT HAPPENS FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD WITHIN THESE SORTS OF, UM, PROJECTS.
ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS? QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? UM, I, I'LL JUST MAKE A COMMENT THAT I'M, I'M WONDERING, AND THIS IS JUST ME TRYING TO WORK IT OUT AS WELL, IS, IS THERE A MISSED OPPORTUNITY HERE FOR US TO EMPHASIZE THOSE ITEMS THAT CAME UP IN THE COMMENTS, UM, THAT WE COULD INCLUDE AS AMENDMENTS, AS FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS, SO THAT THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT, WHAT THE CONCERNS ARE.
[01:20:01]
UM, AND AT LEAST THAT GETS VISIBILITY GOING INTO COUNSEL.UM, ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT? MAKING FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS, COMMISSIONER HOWARD? UH, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD IDEA AND CONCEPT.
UM, SOME OF THE KEY ITEMS THAT I, I HEARD WERE, UM, MAKING STREET TREES A MANDATORY ELEMENT IN THESE, UM, MOBILITY PROJECTS.
UH, IF THERE'S OTHERS, OTHER AMENDMENTS, OTHERS WOULD LIKE TO ADD, JUST I'M TYPING HERE.
UH, UM, SO I'M, I'M ASSUMING YOU'RE PROPOSING THAT AS A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT, SO WE JUST GOTTA GET YES.
UM, ON THE SUBJECT OF FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS, UH, AT TWO, I WOULD OFFER ONE THAT THE, UM, AND THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, THAT THE COST ESTIMATES BE RECONFIGURED TO REFLECT, UH, LANDSCAPE AS A BASIC PART BASE IN THE BASE PRICE OF THE, OF THE INDIVIDUAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS RATHER THAN A LINE ITEM.
UM, AND, AND SECONDLY THAT, UH, THAT COORDINATION WITH TEXT ON THE I 35, UH, PROJECT, NOT, UH, I'M TRYING TO THINK OF HOW TO WORD THIS, NOT, UM, UNWITTINGLY, UM, USE LEVEL OF SERVICE COORDINATION, UM, TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE HEALTH AND SAFETY, UH, UH, OF STREET USERS WITHIN THE, THE STREET GRID.
I'M TRYING TO THINK OF A LESS WALKY WAY TO SAY THAT.
BASICALLY I DON'T, I DON'T WANT TXDOT LEVEL SPEEDS AND LEVEL OF SERVICE BLEEDING INTO THE CITY GRID AS OPPO AS A, AS AN, UH, UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF THIS COORDINATION.
DID YOU SAY TEXDOT LEVEL SPEEDS? UH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I SAID.
UM, SO WHEN, WHEN WE'RE COORDINATING WITH WHAT, WHAT TXDOT IS DOING, UM, UNLESS, UNLESS THEY'RE GOING TO, UM, ADOPT, YOU KNOW, STANDARDS FOR THEIR, FOR THEIR, UH, FRONTAGE ROADS THAT HAVE THEM BEHAVING MORE LIKE CITY STREETS WITH REGARD TO BOTH STREETSCAPE DESIGN AND SIGNAL TIMING, UM, MY CONCERN IS THAT I, UH, I'LL FOCUS ON COORDINATING LEVEL OF SERVICE WITH I 35, MAY INTRODUCE HIGHER VEHICLE SPEEDS AND MORE VEHICLES INTO THE CITY GRID.
OH, MAYBE I, I DON'T, NOT QUITE SURE HOW TO MAKE THAT, IF, IF ANY OF MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS CAN HELP ME TURN THAT INTO ACTUAL WORDING OF A, OF A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT.
WE'LL GO WITH YOUR FIRST FRIENDLY AMENDMENT.
UM, THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN TO PROPOSE THAT THE IMPLEMENTATION IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, THAT THE COST ESTIMATE OF, UH, STREET TREES AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE BE PART OF THE BASE ESTIMATES AND NOT A LINE ITEM.
DO YOU, DO YOU GUYS ACCEPT? YES.
COMMISSIONER CARROLL, DO YOU ACCEPT THIS FRIENDLY AMENDMENT? YES.
AND THEN THE SECOND OR THE THIRD FRIENDLY AMENDMENT IS THAT COORDINATION WITH T DOT, UM, DOES NOT ALLOW FOR HIGH SPEEDS OR TEXT LEVEL SPEEDS LEADING INTO DOWNTOWN STREETS.
WILL THAT WORK FOR YOU? COMMISSIONER TRE? YES, CHAIR.
AND COMMISSIONER CARROLL, DO YOU ACCEPT THIS? YES.
ALRIGHT, CHAIR, TO MY, TO MY, UH, ONE LAST ONE TO MY EARLIER COMMENT, UM, ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS IF THESE CAPITAL PROJECTS DO NOT INCLUDE THE, THE REST OF THE STREETS SCAPE IMPROVEMENTS THAT, THAT MATTER TO THE, THIS COUNT COMMISSION AS A POINT OF ORDER.
WOULD PROJECTS UNDER THIS PLAN BE SUBJECT TO DESIGN COMMISSION REVIEW FOR THE URBAN DESIGN STANDARDS? MY MY ASSUMPTION IS NO.
AND IF NOT, COULD WE HAVE A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT THAT, THAT THE PLAN RECOMMEND THAT THESE CAPITAL PROJECTS INVOLVING THE STREETSCAPE BE BROUGHT TO THE DESIGN COMMISSION?
[01:25:10]
ALL RIGHT.SO THE FRIENDLY AMENDMENT THAT, UH, YOU REC THE PLAN RECOMMENDS THESE PROJECTS BE BROUGHT, UH, TO THE DESIGN COMMISSION.
UH, COMMISSIONER LUIN, DO YOU ACCEPT THIS FRIENDLY AMENDMENT? DO WE TYPICALLY LOOK AT CIP PROJECTS OF THIS NATURE? NOT TYPICALLY, NO.
AND I THINK WE'RE PROBABLY GONNA TALK ABOUT THAT LATER, BUT NO.
UH, DOES THAT FALL, DOES IT EVEN FALL WITHIN OUR CHARTER, WITHIN OUR PURVIEW CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT OF THIS NATURE? OR DOES THAT, BECAUSE YOU KNOW, THERE'S AN INFRASTRUCTURE SECTION OF THE, OF THE DESIGN GUIDELINES.
BUT SO, SO I SUPPOSE WE'D WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THESE, THAT THESE CAPITAL PROJECTS FIT IN WITH OUR DESIGN GUIDELINES, UH, DESIGN GUIDELINE CRITERIA FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS.
SO, WITH HAVING SAID THAT, I GUESS I'LL ACCEPT THIS.
FRIENDLY AMENDMENT COMMISSIONER CAROL? YES.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS, QUESTIONS? UH, VICE CHAIR MINS? YEAH.
I KNOW THIS IS PUSHING IT A LITTLE OUT OF THE SCOPE OF WHAT WE WOULD NORMALLY DO, BUT SINCE IT'S A RECOMMENDATION, I DON'T SEE THE HARM IN, UH, SUGGESTING THIS.
UM, BUT I DO THINK WE NEED A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT THAT, UM, HAS AN INCLUSION OF MULTIMODAL CAPACITY PLANNING, UH, IN AND OUT OF DOWNTOWN BEYOND THE URBAN CORE, THAT THE PLAN INCLUDES A MULTI, OR THE, THE FRIENDLY AMENDMENT.
IS THAT THE PLAN WOULD INCLUDE A MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN IN AND OUT OF THE URBAN CORE, IS THAT CORRECT? CORRECT.
I THINK IT'S GREAT TO LOOK AT THE URBAN CORE MICROSCOPICALLY, BUT WHEN WE DON'T LOOK AT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE NET, HOW IT FITS INTO THE BROADER NETWORK, UH, YOU KNOW, IT ALMOST RENDERS, UH, THE PLAN USELESS WITHOUT THAT UNDERSTANDING.
AND COMMISSIONER LUKINS, DO YOU ACCEPT THIS FRIENDLY AMENDMENT? UH, I, I WOULD'VE THOUGHT THAT, THAT IT'S IMPLICIT THAT THIS, UH, UH, THIS, THAT THIS DOWNTOWN PLAN FITS IN WITH OUR, THE NET LARGER NETWORK.
BUT MAYBE LET'S GO AHEAD AND MAKE IT EXPLICIT.
AND SO I'LL ACCEPT THIS FRIENDLY AMENDMENT.
COMMISSIONER CARROLL, DO YOU ACCEPT THIS FRIENDLY AMENDMENT? YES.
WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO READ ALL THOSE, UM, PARDON ME, CHAIR.
SO ALL, ALSO THE FRIENDLY, THOSE WHO MADE A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT WOULD HAVE TO ACCEPT THE, THE PREVIOUS ADDED FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS.
SO WE'RE GONNA START FROM THE BEGINNING, I THINK WAS, UM, COMMISSIONER HOWARD, DO YOU ACCEPT, I ACCEPT.
DO YOU ACCEPT THE FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS PROPOSED BY THE VARIOUS COMMISSIONERS AND YES.
AND COMMISSIONER, UH, VICE CHAIR MINORS, DO YOU ACCEPT THOSE FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS? YES.
UM, COMMISSIONER, WHICH DRUG I ACCEPT, AND I BELIEVE THAT'S IT.
IS, AM I MISSING SOMEBODY THAT I DON'T THINK SO.
SO DO I NEED TO READ THIS OUT LOUD OR ARE WE GOOD? CHAIR? IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RESTATE THE MOTION AS A WHOLE AND THEN WE COULD TAKE A VOTE.
UM, THE MOTION IS THAT THE, UM, IS IS THAT WE SUPPORT THE AUSTIN CORE TRANSPORTATION, UH, PLAN, UH, WITH A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MAKING STREET TREES MANDATORY, THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, UH, THAT GREEN COST AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ESTIMATES BE PART OF THE BASE ESTIMATES AND NOT ALIGNED ITEM THAT THE COORDINATION WITH TXDOT LEVEL SPEEDS LEADING INTO DOWNTOWN STREET COORDINATION WITH TXDOT LEVEL SPEEDS IS COORDINATED, UH, TO REDUCE LEADING SPEEDS INTO DOWNTOWN STREETS.
UM, WE WOULD RECOMMEND THAT THESE PROJECTS BE BROUGHT TO THE DESIGN COMMISSION, AND WE WOULD LIKE TO RECOMMEND THAT THE PLAN INCLUDES
[01:30:01]
A MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN IN AND OUT OF THE URBAN CORE.WE'LL GET THE RECOMMENDATION WRITTEN UP AND POSTED.
[4. Discussion and action to create a working group on improving sidewalk design. Sponsors: Chair Salinas and Commissioners Howard and Gelles.]
IS A DISCUSS, IS A DISCUSSION, UH, AND ACTION ITEM, UH, FOR THE DISCUSSION ACTION ITEM TO CREATE A WORKING GROUP ON IMPROVING SIDEWALK DESIGN.UM, THIS IS SOMETHING WE DISCUSSED BRIEFLY IN OUR LAST MEETING, UM, WANTED TO SEE IF WE WANTED TO TAKE THIS TO THE NEXT LEVEL, CREATE A WORKING GROUP.
WE CAN START THE DISCUSSION ON IT.
UM, ANYONE HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT, ABOUT THIS? THE THOUGHT WAS OF, UH, IN, IN, IN SUPPORT OF THE NO PARKING, UH, MANDATORY, UH, THE MAN WHERE THE NO PARKING, UM, ITEM THAT WAS PASSED, THAT THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO INCREASE SIDEWALK WIDTHS, OP, YOU KNOW, POSSIBLY, UM, TO SUPPORT LACK OF VEHICULAR TRAFFIC.
UM, AND IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WANNA DISCUSS AND STUDY AND CREATE A WORKING GROUP FOR, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DISCUSSING.
ANY INTEREST? COMMISSIONER HOWARD? UM, I, I WAS MADE AWARE OF A, UH, EFFORT.
I'M NOT SURE TO WHAT LEVEL THIS EFFORT'S BEING, UM, TAKEN, BUT, UM, BY, UM, SOME, UH, LAURA KEATING AT THE CITY, UM, WHO IS STUDYING EXISTING STREETSCAPE STANDARDS CITYWIDE.
UM, I THINK IT'S A, YOU KNOW, IT ISN'T, UH, COMPLETELY STRAIGHTFORWARD.
UM, THESE, THESE STANDARDS ARE KIND OF IMPLEMENTED, UH, ACROSS CRITERIA MANUALS AND, AND, UM, AND, UM, AND WITHIN THE LE UH, LEGISLATIVE SORT OF RULES AS WELL.
UM, SO HAVING THAT AS A BASELINE MIGHT BE HELPFUL.
UM, UH, BUT I, UM, I THINK IF I'M UNDERSTANDING THE INTENT, THE, THIS STUDY WOULD REALLY LOOK AT THE EXISTING WITS THAT ARE REQUIRED AND POTENTIALLY, UH, RECOMMEND APPROPRIATE, UH, INCREASES IN THE MINIMUM REQUIRED WITS, AND THEN RECOMMEND THAT TO COUNSEL.
IS THAT THE INTENT? THAT IS CORRECT.
AND I THINK, UM, YEAH, SORRY, I DIDN'T WORD THAT CORRECTLY, BUT YES, THAT IS CORRECT.
UM, AND I KNOW THERE'S A FEW AVENUES THAT ARE SIMILARLY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS OR INTERESTED IN, IN THIS.
SO, UM, AND THIS, THIS SPECIFIC ITEM IS JUST TO POSSIBLY TO CREATE A WORKING GROUP, UH, THAT WOULD, UH, START DIGGING INTO THAT OP OPPORTUNITY.
SO I'M ASSUMING IF WE WANT TO CREATE A WORKING GROUP, THIS IS A, A VOTE SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DO FOR EVERYTHING ELSE.
UH, COMMISSIONER HOWARD, CAN, CAN WE, UM, DETERMINE LEVEL OF INTEREST BEFORE WE CREATE A WORKING GROUP? SURE.
IS ANYBODY INTERESTED IN THIS? COMMISSIONER GALES.
YES, I, I'M CERTAINLY INTERESTED.
I THINK THIS, THIS STILL FOR ME, UM, FALLS UNDER THE QUESTION MARK OF HOW THIS GROUP, UM, OVERSEES INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN GENERAL IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
I WOULD SEE SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS IN, IN MY OPINION, AS BEING, UM, A CROSSOVER BETWEEN THAT INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENT AND THE URBAN REALM AND PEDESTRIAN PEDESTRIAN REALM.
UH, I HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST, UM, IN LOOKING AT THAT INFRASTRUCTURE COMPONENT, AND SO I AM ALSO INTERESTED IN, IN TAKING THIS ON AS WELL AS A STARTING POINT FOR THAT.
UM, VICE CHAIR MINERS, I'M JUST WONDERING IF THIS COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH, UH, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER MEANS BY POTENTIALLY JUST, YOU KNOW, HAVING, UH, COMMISSIONER GALLES, UM, OR, YOU KNOW, UH, MAYBE EVEN, UM, A FEW COMMISSIONERS, UH, SPONSOR BRINGING IN SOME OF THE STAKEHOLDERS, UH, JUST TO GET A SENSE OF KIND OF WHAT'S UNDERWAY.
UM, AND THEN MAYBE IF THERE IS A NEED BASED ON THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR, UM, PROVIDING ADDITIONAL INSIGHT, UH, KIND OF GOING FROM THERE.
UM, SO THAT'S JUST MY SUGGESTION.
ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS QUESTIONS? UH, COMMISSIONER HOWARD, I, I SUPPORT, UM,
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UH, COMMISSIONER GILLES, UH, TO, UH, REPRESENT THE DESIGN COMMISSION IN COORDINATING THIS EFFORT? UH,I DON'T, I DON'T, I DON'T
WHO WAS THE PERSON THAT YOU MENTIONED IN, UH, UH, LAURA.
UM, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT, DO YOU KNOW IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT COULD BE PRESENTED TO US AS FAR AS WHAT SHE'S BEEN WORKING ON AND THINK? I HAVE NO IDEA.
SO I, I THINK THERE, WE NEED A KIND OF AN INITIAL STEP JUST TO SEE WHAT EXACTLY THE PROJECT IS BEFORE, UM, BEFORE ASKING.
ANY FOR A PRESENTATION OF ANY SORT.
YES, PRIOR TO ME CHAIR, IF, IF Y'ALL WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST A BRIEFING, UM, AS A FUTURE ITEM, UM, FROM LAURA, WE CAN REACH OUT AND COORDINATE THAT IF, IF Y'ALL WOULD LIKE A BRIEFING BEFORE DECIDING TO CREATE A WORKING GROUP.
YEAH, I THINK WE'RE GOING TO NEED A BRIEFING IF SHE'S THE RIGHT PERSON.
IF THERE'S ANY, IS THERE ANYONE ELSE THAT IS ALSO INVOLVED WITH GOT EYEBALLS IN THIS? SORRY, IF I MAY, COMMISSIONER? YEAH.
COMMISSIONER HOWARD MIGHT KNOW MORE.
I I WILL JUST, UH, CAVEAT, UM, THAT I DON'T THINK I, I'M NOT CERTAIN ON WHAT THE, THE, UM, SCOPE OF LAURA'S WORK IS.
I JUST KIND OF, AS PART OF THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE WORKING GROUP HEARD THAT SHE WAS COMPILING THIS INFORMATION.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT, WHAT TO WHAT IN, UM, WHAT EXTENTS OR, OR HOW.
UM, SO I THINK IT'S REALLY, WE'RE NOT EVEN AT THE REQUESTING A, A BRIEFING.
WE'RE MORE AT LIKE, CAN, UH, CAN SOMEBODY JUST REACH OUT AND ASK WHAT'S GOING ON AND, AND KIND OF, UH, UNDERSTAND THE LAY OF THE LAND AS FAR AS THIS EFFORT GOES.
DO Y'ALL THINK, UH, THAT IT'S POSSIBLE JUST TO REACH OUT AND JUST GET IT, SEE IF WHAT, AND IF, YES, I CAN REACH OUT AND, AND SEE WHERE STAFF IS AT ON THAT.
AND IF IT SEEMS APPROPRIATE TO COME GIVE A BRIEFING THEN, AND IF NOT, HAPPY TO RELAY THAT THE INFORMATION AND LET YOU KNOW WHERE, WHERE STAFF IS AT WITH THAT STUDY, OR, OR WHAT IS BEING PLANNED TO MOVE FORWARD WITH, WITH SIDEWALK DESIGN.
SO THEN WE'LL JUST, UH, SHELVE THIS WORKING GROUP OPTION TO MOVE TO OUR NEXT ITEM.
[5. Discussion of past Downtown Density Bonus Program projects from the past ten years to conduct analysis on outcomes. Sponsors: Chair Salinas and Commissioners Carroll, Howard, Gelles, and McKinney]
RIGHT.SOME DISCUSSION ITEMS, UM, DISCUSSION OF THE PAST DOWNTOWN DENSITY PROGRAM PROJECTS FROM THE LAST 10 YEARS TO CONDUCT ANALYSIS ON OUTCOMES.
DO WE HAVE ANY PRESENTATION? ANYONE GONNA PRESENT CHAIR? WE DON'T HAVE A PRESENTATION FOR THIS ITEM, BUT WE HAD PREVIOUSLY SHARED, UM, THE PROJECT LIST, UM, AS WELL AS, UM, THE PACKETS FOR THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM PROJECTS.
I'M NOT SURE IF ANYONE, UH, IF EVERYONE HAS HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK THROUGH THAT, UH, THOSE FOLDERS WITH THOSE PROJECTS, AND THEN SEE THE DATA THAT WAS PROVIDED, UM, IF ANYONE HAS ANYTHING THEY'D LIKE TO COMMENT ON AND DISCUSS.
COMMISSIONER MCKINNEY? I DON'T HAVE ANY DIRECT COMMENTS ON IT, JUST 'CAUSE WE ONLY GOT THEM NOT TOO LONG AGO.
UM, I THINK WE MAY JUST CARRY, I WOULD PROPOSE THAT WE CARRY THIS OVER AS A DISCUSSION ITEM FOR THE NEXT MEETING SO THAT WE ALL HAVE TIME TO GO THROUGH THOSE AND DO, IT WAS GONNA REQUIRE A LITTLE HOMEWORK ON OUR PART.
SO, UM, I PROPOSE WE KEEP IT AS A DISCUSSION ITEM FOR THE NEXT MEETING SO THAT WE CAN ALL DO A LITTLE DIGGING AND MAYBE COME TO THE NEXT MEETING WITH ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNED.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? I AGREE WITH THAT.
SO WE'RE GONNA MOVE FORWARD ON OUR
[6. Discussion on types of city projects that are required to present to the Design Commission. Sponsors: Chair Salinas and Commissioner Gelles]
NEXT ITEM, UH, DISCUSSION ON THE TYPES OF CITY PRODUCTS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO PRESENT TO THE DESIGN COMMISSION.SO ON ON THE, I THINK THIS QUESTION CAME UP FROM, UH, COMMISSIONER GALLES, UH, REACHING OUT ABOUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE PORTION OF THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES, AND THAT WE ARE PUTTING
[01:40:01]
A HOLD ON THAT UNTIL WE GOT PAST THIS HURDLE OF THE, OF THIS GETTING THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES OUT, UH, AND THEN REVISITING IT.UM, BUT THEN IN OUR DISCUSSION ABOUT IT, OF WHAT TYPES OF PROJECTS DO WE ACTUALLY REVIEW? YOU KNOW, WE'VE SEEN SUBSTATIONS, UM, AND THEN WE'VE SEEN POOLS, UM, BEING DONE.
SO WHAT IS INVOLVED? I ALWAYS SEE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IS ANYTHING THAT'S CITY RELATED, WHETHER IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, A POOL RENOVATION OR A SUBSTATION.
SO I THINK GETTING SOME CLARITY ON THOSE TYPES OF PROJECTS OF WHAT TYPES OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS WE NEED TO LOOK AT WOULD BE GOOD.
AND THEN WHAT WE'RE MEASURING THEM AGAINST.
SO, UM, CHAIR, WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO WEIGH IN? YEAH, IF, IF YOU'VE GOT INFORMATION ON THAT, AND IF, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T HAVE IT PULLED UP THE, UH, THE CODE PORTION THAT, THAT SPELLS OUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE DESIGN COMMISSION DOES OR REVIEWS.
AND HOPEFULLY Y'ALL RECEIVED THE EMAIL THAT I SENT OUT, I THINK IT WAS LAST WEEK, ABOUT THE, THE TOPIC OF CITY DESIGN AND SUSTAINABILITY, UH, REQUIRE STANDARDS.
UM, THAT IS THE LANGUAGE THAT COMES UP IN THE RESOLUTION.
SO THE, THE WORKFLOW FOR THE DESIGN COMMISSION IS SET BY CITY COUNCIL, AND THAT IN CITY COUNCIL DOES THAT THROUGH RESOLUTIONS OR THROUGH ORDINANCES.
SO WE SEE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROJECTS THAT SHOWS UP IN THE CODE, SO THAT THAT IS IN AN ORDINANCE.
AND THEN WHEN IT COMES TO CITY PROJECTS, UM, WHICH I THINK CHAIRS WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO, INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, THAT SHOWS UP IN TWO, REALLY THREE DIFFERENT RESOLUTIONS.
AND THOSE ARE OUTLINED AND HYPERLINKED IN THAT PDF THAT I ATTACHED.
UM, IT'S CALLED THE DESIGN COMMISSION WORKFLOW IN THE EMAIL THAT I SHARED.
AND SO THE, THE RESOLUTIONS, THERE'S, THERE'S TWO THAT TALK ABOUT CITY BUILDINGS.
ONE FOCUSES, ONE IS, IS ESSENTIALLY THE ORIGINAL ONE, AND IT TALKS ABOUT CITY BUILDINGS AND ASSOCIATED SITE DEVELOPMENT THAT SHOULD SEEK A RECOMMENDATION FROM DESIGN COMMISSION BASED ON CITY DESIGN AND SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS.
SO THAT'S PRETTY VAGUE, AND I THINK THAT'S WHY THIS IS ALWAYS COMING UP AS HOW IS THIS INTERPRETED? I BELIEVE IT'S BEEN INTERPRETED IN DIFFERENT WAYS THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, WHICH HAS LED Y'ALL TO SEEING ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF PROJECTS.
UM, RIGHT NOW, THE INTERPRETATION OF SIT, OF THE TYPE OF PROJECT TO COME BEFORE DESIGN COMMISSION HAS TO DO WITH A PROJECT THAT HAS A BUILDING ON IT.
UM, AND I KNOW COMMISSIONER HOWARD, UH, ASTUTELY POINTED OUT THAT BUILDING COULD BE FURTHER DESCRIBED AND DEFINED.
UM, BUT FOR NOW, WHAT, WHAT WE'RE INTERPRETING AS BUILDING IS A STRUCTURE.
IT COULD BE AS SMALL AS A RESTROOM, REALLY ANY TYPE OF STRUCTURE THAT IS EITHER EXISTING AND IS GOING TO BE REFURBISHED OR IS PROPOSED TO BE BUILT.
AND SO THAT WOULD EXCLUDE, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, A LOT OF CITY PROJECTS, BECAUSE A LOT OF CITY PROJECTS DO NOT HAVE THAT TYPE OF INFRASTRUCTURE.
BUT I THINK THERE WAS A POINT, UM, AND, AND MAYBE SOME OF Y'ALL, OR SOME OF Y'ALL BEING COMMISSIONER CARROLL, WOULD REMEMBER THAT A VARIETY OF PROJECTS WERE COMING TO COMMISSION THAT I THINK COMMISSIONERS WERE WONDERING WHAT KIND OF INPUT DO YOU WANT FROM US? SO THAT'S WHY THAT CURRENT INTERPRETATION FROM OUR COLLEAGUES IN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES EXISTS CURRENTLY.
UM, THE OTHER RESOLUTION SPEAKS TO MUNICIPAL, A EC, ALTERNATIVE EQUIVALENT COMPLIANCE PROJECTS.
AND IT IS REALLY JUST REINFORCING THE, UH, THE DIRECTION FOR CITY PROJECTS TO GO BEFORE DESIGN COMMISSION AND REITERATING THAT IF, IF THAT CITY PROJECT IS SEEKING A EC, THAT THEY NEED TO BE GOING TO DESIGN COMMISSION, UM, REALLY LIKE AT EVERY PHASE OF THE PROJECT TO ENSURE REVIEW.
AND THEN WHAT DESIGN COMMISSION IS REVIEWING FOR IS ALSO A LITTLE VAGUE.
IT'S THE DESIGN AND SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS.
AND SO THAT INTERPRETATION IS WE'VE GOT THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.
THOSE ARE THE, THE GUIDELINES THAT WE HAVE, THE, THE DESIGN STANDARDS THAT WE HAVE.
AND THEN FOR SUSTAINABILITY, IT'S THE, UM, THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S GREEN, I ALWAYS SAY IT WRONG.
[01:45:01]
BUILDING GUIDELINES GREEN.YES, THE GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS.
UM, AND THAT I ALSO INCLUDED IN, IN THE EMAIL, UM, THE PDF AND, AND ALSO, UH, RILEY TRIGGS FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAD GIVEN A PRESENTATION ABOUT THOSE STANDARDS.
I THINK THEY MUST HAVE UPDATED THEM.
IT WAS ACTUALLY MY FIRST DESIGN COMMISSION MEETING IN 2022.
UM, AND I BELIEVE THAT I, I HYPERLINKED THAT FOR, FOR ALL THOSE WHO ARE CURIOUS TO REVISIT THAT MEETING.
MY, MY, MY, THE HYPERLINKS AREN'T WORKING ON THE PDF FOR SOME REASON.
SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO COPY THEM AND PUT THEM INTO A NEW TAB.
COMMISSIONER GILLIS, THANK YOU CHAIR, AND THANK YOU FOR THE SUMMARY THAT YOU PROVIDED.
UH, I, I WANT TO SHARE THAT I, I, IN THIS, UM, REQUEST AM CONNECTING THE DOTS, UM, OF A LOT OF INFORMATION THAT I'M RECEIVING.
UM, I BELIEVE THERE WAS, AND PERHAPS THIS IS ALSO PART OF WHAT YOU WERE REFERRING TO, UM, A REQUEST OR RESOLUTION THAT COUNCIL PASSED THAT ASSIGNED THE DESIGN COMMISSION TO DEVELOP GUIDELINES FOR SPECIFIC INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, SEA HOME BRIDGE, MULAH WATER TOWER, SEA HOME WALL, AS WELL AS GREAT STREET RESOLUTION 2 0 1 0 0 8 1 9 DASH 0 3 5.
AND GRANTED THIS WAS, YOU KNOW, 2012, BUT MAYBE BACK IN THE DAY, AND IT WAS RESTRICTED TO THOSE CERTAIN PROJECTS.
BUT, UM, TAKING THAT INFORMATION, PUTTING IT TOGETHER WITH THE, UH, REWRITE OF THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES THAT ARE, ARE COMING UP, PUTTING THAT ALSO TOGETHER WITH, UM, THE RECENT GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, RESOLUTION OR PROPOSAL, HOWEVER WE WANT TO WORD IT, THAT WENT BEFORE COUNCIL THAT IS CURRENTLY BEING, UM, SORT OF LOOKED AT, UH, A LITTLE FURTHER AND DEVELOPED AS A GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN FOR AUSTIN.
AND ALSO THEN TAKING THAT WITH THE RECENT DECISION TO REWRITE THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN ENTIRELY.
I FEEL AS THOUGH THIS COMMISSION, UH, MAY NOT NECESSARILY CURRENTLY BE LOOKING AT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, BUT MIGHT WANT TO DISCUSS AS THESE PIECES AND PARTS ARE MOVING, HOW THAT IMPACTS, UM, AT THE VERY LEAST, THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY WRITING.
UH, PERHAPS IT, IT BECOMES AN APPENDIX OR AN INCORPORATION TO SOME DEGREE.
IF WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT PROJECT SPECIFICALLY, WE CAN DIRECT, UM, THROUGH THAT DOCUMENT.
UM, I, I, I WILL DEFER TO COMMISSIONER CARROLL ON THAT SINCE HE'S LEADING THOSE EFFORTS.
COMMISSIONER HOWARD? UM, YEAH, I, I THINK I, I THINK I'M ON THE SAME PAGE WITH COMMISSIONER GU AND, UM, IN THAT I, YOU KNOW, WHEN THE DESIGN COMMISSION WAS CREATED AND, AND WHEN WE WERE KIND OF TASKED WITH CERTAIN DUTIES, UM, AND, UH, IT WAS REALLY, REALLY EARLY IN THE WORLD OF URBAN DESIGN, UM, AS A, AS A PROFESSION AND AS A, UM, EVEN AN AREA OF STUDY IN SOME, IN, IN SOME CASES, ESPECIALLY IN THE UNITED STATES, AND EVEN MORE SO PERHAPS IN THE SOUTH.
UM, AND SO WHILE WE'RE, WE ARE NAMED, I'VE, I'VE KINDA REFERRED TO THIS, BUT WE, WE, WE ARE CALLED THE DESIGN COMMISSION, BUT I DON'T REALLY THINK THAT WE'RE THE ARCHITECTURAL COMMISSION, WE'RE WE ARE THE DESIGN COMMISSION BECAUSE WE ARE INTENDED TO FOCUS ON URBAN DESIGN.
UM, AND SO IF WE WERE THINKING ABOUT URBAN DESIGN, THERE DOES, I, I THINK THAT PERHAPS BECAUSE OF THE NAME, THE DESIGN COMMISSION, UM, SOME OF THESE INTERPRETATIONS, YOU KNOW, MAY BE, BE, BE INFLUENCED BY THAT AND KIND OF THE CONTEXT OF THAT.
UM, BUT THERE IT MAY BE THAT THESE INTERPRETATIONS ABOUT, UM, WHAT IS INFRASTRUCTURE AND, AND, YOU KNOW, ONLY SEEING PROJECTS THAT INCLUDE A BUILDING ARE KIND OF, UH, HEARKENING TO THAT IDEA OF ARCHITECTURAL, UM, DESIGN, UH, WHEN IN FACT, YOU KNOW, WE REALLY SHOULD BE LOOKING AT THE DESIGN OF THE PUBLIC REALM, MUCH OF WHICH HAS NO STRUCTURE INVOLVED, UM, UH, AND, AND, AND TYPICALLY NO BUILDING, UM, AT LEAST THE INSIDE OF A BUILDING.
UM, SO I GUESS I, I LIKE THIS CONVERSATION.
UM, AND I DO THINK, I KNOW THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL, MAYBE TO CLARIFY SOME OF THIS.
[01:50:01]
SAY THAT IT WOULD, IT WOULD PROBABLY BE A GOOD IDEA FOR THE DESIGN COMMISSION TO BE REALLY CLEAR ABOUT WHAT WE THINK OUR ROLE IS AND TO HIGHLIGHT PARTICULAR AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN UNCLEAR AND ASK COUNSEL FOR CLARITY ON THOSE THINGS.UH, AND POTENTIALLY, YOU KNOW, SUGGESTED LANGUAGE ABOUT WHAT WE, WHAT WE THINK IT SHOULD SAY.
UM, AND I, AND I WOULD, I WOULD KIND OF, I'M JUST GONNA GO OUT THERE ON A LIMB AND SAY, I THINK THAT WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT STREET DESIGN PROJECTS, UM, AND THAT, AND I THINK THAT WOULD INCLUDE A LOT OF THESE MOBILITY PROJECTS THAT, THAT WE ARE VOLUNTARY OR PEOPLE ARE VOLUNTARILY COMING TO US WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, CONGRESS AVENUE, UM, YOU KNOW, THESE MOBILITY CORRIDOR, UH, SORRY, MOBILITY BOND PROJECTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THESE SEEM TO BE CRITICAL URBAN DESIGN, UH, PURVIEW.
UM, AND I WOULD SAY THAT PREVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, EARLY IN THE, THE DESIGN COMMISSIONS CREATION, UH, URBAN REFERRED ONLY TO DOWNTOWN.
UM, AND TODAY, AUSTIN IS NUMBER 12 IN THE COUNTRY FOR POPULATION, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
UM, UH, BUT WE'RE A VERY LARGE CITY, UM, WITH A VERY DIFFERENT SORT OF FORMAT.
DOWNTOWN WAS URBAN, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS MOSTLY PARKING LOTS.
UM, AND WE HAVE AN EX EXPANDING, UH, MOBILITY SYSTEM, UH, TRANSIT SYSTEM, AND WE REALLY NEED TO BE LOOKING AT THE ENTIRE, UH, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY MOST OF THE CITY, IF NOT THE ENTIRE CITY.
UM, AND IT'S PUBLIC REALM, UH, AS SOMETHING THAT IS THE SUBJECT OF URBAN DESIGN.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER HOWARD.
GREAT POINTS FOR BOTH OF Y'ALL.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? I, I AGREE WITH YOU BOTH OF Y'ALL STATEMENTS, AND I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN CONTINUE DISCUSSION ON AND THEN, UH, POSSIBLY TAKE ACTION ON IT ONCE WE KIND OF FORMULATE IT A LITTLE BIT MORE.
UM, BUT YEAH, I THINK IT'S A, IT'S A, I THINK IT'S A GREAT DISCUSSION AND I THINK I LIKE, I LIKE THE WORDING, UH, YEAH.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER HOWARD? SORRY.
UM, COULD WE JUST GET A, A REMINDER ON THE TIMELINE FOR, UM, THERE WAS, THERE'S SOME SORT OF RECOMMENDATION PERIOD OR SOMETHING THAT WE WERE GONNA MAKE TO COUNSEL.
UM, IF THERE'S LIKE A, IF THERE'S A TIMELINE ON THAT SO THAT WE COULD BACKWARDS PLAN THIS AHEAD OF THAT, A TIMELINE ON WHEN WE NEED TO MAKE A RE THIS RECOMMENDATION.
YOU'RE SAYING, I, UM, I REMEMBER JORGE, UM, SUGGESTING THAT, THAT, UM, THERE WAS SOME SORT OF TIME PERIOD BY WHICH WE, WE WERE, UM, ANTICIPATED TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL.
MAYBE THIS IS JUST ASSOCIATED WITH THE URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES.
UM, I'M NOT CERTAIN, UH, ANYWAY, MY, MY POINT IS, IS I'M, I'M FOGGY ON IT.
UM, AND IT, UH, IF YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, UM, MAYBE YOU GUYS COULD KIND OF ILLUMINATE US TO THE DETAILS.
DO, DO Y'ALL RECALL, UH, THIS TIMELINE? I DO REMEMBER, I THINK YOU'RE REFERRING TO THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, UH, CODE AMENDMENTS.
SO MAYBE IT'S NOT, SO THEN THIS CONVERSATION WOULD BE SEPARATE FROM THAT AND YEAH.
IS, IS THERE ANY TIMELINE FOR THAT? WELL, JUST TO CLARIFY, THAT IS SEPARATE, THAT IS NOT ABOUT REVIEW OF CITY PROJECTS.
BECAUSE THAT COMES THROUGH THE RESOLUTIONS, RIGHT.
AND DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS, THE PROJECTS THAT PARTICIPATE IN THAT PROGRAM AND COME TO COMMISSION THAT IS BEING GUIDED THROUGH THE, UM, THE CODE LANGUAGE, IT'S, IT'S A REQUIREMENT IN THE CODE.
I'M NOT SMART ENOUGH TO SIT AT THE TABLE.
UM, JUST TO CLARIFY, THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS CODE AMENDMENTS ARE HEADED TO PERHAPS COMMENCEMENT OF PUBLIC HEARINGS TOWARDS THE END OF THE YEAR, THIS CALENDAR YEAR.
THAT IS A SEPARATE PROCESS, AS OUR COLLEAGUE HAS POINTED OUT, SOPHIA, THAT, UM,
[01:55:01]
YOU WANT TO PARTAKE IN TERMS OF DISCUSSING WHAT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.NOW THIS, A PREVIOUS VERSION OF THIS COMMISSION HAD, UH, QUITE A BIT OF ISSUES TRYING TO DEFINE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.
AND AT ONE POINT IT WAS EVERYTHING YOU COULD SEE IN THE PUBLIC REALM.
WELL, YOU COULD SEE MANHOLES, FOR EXAMPLE.
I DOUBT THE COMMISSION, THIS IS CONJECTURE ON MY PART, WISHES TO SEE MANHOLES, UH, SIDEWALKS, WELL, PERHAPS CERTAIN SIDEWALKS.
AND SO MAYBE THE STARTING POINT OF YOUR DISCUSSION IS THAT YOU, YOU START TO DEFINE THE TYPES OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS YOU WISH TO SEE.
BECAUSE THERE ARE NUMEROUS THAT ARE UNDERGROUND.
FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF MY FAVORITE EXAMPLES IS AN UNDERGROUND ODOR CONTROL FACILITY THAT IS REALLY JUST PIPES STICKING OUT OF THE GROUND.
PERHAPS THAT'S NOT A PROJECT THAT URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES COULD BE APPLIED TO.
SO JUST TO GIVE YOU SOME EXAMPLES, JARED, THANK YOU.
I DON'T KNOW, I SEE A CHALLENGE IN PEOPLE'S EYES, UM, BUT THERE IS NO, JUST FOR CLARIFICATION, THERE IS NO DEADLINE.
ALRIGHT, COMMISSIONER CARROLL.
I JUST WANTED TO MAYBE MAKE NOTES SO EVERYONE IS ON THE SAME PAGE THAT WE'RE NOT TASKED TO REVIEW INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.
WE'RE TASKED TO CREATE DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR THEM.
SO EVEN UPON DOING THAT, COUNCIL WOULD HAVE TO PASS ANOTHER, ANOTHER RESOLUTION SAYING THAT THOSE PROJECTS THEN HAVE TO COME TO US.
SO JUST MAKING THAT CLARIFICATION.
ALRIGHT, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? I MEAN, IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS WOULD BE UP FOR DISCUSSION AGAIN AND POSSIBLE ACTION ITEM AT SOME FUTURE DATE.
UM, BUT ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS? ALL RIGHT.
WE'LL MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT ITEM,
[7. Update from the representative of the Urban Design Guidelines Working Group regarding the meeting on February 7, 2025, and February 14, 2025.]
UM, WORKING GROUP UPDATES.ALL RIGHT, SO AN UPDATE FROM THE, UH, URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP REGARDING THE MEETING FEBRUARY 7TH AND FEBRUARY 14TH.
COMMISSIONER CARROLL, THANK YOU CHAIR.
UM, THE WORKING GROUP MET AND MOSTLY HAVE BEEN JUST ADDRESSING COMMENTS WE HAVE RECEIVED FROM VARIOUS CITY DEPARTMENTS ON THE INTERNAL DRAFT THAT WAS CIRCULATED.
I THINK WE'RE VERY CLOSE TO FINISHING ALL OF THOSE COMMENTS.
UM, WE ARE A LITTLE OFF OUR SCHEDULE.
IDEALLY, WE WERE GOING TO COMPLETE THAT THIS WEEK, BUT I THINK WE'RE PROBABLY GONNA NEED A COUPLE MORE WEEKS BEFORE WE'RE DELIVERING THAT DRAFT TO STAFF FOR FORMATTING, UH, FOR THE PUBLIC DRAFT.
I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, ANY QUESTIONS? ALRIGHT.
[8. Update from the representative of the Downtown Commission regarding the meeting on February 17, 2025]
THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION REGARDING YOUR FEBRUARY 17TH MEETING.UH, I HAVE THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION, UH, MEETING TAKING PLACE ON FEBRUARY 19TH.
I'M NOT SURE IF THAT, THAT'S AN ERROR ON MY PART, BUT THE, UM, DISCUSSION REGARDING, UM, THE UNIVERSITY NORTH OLAY, UM, BOUNDARIES, UH, TOOK PLACE.
THERE WAS ALSO A BRIEFING ON THE SEA HOME AREA AND THE TURFS TAX FINANCING AROUND THE SEA HOME MULTI-MODAL CONNECTIVITY IMPROVEMENTS.
UM, THERE WAS DISCUSSION AROUND THE CROSSING AT CAESAR CHAVEZ.
UH, THERE'S AN AVENUE TO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THOSE IMPROVEMENTS AROUND THIRD STREET AND C HOME ON PUBLIC IN INFO, PUBLIC INFO SLASH C HOME.
IF YOU, UM, WANT TO, UM, SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON, ON THE IMPROVEMENTS THERE.
THERE WAS ALSO A DISCUSSION ON THE A TP LIGHT RAIL UPDATE.
THEY ARE CURRENTLY IN DESIGN PHASE THREE AND THE DRAFT EIS HAS BEEN RELEASED.
UH, THEY EXPRESSED A COMMITMENT TO, UH, THE GREENWAY AT EAST RIVERSIDE AND A COMMITMENT TO PROVIDING SHADE.
UM, THEY, UH, HIGHLIGHTED, UM, A TP HIGHLIGHTED AN ADDITION
[02:00:01]
OF A STATION ALONG WOODRIDGE SQUARE, UM, AND PRESENTED DESIGN OPTIONS, CURRENT DESIGN OPTIONS FOR THE, THE LIGHT RAIL STOP AT THAT SQUARE IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA, UM, HEADING SOUTH TOWARDS YELLOW JACKET.THE, UM, THE NEXT DISCUSSION POINT WAS, UM, REGARDING THE CITY'S CONSIDERATION OF MERGING THE DOWNTOWN ADVISORY BOARD WITH THE SOUTH WATERFRONT, UH, ADVISORY BOARD.
UM, THEY HAVE ALSO CALLED FOR AN UPDATE TO THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN PLAN.
AND LASTLY, UM, THE CHAIR OF THAT COMMISSION, AUGUST HARRIS HAD HIS LAST MEETING AND HAS NOW STEPPED DOWN AS CHAIR AND WILL BE REPLACED.
ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON THE DOWNTOWN UH, COMMISSION? ALL RIGHT.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
ITEMS, UH, THAT WE WANNA PROPOSE? I THINK WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE, UH, DISCUSSING THE, UM, WAS IT THE SIDEWALK? OH, THIS, THIS ON THE, ON THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM PROJECTS.SO WE'LL HAVE THAT ON THE NEXT AGENDA.
I BELIEVE THE NEXT AGENDA MAY, MAY COVER THE CONVENTION CENTER, SO WE MAY WANNA LOOK AT COORDINATING THOSE TWO ITEMS TO MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT OVERWHELMING THE PD.
WELL, WE'LL, WE'LL LOOK AT THAT AND THEN WE'LL, WE'LL DO IT VIA EMAIL.
COMMISSIONER LEVI, I CAN SPEAK.
UM, IS THE CONVENTION CENTER COMING IN AS PART OF, OR ARE THEY JUST, IS IT A BRIEFING? LIKE ARE THEY UP? IT'LL BE DISCUSSION IN ACTION.
A PROJECT, PARDON ME, CHAIR, WHO ARE THE SPONSORS FOR THE DISCUSSION OF PAST DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM PROJECTS? WE'RE GONNA HOLD OFF ON THAT AND DO IT VIA EMAIL.
WE'RE GONNA DO IT, WE'RE GONNA VERIFY THE SCHEDULE OF THAT FIRST.
IS THAT THE SAME CASE FOR THE BRIEFING? FOR THE SIDEWALK? YEAH.
YEAH, WE'LL DO THAT NEXT VIA EMAIL.
ANY, ANYONE HAVE ANY OBJECTIONS TO ADJOURN THIS MEETING? ALL RIGHT.
THIS MEETING IS ADJOURNED, BUT TIME 8 0 4.
YOU, WE REKINDLED A LITTLE, BLENDED A LITTLE DIDN'T BREAK DOWN.
I WAS DROP EVERYTHING LIKE THE BOUNCE ON THE DRIBBLE TO BE RIGHT BACK IN YOUR ARMS. I WILL PULL ALL THE FIRE ALARMS TO BE RIGHT BACK IN YOUR ARMS.