YNN is partnering with the City of Austin to bring a new weekly segment called Speak Up Austin! City leaders hope to engage the public as they move through the planning process.

Planners are seeking input from across Austin as they take steps to support redevelopment along Austin’s historic Rainey Street neighborhood. The area took off a couple years ago, when a few business owners decided to bring new life to the bungalow homes that date back to the 1890s………..READ MORE.

Several of us at APT have had an opportunity to get briefings from the City of Austin Transportation Department about the potential to improve IH 35 without changing the footprint of IH 35.  Part of the solution could include high occupancy lanes for busses and for car/van pools.  If you are interested and would like to weigh on the discussion, please attend this session or check in online and let your voice be heard:

AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN

****OPEN HOUSE REMINDER****

IH-35 Corridor Development Program

Thursday, November 17, 2011

3:00-8:00 p.m.

Austin Energy’s Town Lake Center

721 Barton Springs Road

Room 130, First Floor Meeting Room

For additional information please visit: http://www.ih35austin.org

Finding a parking space in Austin usually involves a lot of driving around for Bob Cafka, who is disabled………..Cafka said a good majority of the time, parking spaces reserved for him and other disabled drivers are taken by those who don’t need them….READ MORE.

As Georgetown City Council members finalized the 2011–12 budget Sept. 13, one issue that council members debated was whether or not to include funding for a seat in the Lone Star Rail District, a planned passenger rail system that would stretch from San Antonio to Georgetown……READ MORE.

Some proposed changes by Austin’s Transportation Department regarding the city’s valet parking ordinances has some local businesses up in arms……READ MORE.

For the past month, officers have issued warning tickets only. But that stops as of Thursday……READ MORE.

People who commute north on MoPac Boulevard out of downtown no doubt recall the good old days, before Sept. 10, 2010. They probably have already begun the process, as Austinites tend to do, of gilding the lily a bit about how it really was back then…..READ MORE.

City Council will soon get the ball rolling on the Airport Boulevard Renovation Project. In April, council member Chris Riley announced the plan to give the neglected area a makeover. He wants to fix up rundown buildings and add trees, parks, and sidewalks stretching from……READ MORE.

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Few people turned out to a public input meeting on the growing traffic congestion on I-35 on Wednesday afternoon at the Palmer Events Center.

“We want to hear from everyone,” said Gary Schatz, Assistant Director for the City of Austin Department of Transportation.

His group, along with about a dozen or so members of TXDOTand even the Federal Highway Administration were on hand to offer and gather ideas on short, medium and long-term solutions to the growing traffic problem on I-35….READ MORE.

The City of Austin is working to improve some of the city’s most important transportation corridors. Citizens are invited to participate in a range of public events this fall to determine future plans and investments on four major routes: (see downloadable map showing project limits at http://www.austinstrategicmobility.com/corridors)

• Airport Boulevard:  N. Lamar to US Hwy 183
• North Lamar Boulevard and Burnet Road:  N Lamar: US 183 to I-35; Burnet: Koenig Ln to MOPAC; Burnet:
• FM 969 (East MLK, Jr. Blvd.): US Hwy 183 to City of Webberville
• East Riverside Drive:  I-35 to SH 71

These public open house meetings are being held to introduce each area’s Mobility Corridor Study and gather public input to help shape the future vision of each transportation corridor. The Austin Transportation Department (ATD) and its consulting teams will then combine this input with technical assessments to determine short-, medium-, and long-term improvements that will improve mobility, safety, and quality of life in each corridor.

Upcoming public open-house events/meetings for the Mobility Corridor Studies include:

Airport Boulevard:

• September 13, 5 pm-9 pm, Our Lady’s Maronite Catholic Church, 1320 East 51^st Street.
• October 3, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm, Our Lady’s Maronite Catholic Church, 1320 East 51^st Street

North Lamar/Burnet:

• North Lamar: September 20, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 601 W. Braker Lane
• Burnet Road:  September 22, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm, St. John’s United Methodist Church, 2140 Allandale Drive.

East Riverside Drive: October 27, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm, location TBD.

• FM 969 (East MLK, Jr. Blvd.): date and location this fall TDB

“We’re going to be looking at everything from quick fixes to failing intersections to long-term reconstruction of the roadways,” said Rob Spillar, Director of the Austin Transportation Department. “The solutions for the needs of each corridor will depend both on what’s possible technically and what the community wants and needs. But we think each of these important routes has opportunities for improved mobility and connectivity for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users.”

The Mobility Corridor Studies are among the projects funded by the City of Austin’s 2010 Mobility Bond Program, approved by voters last November. Each project development effort is anticipated to be completed by Spring 2012. Projects that emerge from the Corridor Studies will be reviewed for future funding opportunities.

The Airport Boulevard corridor study will be conducted in conjunction with the Upper Airport Boulevard planning initiative for the stretch between Lamar and IH-35, being led by the City’s Planning and Development Review Department.  The East Riverside Drive and North Lamar/Burnet transportation corridor studies will be building upon community planning and visioning efforts conducted in those areas over the last few years by the Planning & Development Review Department.

In addition to the four corridor studies, ATD is also working on corridor development projects for IH-35 through Central Austin in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation. Project limits are from US Hwy 290 to William Cannon Dr. Public meetings will be announced soon.

For more information on each of the Corridor Studies and to see map of corridor projects, visit http://www.austinstrategicmobility.com/corridors.

Additional information about the combined Upper Airport visioning and transportation project can be found at www.airportboulevard.com).