North Austin residents offer suggestions for improving transportation

North Austin residents offer suggestions for improving transportation

By Beth Wade and Yvonne Lim Wilson Thursday, 11 February 2010

AUSTIN — Northwest Austin residents attended an Austin Mobility Forum at Murchison Middle School, 3700 N. Hills Drive, Feb. 10 to share their ideas about improving transportation in Austin.

The forums are a means of gathering feedback from citizens as the city begins to craft a new mobility plan and decide which projects to put before voters in future bond elections.

To date, the city has collected a list of more than 1,200 transportation projects from citizens and is seeking input to determine community values and priorities for Austin.

Austin’s IH 35 is ranked the fourth worst commute in the country, according to The Daily Beast, and the population is growing. The city is projected to reach 3.17 million people in 2030.

During the introduction, City of Austin transportation department assistant director Gordon Derr compared traffic to a fever, which is a symptom of a larger problem.

“Congestion on our roadways is a symptom of larger issues: land uses, development patterns, insufficient options for daily commutes, incomplete networks with gaps and bottlenecks, accidents without clearance areas,” he said.

Community members had a chance to rank priorities for their objectives and outcomes for the plan. Most ranked as top concerns sustainable growth, transportation choices and investment and economic development.

Residents also had the chance to show Austin’s transportation department where their commutes took them and what their issues were.

Concerns ranged from the lack of and danger of bike lanes around town and in the downtown area, intersection and ramp improvements along IH 35 and MoPac. Some said they would be more inclined to take the bus if routes and stops were more convenient or ride bikes if the routes were safer.

As city planners complete the forums this week, they will compile feedback from all of the forums and create a prioritized list to present to city council. Forum moderators said there could be another round of community forums in mid-April. The city plans to evaluate the criteria and prepare a bond package to present to voters in November.