Review: Will TxDOT’s Plans for Loop 360 Leave Cyclists and Pedestrians in the Dust? – News

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Driving along Loop 360 reveals potential interference with the right of way, including this parking lot near Winding Ridge Blvd. (Photo by Benton Graham)

In its current form, the Capital of Texas Highway – Loop 360 – on the western edge of Austin is hard to imagine that most pedestrians or non-athletic cyclists use it for either transportation or recreation. When not congested at rush hour, cars drive the winding six-lane highway, where the advertised speed is 60 miles per hour. In the few places where there are designated cycle paths, they are usually in a narrow space between the middle and right-hand turning lanes. The only bikes you see are mostly the illustrations on the bright yellow bike intersection signs.

“We work with TxDOT to try to get the best, most comfortable, most connected and least contradicting path design.”– Laura Dierenfield of Austin Transportation

The Texas Department of Transportation is looking to change this as part of its plans to modernize Loop 360, which will include new front roads, height separations at most major intersections, and intelligent transportation systems, and shared paths for pedestrians and cyclists. As this project progresses in its design and environmental review, these lanes have been scrutinized by active traffic advocates as well as some of the neighbors who live near the freeway, wondering how many more cyclists and pedestrians want to use a lane that’s only 5 feet from the pavement, with minimal protection.

Not to mention the track widths, which at 3.50 m do not match some expert recommendations. For example, the National Association of City Transportation Officials recommends that bicycle lanes be 12 feet wide in either direction and only reduced (to a minimum of eight feet) in “restricted places”.

Why does the non-car section seem to overlook the non-car traveler on Loop 360, which is no longer the scenic drive through the vacant hills it once was but now takes tens of thousands of Austinites to sprawling and growing neighborhoods and work centers? Some observers have speculated that TxDOT is pushing this design to avoid alienating the neighboring property owners who have effectively encroached on its rights of way. TxDOT has long had enough of the hillside lot along Loop 360 to expand its width, so it seems strange that it would not want to take this opportunity to build higher capacity, longer life facilities as it now has the means to do so .

Difficult to build in the hills

TxDOT has rejected this allegation. It is said that the topography of the area is the biggest obstacle to full-size bike paths. “The challenge along Loop 360 is the hilly terrain. While there appears to be a lot of space, the terrain makes it difficult to meet the design needs of bicycle and pedestrian facilities,” a TxDOT spokesman told Chronicle. Regarding property owners advancing into TxDOT land, the spokesman said it was not a problem. “Apart from occasionally laid fences or an inadmissible sign, there was no interference with the right of way. TxDOT does not expect any further interference.”

Long stretches of the freeway may be hilly, but a trip down the still stunning 23-mile corridor reveals more than sporadic potential right-of-way violations, such as a parking lot near Winding Ridge Boulevard (which runs parallel to Loop 360 at nearby Bull Creek) and a section across from Davenport Village Shopping Center where Loop 360 meets Westlake Drive (one of the future intersections where an overpass and ramps are to be built) where a trailer is currently being parked. The section is also inundated with signs promoting the sale or rental of properties that are almost on the current lane.

While TxDOT is the lead agency on the project, the city of Austin is helping with a $ 46 million contribution to fund the pathways sharing, a project that included $ 720 million in the 2016 Mobility Bond program. Dollar is included. Austin Transportation Department’s Laura Dierenfield, who heads the active transportation division, pointed out that lane widths can vary depending on circumstances, and said the city will do its part to make the trail as accessible and safe as possible. ATD is currently reviewing the design proposed by TxDOT to understand how the extension will best fit into the available space of TxDOT. “With regard to the 360 ​​project, we are working with TxDOT to try to get the best, most comfortable, most connected and least inconsistent path design,” said Dierenfield.

The project has already experienced a number of delays and has been postponed to a completion date in the late 2020s. From a funding perspective, TxDOT is under pressure to spend the money it currently has before embarking on other projects on the west side of the city area, including the planned rebuilding of US 183 and continuing work on MoPac (Loop 1), both alongside that Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and both intersect with Loop 360 north of the start of the current project area.

Both the RM 2222 and Bee Cave Road (RM 2244) are state highways that cross Loop 360, but all TxDOT work on these is still further on the horizon. Meanwhile, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s 2045 Long Distance Plan lists a Capital Metro Express route along RM 2222 priced at $ 12 million, as well as a city of Austin project to provide pedestrian and bicycle improvements from RM 2222 to the Four Points Drive connector priced at nearly $ 3 million. Both would happen by 2027. As for Bee Cave Road, the report lists a Travis County project that would add 6-foot bike lanes or 4 to 6-foot wide outer shoulders by 2030, at a cost of nearly $ 17 million.

Driving along Loop 360 reveals potential right-of-way violations, including this parking lot near Winding Ridge Boulevard (Image via loop360project.com)

Late but not forgotten (?)

Some residents in the neighborhoods along the Loop 360 doubt that many people will use a path that is only a little away from traffic. Ruven Brooks is co-chair of the North West Austin Civic Association’s Transportation Committee. He takes frequent walks totaling around 40 minutes a day and tries to walk around different parts of the city to change surroundings. But Loop 360’s shared trails are unlikely to convince them to take this freeway. “Why would I want to walk on a sidewalk 5 feet or less from 55 mile cars with no other barriers?” (The speed limit is actually 60 mph; it’s everyone’s guess how fast people can actually go on the freeway.)

“I think you have a lot of highway builders trying to complete a project with minimal disruption.”– Bike Austin’s Chris Riley

As an avid hiker, Brooks sees some potential in creating a scenic walkway along the road, but for him to be comfortable he would need it much further from the road and with a larger barrier. “Let’s start by saying that they require that they put up as much barrier between pedestrians and cars as they do between cars going in opposite directions.”

Bike Austin’s Chris Riley says implementing a continuous 12-foot path along the freeway should be a feasible goal. However, the former Austin city council member fears that, despite increasing investments in the active transportation network of Austin and other Texas cities, TxDOT is too focused on car-centric solutions that ignore cyclists and pedestrians. “I think you have a lot of highway builders trying to complete a project with minimal disruption.”

Tom Wald has played a role in many pedestrian and cycling efforts across Austin, including serving as the executive director and founder of the Red Line Parkway Initiative and as a board member of Walk Austin. Forest shares Riley’s concern. He says the current design of the trail does not meet the city’s “all ages and ability” criteria for such pedestrian / bicycle investments aimed at promoting both recreation and transportation with routes all Austinites may deem safe. It is also too short in terms of the width of the path and the distance from a motorway.

TxDOT recently started bringing people like Riley and Wald around the table for input. While Riley hopes some of the design flaws can still be fixed, he hopes his inclusion isn’t late; Wald also believes the project can still be saved to meet the needs of bicycles and pedestrians. “The hopeful vision is that we can create a sharing way that is fun and that people actually want to use, and it’s not just an add-on that they have to do. And I would just say it’s a beautiful corridor, ”said Wald. “I think there is a real chance of creating something that people want to ride a bike on. And I think it can be done well.”

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