Shoal Creek Boulevard

Letter to SCB Residents Regarding New Sidewalks

What follows is a letter sent to residents on Shoal Creek Boulevard regarding the new sidewalks being installed on both sides of Shoal Creek. The photo to the left is a section of sidewalk recently installed along Koenig.

Dear Resident:

The City of Austin Public Works Department will soon start a project in your neighborhood to repair/replace or install new sidewalk, curb and gutter, retaining walls and handicap ramps on Shoal Creek from 38^th Street to Foster. Both sides of Shoal Creek will have continuous sidewalks within these limits. We are addressing this letter to you as we may have certain work, including the installation of new sidewalk, on the City's right-of-way at your address. We will be both marking (with orange highlighting) our proposed alignment of this sidewalk as well as attempting to contact you prior to when work will commence to address any right-of-way conflicts that might exist at your location such as sprinkler systems, architectural lighting or landscape improvements.

Votes are In - Sidwalks Coming to SCB

From Jennifer Herber, City of Austin Public Information/

Public Works:

Majority for sidewalk on both sides of Shoal Creek Blvd.; next steps

Public Works has completed the validation and tallying process for the Shoal Creek Blvd. (W. 38th St. to Foster Lane) sidewalk issue. Eighty-four percent of respondents favor sidewalk on one or both sides of the boulevard. Sixty-two percent of those favor sidewalk on both sides of the street.  

Curb Islands to be replaced with Signs

submitted by Paul Nagy

Here is the response from Sondra Creighton, City of Austin,  with separations to show her response which she put in the middle of my original email:

Nagy - Now that the curb islands are being removed, when may the stakeholders expect to be briefed on the proposed plans for additional signage and street markings before they are finalized? 

Creighton - As you are aware, Council has directed staff how to proceed. No changes are being made to the markings which is  are  accordance with the citizens top vote. Signs will be installed in accordance with staff recommendations noting the outside lanes are not for driving.

Nagy - There is concern that drivers will now consider the boulevard to be a four lane roadway. What specifically will be done to direct drivers not to drive along the curbside lane? 

Creighton - As you know, drivers currently drive in the outside lane. Signage will be posted to let drivers know not to drive in the outside lanes.  Thanks.

Report on LUT meeting from City Representative

from Julie Strong, Public Works Department, City of Austin

On February 13, the Land Use and Transportation Subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend Shoal Creek Boulevard restriping Option 3 to Council. The latter option was favored by stakeholders in the fall balloting process. Option Three provides for 10-foot shared-use shoulders for parking and cycling on both sides of the street, and 10-foot vehicle lanes, one in each direction. In other words, the existing configuration of the roadway between 38th Street and Foster Lane will remain as it is today.

LUT subcommittee picks Option 3

submitted by Kerry Kimbrough

At its regularly scheduled meeting tonight (Mon Feb 13), the Land Use and Transportation subcommittee of the City Council once again took up the issue of Shoal Creek Blvd striping. You may recall that, in its previous meeting, LUT tossed in a new monkey-wrench by voting to ignore the stakeholder ballot and to proceed instead with a new design “bake-off”. But the dough didn’t rise. There will be no “pilot project” on SCB after all.

After two hours, SCB was the last item on the agenda, and committee members were ready to take care of business. Yes, there will be a pilot project, but on some other unspecified street, not SCB. Its primary sponsor, Brewster McCracken, declared his hope that when this pilot project is concluded, we can all revisit SCB with new lessons learned. Sondra Creighton, Director of Public Works, was there to declare her intention to bring a proposal for a pilot project to full Council in March. So much for that.

Committee Recommends Just Removing the Islands

What follows is a posting to the Allandale Listserve regarding the outcome of yesterdays Land Use and Transportation Committee meeting regarding the restriping of Shoal Creek submitted by Jack Kern. The Statesman also had an article in today's paper about the outcome of the meeting, "Council likely to ax curb islands."

At its 2/13/06 meeting, LUT voted unanimously to recommend to full Council that option three be implemented on SCB.  "Finish removing the curb islands and leave all the striping as is" is a rough quote of the short term instructions to staff.

SCB on Agenda for Monday's Meeting

LAND USE AND TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE
MEETING AGENDA

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE CITY COUNCIL LAND USE AND TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE WILL MEET ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006, AT 3:30 P.M. AT CITY HALL, 301 WEST SECOND STREET, IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS, AUSTIN, TEXAS

The City Council Land Use and Transportation Subcommittee may go into a closed session under the Open Meetings Act, Section 551.071, of the Texas Government Code, to receive advice from legal counsel on any item on this agenda.

 Call Meeting to Order
1. Citizen Communication (3 minutes to speak)
2. Staff Update on Design Standards Codification
3. Briefing and Possible Action on the Vertical Mixed Use Interim Ordinance
4. Presentation from the Planning Commission Subcommittee on the Austin 2035 Town Centers Plan
5. Staff Update on the Downtown Plan RFQ
6. Briefing and Possible Action on Changes to Parking Garage Dimensions and Standards
7. Briefing and Possible Action on the Shoal Creek Striping Plan

Adjourn

LAND USE AND TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE
MEETING AGENDA

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT THE CITY COUNCIL LAND USE AND TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE WILL MEET ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006, AT 3:30 P.M. AT CITY HALL, 301 WEST SECOND STREET, IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS, AUSTIN, TEXAS

The City Council Land Use and Transportation Subcommittee may go into a closed session under the Open Meetings Act, Section 551.071, of the Texas Government Code, to receive advice from legal counsel on any item on this agenda.

 Call Meeting to Order
1. Citizen Communication (3 minutes to speak)
2. Staff Update on Design Standards Codification
3. Briefing and Possible Action on the Vertical Mixed Use Interim Ordinance
4. Presentation from the Planning Commission Subcommittee on the Austin 2035 Town Centers Plan
5. Staff Update on the Downtown Plan RFQ
6. Briefing and Possible Action on Changes to Parking Garage Dimensions and Standards
7. Briefing and Possible Action on the Shoal Creek Striping Plan

Adjourn

The 5 Option Plan

from Julie Strong, Public Works, City of Austin:

Mr. Linehan, here is an update on the Shoal Creek issue, per your request:

On September 29, the City Council voted unanimously to remove the curb islands installed early this year along Shoal  Creek Boulevard. The Council also asked Public Works to return to stakeholders for input on how to re-stripe the street after the islands are removed.

Subcommittee shelves SCB ballot in favor of new pilot project

submitted by Kerry Kimbrough

On Monday afternoon, the Land Use and Transportation subcommittee of the City Council again took up the SCB striping issue. The ostensible purpose was to review the input from stakeholders that came out of the October meeting and balloting conducted by the Public Works staff. But that’s not exactly what happened. When the full Council voted in September to remove the curb islands, they directed PW staff to consult with stakeholders and come up with some options for what to do next.

City Meeting on SCB tomorrow at 3:00

from Julie Strong, Public Works Dept., City of Austin:

Please be aware that we have posted several documents on the Shoal Creek web site, including Citizen Comments from the Shoal Creek Ballot/Questionnaire, the ballot results, and a description of the Stakeholder Input Process, for your information.  You may access this information at http://www.cityofaustin.org/publicworks/shoalcreek/.

Also, the agenda for the December 5 Council Subcommittee Meeting on Land Use and Transportation has been posted on the City’s web site.  The Shoal Creek issue is first on the agenda.  The meeting convenes at 3 p.m. at City Hall Council Chambers.  Anyone interested in speaking to the issue may sign up for Citizens’ Communications before the meeting begins at the desk upon entering the chamber. Free parking below City Hall.  Enter from Guadalupe   Street.

Thank you.
Julie Strong
Public Works
974-1413