Barton Hills-Horseshoe Bend Neighborhood Association

Pedestrian Audit Workshop

September 14, 2002

View pictures from the Workshop

 

Twenty neighbors from Barton Hills and Zilker neighborhood associations attended a 4-hour workshop on Saturday morning, September 14^th, at Barton Hills Elementary School. Sponsored by the Trans Texas Alliance and the Texas Department of Transportation, the workshop was designed to raise awareness of changes that could improve pedestrian access in neighborhoods. Organized by Anna Bryan-Borja with help from Debby Kalk, Glee Ingram, and Robin McKeever, the BHNA workshop was led by Charlie Gandy, a nationally recognized pedestrian and bicycle consultant, who was assisted by Shannon Hornsby of the Trans Texas Alliance. Attendees for all or part of the workshop included the following:

 

Larry Akers	Glee Ingram	Rob Read
Lorraine Atherton	Lucy Joyce	Jody Slagle
Stella Arzola	Debby Kalk	Sharon Slagle
Anna Bryan-Borja	Jamy Kazanoff	Cheryl Smithers
Christopher Clary	Robin McKeever	Ricardo Soliz
Sarah Denton	Elliot Naishtat	Jennifer Stuart
Wayne Denton	Rick Ramke

 

Additional neighbors expressing interest in the workshop but unable to attend included the following:

 

Katy Achtermann	Leon McMorrow	Andy Smith
Molly Bean	Sandy Nichols	Edie Vitemb
S. Gammon	Fairy Rutland

 

After identifying attendees’ particular concerns about pedestrian access in the Barton Hills neighborhood*, Gandy reviewed “customer” segments for improved pedestrian access (e.g., children, stroller-pushing parents, the disabled, exercising adults, etc.). He then offered examples from across the country of solutions to pedestrian-access problems faced by Austin neighborhoods. He discussed a plan proposed by the Shoal Creek Neighborhood that has been pilot tested and may soon be adopted by the City Council. This plan is based on the idea that motorists slow down in narrower traffic lanes, and it provides adjacent parking/pedestrian and bicycle lanes on the sides of neighborhood streets. Gandy’s presentation concluded with photos of problem areas in Barton Hills.

 

The workshop continued with a “walkabout” down Barton Hills Drive to Robert E. Lee, up Robert E. Lee to Rabb, Rabb to Ridgeview, Ridgeview down to Barton Hills Drive again, and back to the school. After being sensitized to a range of pedestrian access obstacles in the first part of the workshop, attendees quickly identified problems all along the walk route, and Gandy facilitated discussion of possible solutions.

 

Convening back at the school, Gandy debriefed attendees and provided resources for follow-up work, particularly regarding TxDOT’s Safe Routes to School Program:

• www.saferoutestexas.org -- web site providing information on TxDOT’s Safe Routes to School Program, which offers grants to improve the safety of children traveling to and from school. The deadline for grant applications in December 6, 2002.
• Linda Dupriest – Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Coordinator for the City of Austin. Both the City and the school district should have input into any Safe Routes to School grant application from BHNA.
• Katy Achtermann – Barton Hills Elementary School principal. Any planning for a Safe Routes to School grant application should include someone from the school staff.
• City Council members – Resource for support in pedestrian access planning. We should also be prepared to let council members know the level of consensus within the neighborhood for changes we request.

 

Gandy encouraged attendees by noting that not all improvement projects are expensive—for example, painting a 4-inch stripe to mark a pedestrian or bike lane costs about 30¢/foot. Gandy concluded by asking attendees to identify their immediate concerns resulting from participation in the workshop, which neighbors articulated as follows:

·       Our first priority should be to get a Safe Routes to School grant application submitted by December 6^th, focusing on pedestrian access improvements that will benefit students traveling back and forth to school. A secondary priority is improving the major neighborhood entrances, such as Lamar and Barton Skyway or Robert E. Lee and Barton Hills Drive, in ways that make them more attractive as well as alert motorists that they are entering a residential neighborhood. Finally, we should focus on making the neighborhood safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

·       The hill at Robert E. Lee should have existing bike lanes converted to pedestrian lanes, with an adjacent bike lane created.

·       We need to get City engineers to accept the need for narrower automobile lanes in residential areas.

·       Immediate needs are to beautify the entrances to the neighborhood and to add chicanes and other traffic-calming devices to Barton Skyway, where so many school children wait for buses.

·       We should improve the neighborhood gateway at Barton Skyway, and we should find ways to narrow vehicle lanes on Barton Hills Drive.

·       We must find ways to slow down traffic on Barton Skyway.

·       We need to make Barton Skyway safer for pedestrians, and we should improve the looks of the neighborhood by working with the Barton Hills PTA on school landscaping and by finding ways to incorporate artwork into the neighborhood.

·       We need to beautify and add whimsy to the neighborhood. We should also double-stripe streets, and we should submit a Safe Routes to School grant application.

·       We need a committed group of volunteers to put together a Safe Routes to School grant application, and we need to improve the neighborhood gateway at Barton Skyway.

 

As the meeting concluded, Robin McKeever, BHNA President, appointed the following task team to create a Safe Routes to School grant application and to generate a list of action needed to improve pedestrian access in the neighborhood: Anna Bryan-Borja, Glee Ingram, Debby Kalk, Jody Slagle, Sharon Slagle, and Jennifer Stuart.