 "Photo: Stephen Durda")
Residents can expect to continue to see some new additions around Austin as major city construction projects head toward implementation and completion this winter.
Cesar Chavez conversion
Motorists frustrated by the one-way Cesar Chavez Street downtown got some pleasant news when the Austin City Council approved a two-way traffic conversion project on Oct. 18.
Project construction began Nov. 17, according to the City of Austin Public Works Web site. Federal grants and Capital Metro are providing funds for the $6.8 million project, according to the site. The project includes a pedestrian walk enhanced with tree planting, benches, public art and a pavilion.
Rick Colbrunn, project manager for the Cesar Chavez conversion, said progress has been made despite a slow start due to complications with storm sewers.
"We're already taking measures to recover the schedule," Colbrunn said.
Due to work on storm sewers, sections of the hike and bike trail in Town Lake Park will be closed intermittently throughout the next month or so, Colbrunn said. He said pedestrians and cyclists will be detoured to the upper trail along Cesar Chavez.
Colbrunn said construction will be complete by April 2008.
The Waller Creek Tunnel
The Waller Creek Tunnel Project will create a stormwater bypass tunnel from Waterloo Park to Lady Bird Lake, according to the Public Works Web site.
City council created the Waller Creek Citizen Advisory Committee in order involve citizens in the project, said Kimberly Springer, public information and community outreach coordinator for public works. During December, January and February, crews will be surveying the area in preparation for designing the tunnel, according to a Nov. 28 project status report.
"The major focus of the tunnel is to address a major flooding issue that we have in the downtown area along Waller Creek," Springer said.
Lance Armstrong Bikeway
The Lance Armstrong Bikeway Project will create on- and off-street bicycle trails, lanes and routes through downtown.
Daryl Haba, the project's manager, said the bikeway will extend from Veteran's Drive to Research Boulevard. He said everything east of Interstate Highway 35, as well as the area from Fourth and Fifth streets to Shady Lane, is complete.
Haba said public art and bike racks will be incorporated upon completion.
Portions of the route are already open.
East Riverside
East Riverside Drive will become the gateway corridor into the city of Austin, Councilman Brewster McCracken said. City council hired A. Nelessen Associates, Inc. on Nov. 29 for professional planning services on the East Riverside Corridor Plan.
The corridor spans East Riverside Drive from I-35 to Ben White, said Tanya Swartzendruber, senior planner for neighborhood planning and zoning for the city.
According to the Nov. 29 city council agenda, "The corridor presents a significant opportunity to transform an underutilized commercial corridor into a more sustainable, mixed-use, transit-oriented neighborhood."
Swartzendruber said the architecture firm was hired to study the area and recommend improvements that might be made. She said a possible construction project would be several years down the road.
McCracken said commercial centers and utilities are nearing the end of their life-use in the area. He mentioned major housing and retail construction already underway in the East Riverside area. He said that constructing additional affordable housing is part of the corridor plan.
McCracken said that A. Nelessen Associates, Inc. will also identify where a light rail would run between the Austin-Bergstrom Airport and
downtown.
"We already have significant work underway, but we've embarked on a major effort that will completely transform East Riverside into the gateway boulevard leading into the city of Austin," he said. "Austinites will not even recognize East Riverside in five years."
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