Downtown bike, pedestrian bridge plans near finalization

Getting to the businesses, bars and shops on Sixth Street is quickly becoming just a bike ride away for people who use the Pfluger Bridge on Cesar Chavez Street.

The city of Austin is finishing up the last touches of the Pfluger Bridge Extension Project's planning phase. The $2 million project will extend the bicycle and pedestrian bridge to the north over Cesar Chavez Street, connecting Lady Bird Lake with the Sixth Street and the Lamar Market Districts.

Until construction begins in either January or February 2009, the city will bid for contractors.

Project Manager Lora Teed said the city planned on adding an extension to the bridge when it was built in 2001. After hearing public concerns about the need for paved sidewalk along Cesar Chavez Street, planning for the extension project began in 2004.

"We have a very strong citizen group helping us develop the project," Teed said. "People are really excited because they don't like crossing Cesar Chavez."

The public had the chance to view design elements and give input on the extension project Saturday morning on the bridge.

"We went back to the public to show our evolutions," Teed said. "We got a large public input at the bridge from people who happened to stop by."

Pedestrians and bicyclists who approach from the hike-and-bike trail are forced to cross the busy, unpaved sidewalk along the street in order to get to the Sixth Street market district. The extension project intends to help people safely reach the area and open access to the Lance Armstrong Bikeway and Town Lake Metropolitan Park.

"I really like how Austin is trying to become more bike-friendly," said Dana Blackburn, who frequents the Lady Bird Lake hike-and-bike trail. "It's going to be exciting when the extension is built; it will be a great city attraction."

The second phase of the bridge extension project will begin by late 2009 and will build a pedestrian tunnel underneath the railroad on Bowie and Third streets, Teed said.

The bridge extension project is among the city's attempts at advancing a more bike-friendly environment. In March the city of Austin received a silver-level status from the League of American Bicyclists in 2007 and announced it wants to reach gold status.

As previously reported by the Texan, Austin has more than double the nation's average number of bicyclists.