A new $1 million construction project implementing a series of public transit enhancements began mid-August to improve safety and transit on Trinity Street and San Jacinto Boulevard.
These improvements, part of a partnership between the city of Austin and CapMetro, include bus priority lanes to improve speed and reliability in the region, which accounts for 18% of CapMetro’s operations. The project will also add protected bike lanes, which will extend through both Trinity Street and San Jacinto Boulevard, and will create new pedestrian crossings and ramps to improve safety.
“The guiding principle in doing these projects is to improve safety in our effort to achieve zero traffic fatalities,” said Max Schwartz, capital improvement program manager for Austin Transportation and Public Works. “These roadways are on the high injury network, so we know that these are locations where there’s a significant amount of traffic injuries resulting on the street.”
Luke Weber, a geography and sustainability studies junior, rides an e-bike everyday on and off-campus. He said it’s important for the city to have and continue adding protected bicycle lanes near the University to ensure safety for bikers.
“In the areas that have actual bike lanes that (the city is) working on, I feel much safer and I know that drivers feel the same,” Weber said. “It’s reassuring to see (because) even in the past semester, when I really started using the e-bikes more in my daily route, there were new bike lanes and new protections built. Austin is clearly thinking about it and they’re investing in it.”
Political communications sophomore Ethan Viesca commutes to his job at the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, which is near the improvement’s construction zone, almost everyday. He said the addition of bus priority lanes will benefit his daily commute by facilitating less traffic congestion.
“We have some (bus) priority lanes in Austin, especially closer to downtown, and it really helps the flow of traffic,” Viesca said. “You’re not having to wait on a bus stopping in the middle of the road and piling up traffic 20 cars back. If (buses) have their own priority lane where they can stop and go whenever they need without interfering with traffic of other cars and bikes, it’ll benefit everybody.”
Schwartz said construction on both Trinity Street and San Jacinto Boulevard is expected to be completed in November. While the construction conflicts with UT’s football schedule, Schwartz said Austin Transportation and Public Works does not expect construction to significantly affect University athletics operations.
“The University will continue to use the Construction Advisory webpage and emails to notify campus about impacts to mobility,” a spokesperson for Campus Operations said in an email.
Schwartz said this project is important to not only ensure safety, but also accommodate people who take different modes of transportation.
“We need this project to enhance safety, to improve speed and reliability of transit service,” Schwartz said. “It’s really to enhance the options for those who use this corridor to get around. We want you to be able to take the bus, to bike (and) to be able to walk. We want to provide you with that choice and we want you to be able to do that safely.”
