Shoal Creek Boulevard Frankencurbs Draw Ire of Residents

If the city of Austin had a barn in the Allandale or Rosedale neighborhoods, residents would've surely burned it down Thursday night. More than 300 Central Northwest Austin neighbors turned out for a city-organized public meeting to discuss the new Shoal Creek Boulevard Transportation Project: 37 crepe myrtle-adorned curb islands inside restriped multipurpose biking, walking, and parking lanes north of 40th Street. The price tag was $265,000.

The final product is a Frankenstein, and judging by Thursday night's emotionally charged meeting, it's menacing the townspeople around Shoal Creek. Complaints ranged from safety concerns to the islands' ugliness to the ill-planned upkeep of their vegetation. Setting the tone for the entire meeting, a man in the back stood up and interrupted City Public Works Director Sondra Creighton's introductory address to neighbors. He called for a straw poll of how many residents think the project is "stupid," at which point the crowd erupted into applause and shouting. After the meeting, held in the Gullet Elementary cafeteria a few blocks from Shoal Creek, one participant remarked on an online listserve that he believed the children who ate lunch in the room likely had better manners than many of the meeting's participants.

The transportation project was initially a resurfacing and restriping effort aimed at integrating bicycle infrastructure. The original plan sectioned the wide street into auto and bicycle lanes. Car-free bike lanes are always the most desirable option for bicycle infrastructure, but initial bike lane plans required eliminating one side of on-street parking, which didn't sit well with a handful of longtime residents. What followed was a five-year grudge match over what shape the project should take. Calming traffic, beautification, and pedestrian accessibility were all added to the list of objectives over time, and the city solicited nationally known, Austin-based traffic consultant Charles Gandy of Livable Communities to come up with a solution. Trouble brewed between neighborhood working groups, city staff, and management as they wrestled with various plans. Before it was all said and done, City Council member Jackie Goodman became somewhat controversially involved to expedite the project.

Results of preliminary monitoring conducted by city staff by no means appeased residents. Transportation engineer Alan Hughes reported that 85% of cars reduced their speed by less than half a mile per hour, roughly from 39 to 38 mph, but that doesn't address residents' main concern, 50- to 60-mph drivers. Hughes said he would consult the data and report back to residents. City Bicycle and Pedestrian Program coordinator Colly Kreidler said video footage revealed typical behavior for 40-foot streets with on-street parking, and only one vehicle was captured driving in the parking area. Kreidler said that cars seemed to be slowing down and making room for the cyclists in the tight squeeze around the curb islands, and that in these cases, he hadn't seen any apparent emergency stops. Some Shoal Creek residents and regular travelers through the area strongly disagree, however. "How much is a life worth?" asked Donny Greenspan, who lives a block from Shoal Creek and was one of many regular users who expressed safety concerns about bike-car interactions near the curb islands. Some elderly neighbors also offered personal opinions about how cyclists routinely disobey traffic laws, and a few went as far as suggesting that cyclists be barred all together. Bicyclists beware – one man practically threatened vehicular intimidation, alluding to how a bump might teach bikers a lesson.

Cyclists said they've felt less safe since the project's completion. Avid rider and Shoal Creek resident Lane Wimberley said he saw only two options for the embattled project from a biker's perspective: "You completely remove the parking lane stripe, leaving only the middle, double yellow line [and], therefore, not channelizing traffic. Or, if you must channelize traffic, remove the obstacles from the bike lanes." That latter suggestion, removing the islands completely, seemed to be popular among the meeting's attendees, who blistered the project's planners throughout the two-hour event.

"I've never felt more like a piñata," said project designer Gandy midway through. "I hope by going through [this meeting], we can get on with the conversation of how to manage speeding traffic and 500-plus bikes per day." Part of the project's problem, he said, is that its compromise solution doesn't clearly communicate its intent. "We're trying to fix a problem and not everyone agrees there is a problem." Keri Juarez, the project manager for this project since last September, said she was grateful for residents' participation and would take meticulous care to communicate residents' views on the project to her superiors. "Our job as city employees is to implement policy set by the Council, but also to send information up the ladder."

Not everyone at the meeting rejected the plan, however. Neighborhood resident Cynthia Keohane thinks monitoring should proceed as drivers continue to adjust to the new traffic patterns. "If there's the possibility that it really will slow down speeders, I want to find out before it's trashed." Doug Kilday, who lives on Shoal Creek Boulevard, applauded the project. Before the islands were installed, high-speed traffic made it impossible to walk with his 2-year-old daughter along the road, much of which is without sidewalk, Kilday said. "Traffic was moved to the middle of the street and my observation is that the fastest drivers who used to treat the Shoal Creek Boulevard like the Autobahn have slowed down."

Some of the project's loudest detractors at the meeting seemed to not have participated in the five-year planning process. Others said they received little notification about the project as it progressed. The city mailed 4,600 surveys to area residents in 2002, garnering a 25% overall response, of which Shoal Creek Boulevard comprised 47%. Paul Nagy, perhaps the most active citizen throughout the project's planning process, was nearly booed off the stage at one point as he defended the Frankencurb islands. The project "had a rough start at first, but it was a planning process. People were encouraged and invited to attend. The city did a couple of neighborhoodwide mailings. People had opportunities," Nagy said.

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Oops! The following correction ran in our May 27, 2005 issue: A story about the new Shoal Creek Boulevard Transportation Project, "Shoal Creek Boulevard Frankencurbs Draw Ire of Residents," said a public meeting regarding the project took place Thursday, May 12. The meeting actually took place Wednesday, May 11. The Chronicle regrets the error.