Public Notice: The Zilker Master Plan Is Back

The Zilker Metropolitan Park Vision Plan has been released in draft form, and it’s a logical extension of the “concept” options offered back in February (“Public Notice: Zilker Park Vision Still Cloudy,” News, Feb. 18). The big news is that the Big Idea made the cut for the final: a land bridge across Barton Springs Road, stitching the two halves of the park together, with an underground parking garage under it, one of three new garages envisioned in all. In exchange, auto traffic within the park is reduced, with Lou Neff Road around the Great Lawn becoming bike-and-pedestrian-only, and Stratford Drive realigned and shortened. New bridges across Lady Bird Lake and Barton Creek provide more direct access to the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. Similarly, the road and parking lots around the rugby field on the south side of Barton Springs Road would be removed, as would Zilker Road to the west, through the polo field, which would no longer be available for event parking.

Now, it’s important to recognize that this is a long-range vision plan, not a project plan, and there’s no funding for any of it at this point. There are in fact 41 different projects envisioned in all, ranging from administrative (“Diverse Vendors and Offerings”) to construction (“Land Bridge”), and they’re very roughly ranked in order of cost, and also in a prospective timeline, with 14 of those projects labeled “Year 1-3” and the land bridge and underground garage being “Near Term.”

The immediate step is another round of public input: Both the maps and the plan itself – some 208 pages, plus appendices – are available for comment now through Jan. 8. In addition, there’ll be a Zoom meeting at 6pm Wed., Dec. 7, plus an in-person open house Sat., Dec. 10, 10am-2pm at McBeth Rec Center, 2401 Columbus Dr., on the MoPac side of Zilker. More info at austintexas.gov/zilkervision.

Community Advancement Network has published the CAN Community Dash­board for 2022, analyzing trends for “18 indicators to gauge if we are getting closer to meeting our community goals” in four areas. And the results aren’t great: We’re on target to meet those goals in just 5 of the 18 measures, the same as last year. CAN has been doing these dashboards since 2010, and going back through the 10 years they’ve been using the current measuring system, these are the two lowest success rates they’ve reported. Here’s the breakdown:

We are safe, just, and engaged: 1 for 4. Voter turnout is good, but three crime and incarceration measures are up slightly.

Our basic needs are met: 2 for 5. Food insecurity and the number of single commuters are down, but homelessness and housing costs are up, and poverty is down only slightly.

We are healthy: 1 for 5. There are fewer smokers, but obesity, mental health problems, and unhealthy air days are up, and there are just as many people without health insurance.

We achieve our full potential: 1 for 4. More high school grads are going on to further study, but graduation rates are stagnant, unemployment is up, and the number of kindergartners who are school-ready isn’t rising fast enough.

See the full report and data drill-downs at dashboard.canatx.org.

The Julia C. Butridge Gallery at the Dougherty Arts Center is accepting exhibit proposals starting this Saturday, Nov. 19, for their 2024 gallery season. See doughertyartscenter.submittable.com/submit for details.

This article appears in November 18 • 2022.