Sidewalk, bike lanes, ramp reversals planned

A public hearing on the city’s 2020-2029 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) on Tuesday included plenty of discussion about transportation, including sidewalks, bike lanes and changes coming to the interstate at the hands of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

City engineering chief Laurie Moyer gave a presentation on the CIP to the Planning and Zoning Commission before the public hearing. Moyer addressed questions about how projects are prioritized and listed several factors in prioritization: whether the projects are part of a city council strategic initiative, whether there is a state or federal mandate for the project, whether the project affects public health or safety, and the availability of external funding are all taken into consideration, she said. Projects in the first three years of the plan are also given priority. 

During the public hearing, only one resident — Lisa Marie Coppoletta — spoke. Coppoletta voiced her concerns about the Bishop Street sidewalk project, which she said is a CIP project. Coppoletta said the sidewalk is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“They’re actually making it more unsafe for people,” she said, noting that there is a sidewalk on only one side of Bishop and that the block between Belvin and Hopkins is unsafe for anyone in a wheelchair. She asked the city to provide better vetting of CIP projects.

“Why aren’t the CIP people making better planning?” she said. “... Bishop is now worse off than it was before.”

Moyer later addressed Coppoletta’s comments after Commissioner Maxfield Baker inquired about the process for reporting unsafe sidewalks. Moyer said that Cindy Conyers, the city’s risk manager in the Human Resources department, takes such complaints.

Moyer said the sidewalk between Belvin and Hopkins is due for an upgrade but had been put off because the city knew it would be going through the same block for a drainage project.

“There is a sidewalk between Belvin and Hopkins,” Moyer said. “It was installed some time ago. It was ADA compliant at the time it was installed. … We will go back and make those sidewalk improvements.”

Moyer also discussed projects that will take place downtown, which Commissioner Travis Kelsey said he wants to prioritize, especially since downtown vitality is a high priority for the city council. Moyer said there are plans in the works for improvements to Kissing Alley, landscaping, moving utilities around Kissing Alley and redoing Guadalupe Street.

The Guadalupe Street project has already been funded, Moyer said, and will entail restriping the street to make it two lanes while adding a buffered two-way bicycle track. The plans are to put the bicycle lanes between the curb and parking spaces.

Moyer also said the city is working with TxDOT to put a connection under the interstate for bicyclists and pedestrians to provide a continuous path from the east side of the interstate to the university.

“The goal is a bicyclist will never have to cross the interstate; they will be able to go underneath it,” Moyer said.

Commissioner Gabrielle Moore asked the city to consider narrowing traffic lanes and putting in more bicycle lanes. She also pointed out that one item in the CIP — a turn lane on Comanche Street at Hopkins — could incorporate a bike lane.

“A lot of cyclists try to get through there,” she said, “and it’s pretty dangerous because of the HEB parking lot and driveway.”

Moore also advocated for the creation of a bicycle/pedestrian committee to serve as an advisory body for the city council. 

Not only is TxDOT working with the city on a bicycle/pedestrian path, but it also is planning some changes to the interstate including ramp reversals and raising the bridge over the San Marcos River on the northbound access road, near River Road. She explained that ramp reversals are a means of smoothing out traffic flow on the interstate. For example, she said, there is an on ramp for the interstate just north of the exit ramp for Guadalupe Street/State Highway 123. Because of that, people are trying to get on the interstate and moving over to get off the interstate in about the same spot. A ramp reversal will move the exit ramp north of the entrance ramp and eliminate the jam-up on the interstate. 

As for raising the bridge on the northbound access road, Moyer said that the bridge currently floods in a 10-year flood event and is not up to standards. TxDOT plans to raise the bridge and make a pedestrian path at that location. 

The next steps for the 2020-2029 CIP, according to Moyer’s presentation, are a P&Z vote on recommendation to City Council on May 14. On May 21, council will receive the P&Z recommendation. In June and August, council will hold budget workshops, and in September council will adopt the city budget that includes the Fiscal Year 2020 CIP projects.