Dear neighbors,
Thank you to the many constituents who have reached out to my office to share your views for and against the traffic calming measures recently installed in District 10. I posted a series of updates to Nextdoor and Facebook over the last 10 days and today I am writing to share similar information with you, subscribers to my newsletter.
The Local Area Traffic Management program (LATM) is the program that installs traffic calming measures like speed cushions and plays a critical role in achieving the City’s Vision Zero goal of zero traffic fatalities. Over the past few months, LATM has installed speed cushions on several streets, including Far West, Mesa, and Jester Boulevard. These projects were an attempt to address documented and serious speeding problems in our community.
Last week, we announced that the Austin Transportation Department (ATD) decided to temporarily pause and reassess the LATM program. This week I met with ATD Director Rob Spillar, ATD Traffic Engineer Eric Bollich, and other ATD staff. They will report back to Council during the first week of August. After which, we will schedule District 10 neighborhood and street specific community meetings as needed to discuss their findings, options that might be available, and timelines.
As ATD reviews the program’s application in District 10, I have asked them to explore ways to differentiate between the different types of streets found in our neighborhoods and to reconsider whether a one-size-fits-all solution to speeding is best addressing each project’s original concerns. We also discussed the need to strengthen communication with impacted communities prior to the installation of projects. We want to both avoid surprise changes to our streets and educate the community about the magnitude of the speeding problems requiring action. My office also will work with the Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities, which is examining the potentially negative impact of certain traffic calming devices on people with disabilities.
Many of you already have been in contact with me and my staff. I appreciate and welcome your comments. We need to hear from a wide variety of opinions in order to understand the whole picture. Please join our contact list for this issue (http://bit.ly/speedcushions) or email us at district10@austintexas.gov. If you do not currently follow me on Facebook, you can do so here: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonAlterForAustin/.
Finally, as you discuss this issue online and in your neighborhoods, I ask that you please remember that all of us want safe streets. We may disagree about the best way to achieve that goal, but we can engage in productive and respectful dialogue as we find the most effective feasible solutions.
Sincerely,
Alison Alter
City Council Member, District 10 |
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