RM 620 bike & pedestrian accommodations

[Tom Wald]

I'm checking in with BAC and friends on RM 620. Does everyone feel okay with how the project is turning out?

https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/studies/austin/rm620.html

It's a major project, especially for that area, so I imagine there are people on this list who have an interest in it. The BAC had weighed in on the project a while back, perhaps in 2018.

-Tom

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Tom Wald
tom...@gmail.com
512-203-7626

[Jeb Boyt]

Have they completed the refinement study that was scheduled for July?

It looks like the NEPA process will start next year and that a preferred alternative will come out of that. 

What are our goals for this project (Colorado River to 183)?

• Preserve and improve the safety of cycle access along 620
• Replace stormwater grates with ones that have openings smaller than a bike tire
  
• Improve access to and across 620, particularly at:
• Anderson Mill Road,
• Four Points (2222/620 area),
  
• Concordia College, and
• Lakeline Mall area.
  

Anything else?

Jeb

Sent from Outlook

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From: austi...@googlegroups.com <austi...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Tom Wald <tom...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2020 7:26 PM
To: Austin Bicycle Advisory Council <austi...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [AustinBAC] RM 620 bike & pedestrian accommodations

 

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[Laura Pierce Carbonneau]

Hi all -

I haven't been following this, but a good friend of ours (cycling journalist Andrew Tillin) was killed by a truck who hit another vehicle while repairing a flat on his bike in this stretch (I believe it was between the lake/river and 2222), in Feb 2018.  I remember his partner and other friends saying that there have been known safety issues there that have gone unaddressed for a very long time.  I will forward this to them to make sure they are aware and are providing input.  My recollection is that it was an area that had previous vehicle accidents due to the design of the road, which created the environment for this very tragic death.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/austin-bac/SN6PR06MB51017A393C9EDC1C35C54BADC0330%40SN6PR06MB5101.namprd06.prod.outlook.com.

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laura pierce carbonneau
email marketing, web and event project management, content development, social media
austin, texas
512.695.8109
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[Tom Wald]

Thanks, Jeb and Laura C., for weighing in.

I haven't been following it closely over the last year or two, and I was relying upon the BAC to cover it, since it's their purview. I don't think it's been on the BAC agenda since 2018.

From what I understand, TxDOT is not fulfilling the BAC's 2018 recommendations.

If I recall correctly, Andrew Tillin was killed by a spinning or sliding vehicle that had collided with a vehicle traveling in the other direction, but I'm not certain. (Laura C.: Perhaps you recall the details?) The proposed project, as stated, would dramatically reduce or eliminate the possibility of opposing vehicles colliding, by providing a median barrier. The new road would have three highway-speed lanes in each direction.

What the proposed project does not suggest, is to provide any appropriate barrier to keep people bicycling and walking out of TxDOT's Clear Zone. The Clear Zone is the space where out of control vehicles go, e.g. spinning or sliding, or vehicles that have simply departed the road at highway speeds. The idea is to keep the zone clear of fixed objects that vehicles would strike at acute angles, and to help protect vehicles occupants. It does not help people who are not in those vehicles--in fact, the concept endangers them in urban and suburban areas. TxDOT puts the paths that people who are on bicycles and on foot use in these Clear Zones, per "value engineering" and other considerations that devalue the lives of people who get killed and maimed in these Clear Zones.

I'm not sure what other issues there are with the project, so I'd like to see what the current BAC (and others on this list) have to say.

I'll add that while I feel comfortable riding on rural highways, with and without shoulders, at some point that comfort disappears. As the traffic volume increases, as the number of lanes increases, and as the prevalence of distractions increase (e.g. driveways, traffic lights, turns, signs, etc.), I would no longer feel comfortable. E.g. I felt comfortable riding Loop 360 15-25 years ago, but my last ride two years ago was much less comfortable (and less safe). I would feel the same about RM 620: At some point in increasing the volume and lanes, riding the shoulder is no longer a good option (and indeed, TxDOT is proposing shared-use paths for RM 620). Witness I-35 and MoPac as they pass through central Austin. Both are legal for bikes to ride on, but essentially zero people do.

Is anyone at the BAC following this, or want to take the issue up?

-Tom

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[Kathryn Flowers]

Hi all,

I do not believe a recommendation was passed about RM 620 in the past few years, at least not that I can find. I think you are thinking of 360, Tom, which we discussed and passed a recommendation on at full BAC in 2018. RM 620 was discussed extensively in 2019 at the TxDOT subcommittee I led and I requested an item related to it in summer 2019 while I was Chair. For a variety of reasons it appears the item did not make the agenda before my chair term expired (other time-sensitive issues). I do not believe it has returned since then so it must have dropped off the radar during that fall.

I agree it is important and should come before BAC, but current BAC leadership (Chris Heathcott and Lori Merlino) would be best equipped to address this.

Thanks,

Kathryn

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/austin-bac/CAKxsMqFm-JDJmSiO-v4_QR0hb_nKRB6ggaXZKoA8Xxugegba8g%40mail.gmail.com.

[Tom Wald]

I see now that the last BAC recommendation on RM 620 was in 2016, which Emily shared with me a while ago:

http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=253614 (April 19th, 2016)

It also covered Loop 360, but the BAC weighed in more recently on Loop 360, as you note.

-Tom

[Laura Pierce Carbonneau]

Hi Tom -

Yes what I recall is that a truck traveling the other direction on the opposite side of the road collided with another vehicle and slid across the road. It sounds like some barriers have been put up in that spot (not sure if that is a permanent item or not)

From Andrew's partner today:

"I rode by there a couple of weeks ago (first time in a couple of years).  I stopped at Andrew’s (ghost) bike and observed the concrete barriers and steel they put in on the centerline to keep vehicles from crossing over.  No one else will suffer a needless death In the way Andrew did.  "

Laura

[John Woodley]

FM 620 is a north/south highway that mainly runs east/west between Round Rock and Bee Caves Texas, whereas Round Rock is North and Bee Caves is South. FM means it is a Farm to Market road. I have also seen it use RR meaning Ranch Road but that appears to cause confusion with maps and addresses.

I ride through this area regularly. There have been various constructions that completely block the paved shoulders. The contractors are failing to create safe alternative routes or sidewalks to detour the constructions. This area is in Travis County and the City of Austin Extended limited Jurisdiction. The City of Austin Jurisdiction is like swiss cheese in this area, meaning a lot of holes between Palmer Lane and Lake Travis. Austin 311 will not report to Travis County or State agencies any complaints sent in if it lands in the extended Jurisdiction (ET), limited Jurisdictions (LTD), Travis County or Williams County, even if the City of Austin approved the site plans or permits. They often fail to report to Austin Energy where the Utility constructions leave huge deep holes in the ground making it extremely dangerous for pedestrians especially where no sidewalks were built. Pedestrians are forced to walk along this area day and night. There are a lot of apartments built here with no connectivity. Do you think you can see these huge holes at night when you get off work and have to walk home or early in the morning before sunrise when you have to get to work? The first picture looks like someone covered with plywood and left it there. The plywood has since collapsed into the deep hole. These are in front of Windy Ridge Apartments and next door to it. I suspect these drain into the cave systems with road oil and debris. How long do we have to wait until these turn into sinkholes and swallow FM 620?

The wide paved shoulders begin one light south from Anderson Mill Road and continue into Bee Caves. I see people riding bicycles against traffic regularly on these shoulders. This means they are not comfortable riding on this dangerous high speed roadway and may not be comfortable crossing it. There are no sidewalks or protected pathways along this route. There is a hard beaten pathway on the other side of the drainage ditch where pedestrians regularly walk and it is not ADA Accessible. I have seen wheelchair users on this route on the wide paved shoulders. There are several income based properties in this area and absolutely no bus routes.

The one block area south of Anderson Mill has no shoulders nor sidewalks and no crosswalks for people to safely cross FM 620 into the HEB shopping center, which has a non ADA compliant driveway grade.

I hear a rumor that there are plans to build a light and crosswalk at the intersection of Windy Ridge Apartments & Foundation Rd. on FM 620. It still lacks sidewalks and connectivity to the HEB shopping Center.

Anderson Mill Rd has a bike lane but it is unprotected and vehicles regularly drive in the bike lane especially in the curves. Anderson Mill Rd bike lanes narrow between Spicewood Parkway and 183. There is a lack of ADA Compliant sidewalks here and a damaged guardrail which blocked a bike lane before it was damaged. There is overgrown grass and weeds in the bike lanes making it narrow. There is current construction in this area in multiple places narrowing traffic to one lane on the south side.

Bike lanes are too narrow along Anderson Lane and are not really bike lanes but narrow overgrown shoulders.

Bike lanes, shoulder end before the dangerous intersection at 183 on Anderson Mill Rd. Auto traffic often fails to yield bikes when bike lane ends here. Very, very Dangerous area.

https://goo.gl/maps/zjJVQEAGA9nP9qAt5

On FM 620, There are no bicycle lanes or paved shoulders beginning one block south of Anderson Lane and northward into Round Rock. There is a lack of sidewalk connectivity too. The sidewalk begins on the West side of FM 620 at Anderson Mill Rd and ends at Hatch Rd.

https://goo.gl/maps/NLmAHXFycg678ztt7

When you get to Deerbrook Trail can not continue on the West side of FM 620 and have to cross over with no crosswalk nor sidewalks or trespass to get to a sidewalk near the newly built apartment complex which built a sidewalk that dead ends at a storage facility away from the roadway. Note the guardrails are right next to auto traffic here and are currently damaged. This area completely blocks all except automobiles.

https://goo.gl/maps/euVuKWiPsD4afQgy7

I ride my bicycle in the middle of the right automotive lane on FM 620 from Anderson Mill Rd to Pecan Park Blvd., where I make a left turn on my way to the Lakeline Train Station.

https://goo.gl/maps/jeNaGi69nK6CKAQVA

Another time I had to take my manual wheelchair along this same route. How do you think that went? View the satellite view or go out there and physically walk it and tell me your experience.

Beginning at FM 620 and Lakecreek Pkwy heading north there is a lack of sidewalks and bike lanes:

https://goo.gl/maps/MYYMnvdJSwEPjE4X7

Anderson Mill Rd and FM 620 intersection lacks Bicycle and Pedestrian infrastructure connectivity. While it has partial infrastructure there is none on FM 620:

https://goo.gl/maps/fL857rwFkLcv3GCA6

Some of the Sidewalks on one side of FM 620 north of Anderson Mill Rd. meander a lot sharply and have trees that hit my head. North of Hatch Rd. you are in drainage ditches.

 

South of Anderson Mill Rd;

No sidewalks nor cross walks at HEB near Anderson Mill Rd;

https://goo.gl/maps/s2Y53TraVcXBV5SW7

Satellite Views of Hard beaten pathways on both sides of FM 620 near Concordia University. Feel free to scroll up and down the roadway:

https://goo.gl/maps/zFxaDfE8cVQWvVm87

Note FM 2222 lacks infrastructure for Bicycles and Pedestrians. The City of Austin and TXDOT are rebuilding the intersection at FM 2222 and FM 620. This intersection is the busiest intersection in the Austin Area.

https://goo.gl/maps/LMWY4eTLPnHMxRNN6.

Here the FM 620 shoulder is not very wide near Aria Dr. & Cavalier Dr. in a bend in the roadway, Bee Caves.

https://goo.gl/maps/vsnoc7pv6aK5p51m9

Bee Caves and TX Hwy 71 completely lacks Pedestrian and Bicycle infrastructures:

https://goo.gl/maps/N5pDWJBTe1RrAJa29

The entire highway along FM 620 lacks protected barriers and safe alternative routes.

Respectfully,

John Woodley

Advocates for Disability Access

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