Item 3 - Austin Core Transportation Plan Presentation — original pdf

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ACT Plan Update Austin Transportation and Public Works | February 2026 ACT Plan Dates  February 18 –Downtown Commission (briefing)  March 3 – Urban Transportation Commission (briefing)  March 5 – Mobility Committee  March 26 – City Council 2 What We’ve Heard  Reflect the preferred cross section for 6th Street  Additional community engagement in 2025 determined preferred cross section  Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) nearing completion  Final ACT Plan will reflect the PER recommendations  Provide high-quality crosstown bicycle connections through downtown  Concerns about bicycle facility gaps along 5th/6th at Lamar  Final ACT Plan will highlight priority projects along West 5th and 6th streets with protected bicycle infrastructure connecting to 4th Street and Congress  Recommendations include extending bike and transit improvements along 5th and 6th streets west of Lamar  Consider additional two-way conversions 3 ACT Plan Recommendations: Balancing Multi-Modal Function ACT Plan Two-Way Conversions  Two-Way Conversions are recommended for  7th Street  9th Street  10th Street  Brazos  Directional changes are required for 8th and the rest of 7th due to TxDOT’s I-35 changes  5th and 6th remain one-way to prioritize space for transit, pedestrians and bicycles and to maintain vehicle operations One-way street Two-way street Two-way conversion 5 Downtown Context  Most downtown streets are two-way  ACT Plan adds additional two-way conversions to the network  Only six remaining one-way corridors downtown  Remaining one-way streets are our “heavy lifters”  East/west crosstown connectors  Connections to/from I-35 ramps  Transit routes One-way street Two-way street Two-way conversion 6 Transit Streets One-way streets preserve space for transit-only lanes • Replacing 3-4 general purpose vehicle lanes with 2 lanes and one transit only-lane + bike lane • Connecting east/west and north/south transit service (including Project Connect) • Improving transit speed and reliability through downtown West 6th Current: 4 Vehicle Lanes West 6th Proposed: 2 Vehicle Lanes Transit-only lanes One-way street Two-way street Two-way conversion 7 Priority Crosstown Bicycle Connections 8 Additional Bicycle Network 9 Reallocating Space from Cars to Transit/Bike/Ped Two-Way Streets Require More Space for Cars  To avoid permissive left turns (which are highly correlated with pedestrian crashes) and significant operational problems, two-way streets require left turn pockets at intersections  Two-way streets require minimum 30-33 feet of street space for cars instead of 20-22 feet  Requires tradeoffs to reduce space for bike/ped/transit facilities  Impacts continuity of transit and/or bike lanes at the intersection, where transit delays and active transportation crashes are most prevalent. One-Way Two-Way One-way streets provide space to extend bus and bike facilities through the intersection, where transit delays and active transportation crashes are most prevalent. Fitting in the left turn lane needed on two-way streets requires dropping the transit only lane and sharing with general traffic or merging bus and bike traffic and removing protection for cyclists at intersections. 11 Example: Downtown Seattle, WA Seattle’s One-Way Downtown Street Grid Pine Street @ 7th One-way streets provide space to extend bus and bike facilities through the intersection. 12 Seattle, WA 13 Are Two-Way Streets “Safer” Than One-Way Streets? Research-Based Factors Impacting Safety for All Street Types  Speed management  Frequent pedestrian crossings  Typical downtown Austin block length and signal spacing = 350 feet  Frequent signals and short blocks slow traffic and provide frequent pedestrian crossing opportunities  Managing vehicle left turns  Left turn lanes to provide protected or protected/permissive vehicle left turns  Access management  No research-based CMFs for converting one-way streets to two-way 15 One-Way Streets Provide Walkability Benefits  Fewer crossing conflicts for pedestrians  Fewer vehicle movements to contend with at intersections/crossings  Fewer vehicle lanes to cross (less pedestrian exposure time)  Reduced pedestrian delay (less wait time to cross)  Fewer signal phases needed for one-way streets = shorter signal cycles  Ped delay typically doubles moving from one-way to two-way streets  Why is this important?  Shorter wait times = fewer risky crossings against the signal  Can’t see this on a plan or cross section, but pedestrians feel it at every crossing  Managing vehicle speeds  One-way streets allow engineers to control vehicle speed with signal timing (“one-way signal progression”)  This is more challenging on two-way streets 16 Example: Downtown Portland, OR Portland’s One-Way Downtown Street Grid  Traffic signals timed to progress traffic at 13-16 mph (“one way progression”)  Slow-moving traffic with signalized pedestrian crossings every 250 feet creates a highly walkable downtown  Reduced pedestrian delay - Short signal cycle lengths = short waits and frequent opportunities for pedestrians to safely cross 17 Portland, OR 18 Example: Downtown Portland, OR One-way streets provide space to extend bike facilities through the intersection. • One-way progression also allows signals to be timed for “green wave” for cyclists • Traffic signals timed to 15mph “green wave” SW 2nd @ Ash 19 Two-Way Conversions - Conclusions  There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach – context and engineering judgement is critical  Not all streets are good candidates for two-way operations  Two-way streets are not necessarily “safer” than one-way streets  Some of the most walkable cities in North America have one-way downtown street grids  One-way streets provide surplus ROW that can be allocated to transit, bike, and ped facilities instead of vehicles, including through intersections where active transportation crashes and transit delays are most prevalent  ACT Plan recommendations balance safety, function, and multi-modal needs for Downtown Austin 20 Additional Measures for Improving Walkability on Austin’s One-Way Streets Signal Spacing  Typical downtown block length and signal spacing = 350 feet  Pedestrian crossing gap documented at 5th/6th @ San Antonio  ACT Plan proposing new signals at San Antonio to close this gap west of Guadalupe Speed Management Tools  ACT Plan will call for exploring raised intersections on 6th Street within the entertainment district Signal Timing  Currently timed for vehicle speeds of 25 mph in downtown  ACT Plan will call for conducting speed studies and modelling to identify opportunities to potentially adjust progression speeds (including 5th/6th west of Guadalupe)  Evaluate limited progression strategies during peak pedestrian times 21