18 Austin Core Transportation Plan (ACT Plan) Design Commission Recommendation — original pdf

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DESIGN COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION 20250224-003 Date: February 24, 2025 Subject: Austin Core Transportation Plan Motioned By: Commissioner Luckens Seconded By: Commissioner Carroll Recommendation The Design Commission recommends the Austin Core Transportation Plan to City Council with the following friendly amendments. • Street trees be mandatory in the corridor projects presented in the Austin Core Transportation Plan • The implementation of the plan shall include the green costs and green infrastructure estimates be part of the base estimates and not a line item The inclusion of a multimodal transportation plan in and out of the urban core to the surrounding communities. • • Projects in the Austin Core Transportation Plan be brought to the Design Commission. Rationale: The rational for supporting The Core Transportation Plan with the friendly amendments is to emphasize items of importance that reflect vision and goals set forth in the Urban Design Guidelines. 1. We strongly feel the need to prioritize the mandatory inclusion of street trees for any right of way improvements. Street trees are a necessity that greatly helps us meet our goals of becoming a more walkable city by providing critical shading along sidewalks, helps mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration and can act as a barrier to protect pedestrians from vehicular traffic. 2. The commission believes that the plan should also include provisions to address the reduction of the TxDOT level speeds as vehicles enter downtown city streets. This protects pedestrian and existing downtown multimodal transportation from collisions with vehicles moving at unsafe rates of speed. 3. The plan should also include a plan for multimodal transportation in and out of the urban core from the surrounding districts to provide for an equitable opportunity to explore the downtown core. 4. The commission agreed that the priority and supporting projects presented in The Austin Core Transportation Plan meet the requirements of infrastructure projects to be reviewed by the commission and should come before the commission for review and comment. A majority of the elements proposed in the plan include design strategies that directly correspond to the goals of the Urban Design Guidelines. Vote: 10-0 1 of 2 18 ACT Plan1 of 2For: Chair Salinas, Vice Chair Meiners, Commissioner Carroll, Commissioner Gelles, Commissioner Howard, Commissioner Ladner, Commissioner Luckens, Commissioner McKinney, Commissioner Wallace, Commissioner Wittstruck Against: Abstain: Absent: Vacancy: District 6 Attest: Jon Salinas, AIA Chair - Design Commission District 2 2 of 2 18 ACT Plan2 of 2