North Burnet/Gateway Planning Solicits Public Input

In the north part of Austin's so-called Urban Core lies the intersection of Metric Boulevard, US-183, and MoPac. Now known collectively as the North Burnet/Gateway Planning Area, the roughly 2,300-acre section of land has grown considerably in the past few decades, from its origins as an industrial district and home of the UT Balcones Research Center (now J.J. Pickle Research Campus), built on a WWII-era magnesium plant, to the construction of various collosal highways in the eighties, to the arrival of cookie-cutter retail chains and office spaces. With all this explosive growth, the city itself admits that the area suffers from "poor connectivity" and that pedestrian/bicycle travel is "particularly difficult."

The City of Austin recently brought on consultant team Carter+Burgess to craft a master plan and implementation strategy for the redevelopment and expansion of North Burnet/Gateway. Of particular interest to many is the area's future status as a "transit circulation area," as CapMetro's Urban Commuter Rail Service, the new traffic-stopping high-tech buses, and a proposed regional commuter rail service (Austin to San Antonio, perhaps?) would all intersect. Carter+Burgess, along with City officials, are thus faced with the substantial responsibility of finding an ideal merger of urban design, sensible traffic flow, mixed-use structures, and long-term redevelopment.

Before they settle on anything, though, they're soliciting feedback from the community, including residents, businesses, and property owners. There's a survey up on the official webpage, as well as several meetings coming up that are open to the public:

Thursday, July 6, 2006
Kick-off for the week-long public workshops *
Community Vision Survey and introduction to the project
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Holiday Inn - NW Plaza/Arboretum Area 8901 Business Park Drive

Saturday, July 8, 2006
On-site design workshop (lunch provided – please RSVP to info@NorthBurnetGateway.com or 899-1018). Participants will look closely at the interaction between land use, urban design, and transportation in the area and provide input for potential new development and redevelopment.
Time: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Holiday Inn - NW Plaza/Arboretum Area 8901 Business Park Drive

Thursday, July 13, 2006
Visual presentation of the community input design team
Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Holiday Inn - NW Plaza/Arboretum Area 8901 Business Park Drive

["Community Vision Survey"]