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J. Tillman at the Mohawk - Giveaway
The future Lance Armstrong Bikeway is now one step closer to realization, with artwork for the public six-mile route to be approved by the Art in Public Places (AIPP) Commission today. News8Austin reports that ten "large yellow paintings" will be installed along the route, which will be made up of off-street concrete trails, on-street striped bike lanes, and on-street signed bike routes. Additionally, three large tunnels resembling "square Slinky-like coils" will be built.
"They're sort of sculptural points that give access to pedestrians and bikers to the bikeway," said AIPP Administrator Megan Crigger to News8Austin.
The route will run west-to-east from Veterans Drive at Lake Austin Blvd to the Montopolis Bridge at US183, cutting across downtown via 4th Street. Construction is slated to begin in the next few months, with the project finishing sometime next year.
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To heck with artwork. When are they going to build the frigging trail? The city has been hemming & hawing over this since the mid-90's.
Let me guess, the "art" will be a series of reflective, yellow signs. Given what the city installed at the Lamar underpass, I can only imagine how horrific the art will be.
A proven mathematical equation:
The Austin City Council + Our Tax Dollars = Some Lame Artwork
Would have been nice to see these funds used to complete,improve and or extend the existing hike and bike trail rather than create a new trail running parallel to it. Fine use of city money once again! Seriously, why do we need this?
The bikeway's been stuck behind various rail plans, and then screwed by the Seaholm-required redesign of the Pfluger bridge (which was, yes, originally supposed to go all the way to 5th and Lamar, i.e., somewhere useful).
During my 5 years on the UTC, we touched on this thing perhaps a dozen times. My bet is that the thing ends up as nothing more than signs on most of its route, which makes it a horrible waste of time and money. Imagine how many suburban bike lanes could have been striped for the couple of million bucks this has taken...
As for "why have this if the H&B trail is nearby", originally it wasn't supposed to be this close; and this thing is supposed to be for fast-moving cyclists, not joggers. Yes, many of us, well, all right, just me, brought up the point of "how, exactly, do you plan to keep the joggers off this thing" on numerous occasions.
Mike, now that the proposed route *is* this close to the the Hike and Bike trail it seems superfluous and waste of city funds. Spending the funds to complete the long languishing existing Hike and Bike trail to make it more safe, useful and accessible to pedestrians *and* bikers would be a *much* better use of funds. You can even have your dedicated bike lane as part of the town lake trail if need be. That would keep the way clear for two wheelers and help prevent pedestrians from being run over by free wheeling cyclists.
Another brilliant waste of our money. Where is it bikes want rights exactly, the roads, their own trails, the hike and bike, the sidewalks? Oh yeah, they want rights everywhere without ever having to adhere to traffic or pedestrian laws. Another dumb idea to waste tax dollars.
Those blue things at the Lamar underpass are awesome! Don't they make you feel like you're going fast? Whoooosh
Zack
http://mammals.wordpress.com
Edward,
While I agree that the thing is a waste as it's getting implemented, there's no way to stick an extra bikes-only lane on the Town Lake trail. And it doesn't serve the intended constituency of the LAB otherwise -- people who want to actually GET somewhere on their bike rather than keep dodging dogs.
Anon, you're a retard.
Public art is almost always controversial. Large groups of people hate anything other than statues of actual people. Large groups of people hate statues of actual people. And large groups of people hate the idea of spending public money on anything other than roads and sewers. What I don't like is the way everyone opposed to public art brings up the Lamar underpass instead of more successful works like the bat at S. Congress and Riverside, the awesome reclining ladies at the north end of Waterloo Park, or the cool tile mural on East 11th St. Even though by its very nature, any worthwhile art program will be hit or miss, the lack of public art diminishes the city.
Mike,
As we all know, it's rare that everyone agrees on anything as far as urban planning, but literally everyone, even you, agree that this thing is a major "waste as it's getting implemented". You seem to have some insight in the history of this project. How did this thing end up in it's current incarnation? How much is this going to cost the city? As a bike lobbyist, I'd be pissed/embarrassed that money was being wasted on this versus something that might actually add value like a north/south bike way or extensions/improvements to existing bike ways.
Edward
Edward,
It ended up this way because the city prioritized the Seaholm redevelopment over everything else - which screwed the Pfluger bridge, and then by extension screwed this bikeway as well. Additionally, the city was never willing to seriously pursue right-of-way along the railroad track (north of the YMCA / high school) and chose to cheap out on their part of the deal.
The rail route through downtown complicated things, but the thing was probably never going to be more than signage in that section even in our wildest dreams.
You share my own disappointment. But this money, once signed away, can't be repurposed anyways - it's far too late now to do anything about it. (The Feds sent a bunch of matching money our way; we can't turn around and spend it on a different project now).
"Slinky-like" tunnels! Ooh, will they spin as you ride through them? Could they be... time tunnels? :-)
For what it's worth, I'm not one of the naysayers about public art in general, although whether these turn out to be lame or inspired will remain to be seen. I hope that the slinkies or any art they plan to put under bridges will include a hefty budget for cleaning, partly due to taggers but mostly due to pigeon poop.
As for the route, I'm no longer a believer in shared trails for pedestrians and bicyclists, having watched my 9-year-old daughter get run down by one irresponsible cyclist and having had many close calls since then. I do think it's a travesty that the city dropped the ball on the bridge and right of way on the west end of the route.
Those giant guitars around town are pretty cool. Is that part of the "Art In Public Spaces" program?
M1EK is right about the L.A. Bikeway being different in purpose from the H&B trail. The former is intended for people who actually commute by bike. The latter for families out for a leisurely bike ride with the dogs/kids.
If they'd ever complete the thing, the L.A. will be a great addition to our (presently lame) cycling routes, especially given all the new residential development in East Austin.
kenneth,
Unfortunately, the least impressive section of the route is the East Austin portion - it's nothing more than signs on the street (no actual paved space dedicated for bicycling on that stretch).