Mr. Wynn, Close Up That Gap!

This Thursday, along with a few other exciting agenda items (new parking meters, the 30 megawatt solar plant and opting-out of almost all VMU on West Campus), City Council will vote whether to approve the proposed alignment for the trail/boardwalk to close the gap in the Hike+Bike Trail between South Congress Avenue and Lakeshore Boulevard. The Trail Foundation will be hosting a press event in support of the boardwalk proposal at 9:30 a.m. on the City Hall plaza on the day of the vote.

As anyone who has circumnavigated the eastern loop can tell you, the Hike+Bike trail east of Congress Avenue consists of five miles of the most pleasant open space in Austin followed (or preceded, if you travel counter-clockwise) by one mile of the least pleasant. The planned boardwalk covers that unpleasant mile. For many joggers and bikers, this would effectively double the size of the park that is one of the brightest jewels in Austin's crown.

UPDATE: City Council unanimously approved the route.

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By Shawn Shillington in News on March 3, 2009 2:23 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

LoudMouth

According to Sarah Coppola at the Statesman, they voted to close the gap this morning.

Nice photo, Dick.

AC

I agree it's a foregone conclusion. I'm irritated that I missed the vote on first reading.

Shawn Shillington

Austin Contrarian has a good post on the latest VMU opt-out:

http://www.austincontrarian.com/austincontrarian/2009/03/complete-and-utter-capitulation.html

I didn't post on it partly because I think it is a foregone conclusion. Council already voted 7-0 to support the opt-out. Tomorrow's vote just seals the deal.

austinindian

The small town, short term thinking of the 'opt-out' process is unfortunate. I'm seeing it first-hand in said neighborhood. We're not planning for density, but rather sprawl in which we'll have to drive all over this fair town of ours.

mdahmus

The people behind "Save Town Lake" can be thanked for the excessively large pricetag, since we now know we can't negotiate with any landowners for strips of trail on the shore.

And the opt-out isn't just "West Campus" - it's up Guadalupe and Lamar all the way to 45th. Truly shameful, but it's what you can expect more of now that Morrison is on the council.

chachi

as an avid runner, i love the idea of the expansion. THE problem is cost. initial estimates were $11-15 million, now closer to $25-30 MILLION. its excessive, unnecessary, and while one of the projects that looks good on paper (feels even better), it fails to be "worth" it.

kenneth1

I am flummoxed by the opposition to closing this gap from residents & property owners in the area. They apparently don't like the idea of "strangers runnin' in their propitty." But I believe it would enhance, not decrease, property values along east LBL.