Opponents of a Bicycle Boulevard Project used a letter written by Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton to Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo trying to prove that the sheriff is against the bike project. A spokesperson for the sheriff says nothing could be further from the truth.
"The sheriff just wanted to make sure that they knew how busy it was there and let them know it could be a safety concern for all persons involved there," said Roger Wade, Travis County Sheriff's Department.
Sheriff Hamilton says that there are an average of 160 prisoners booked into the Travis County Jail each day.
In November, Sheriff Hamilton sent a letter to Chief Acevedo expressing concerns about access to the jail if vehicles were limited or prohibited from taking Nueces Street.
Employees with the City of Austin's Transportation Department say they've been working closely with the sheriff's office to iron out any concerns.
"The city designers, after talking with Travis County and other stakeholders put certain restraints on the project so that we knew that certain things and certain access points had to be left alone or could only be modified in certain ways per their input," said Annick Beaudet with the city of Austin.
The Nueces Street Bicycle Boulevard Project could include traffic calming devices which would not prohibit cars but rather give priority to cyclists. The bike boulevard would run from 3rd Street to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
The Bicycle Boulevard Project is not set in stone; in fact, it is still in the designing stages. Public input is sought at the next meeting on February 24 at Pease Elementary.
