In 2009 Austin saw a vast array of bicycle improvements citywide mainly with the installation of bicycle lanes.
"We put in more bike lanes in the third quarter of the fiscal year '09 than we've done for the entire life of the program", said Annick Beaudet with the city of Austin's Urban Transportation Department.
Monday evening Beaudet updated several members of the Urban Transportation Commission on some of the largest bicycle improvement projects slated for 2010.
Topping the list for 2010 is the extension of the Pfluger Bridge at Lady Bird Lake so pedestrians and cyclists can safely cross Cesar Chavez.
The results of two major studies are due out in 2010, one regarding what are called "Sharrows", the bicycle symbols installed in lanes of traffic like those on Guadalupe in the downtown area. Sharrows are lanes shared by cars and cyclists. Results released this Summer will show if they are working.
The city will also release the results of the impact the bike lanes installed on Steck Avenue between Mopac and Burnet will have on the surrounding neighborhoods.
The Lance Armstrong Bikeway gets closer to full completion in 2010 with the expansion of the bikeway connecting 4th street to the Austin Convention Center.
According to Annick Beaudet all of the 18-million dollars in bicycle improvements is money approved by Austin voters in bond elections in 1988 and 2000.
Another 2010 bicycle project, the Nueces Bicycle Boulevard Project is hanging in the balance. The idea was to use traffic calming devices on Nueces between M.L.K. and Cesar Chavez to give bicycles the priority. However a traffic input study set to be released in the next public hearing on the Nueces Project on February 24th could scrap the project all together.
The city of Austin just released a new bicycle route map which shows routes that are bicylce friendly by traffic congestion. You can find the map here.
