AUSTIN, Texas – Austin leaders hope public input will help craft the city's Strategic Mobility Plan, which aims to be a 20-year blueprint for transportation projects.
- City accepting input on Strategic Mobility Plan
- Time to give input ends Sunday
Feedback ends Sunday before a final draft is sent to the Austin City Council for discussion, final amendments and a vote.
"We have grown a ton, and we have had to evolve to accommodate all the people that want to live here," said Liane Miller of the Austin Transportation Department. "[It] covers all modes of transportation, whether it is driving, bicycling, walking or taking public transit."
The plan is underway at the same time as several other efforts; officials say they are all designed to correlate efforts. Brennan Griffin is with the group, AURA, which focuses on advancing urbanistic policies related to transportation, environmental impact and land use.
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"It should be setting goals around reducing greenhouse gas emissions," he said. "It should be setting goals around increasing the number of people using transit and how transit can be effective."
Griffin said the rough draft does not meet those goals.
"But I think that's all fixable," he said.
District 6 Council Member Jimmy Flannigan, who represents far Northwest Austin, said the plan will also reform how developers are charged for the impact their projects have on traffic. The money collected is known as a transportation impact fee.
"Instead of the kind of polka dot infrastructure improvements that we have right now--where you have a bike lane, then nothing and a really great bike lane, or a beautiful sidewalk that just then goes right into the dirt," Flannigan said. "We can spend this money in a way that provides connectivity and not just spot areas of concrete."