AUSTIN, Texas — In a hotbed of traffic, Chris Riley from Bike Austin believes changes are needed immediately.
- Group says UT needs to make changes for bikers
- Says Bike lane needs to be installed on San Jacinto
- Cyclist died on that street earlier this month
“We need some significant improvements to San Jacinto,” he said. “It’s only 15 miles per hour and people might not ordinarily think of it as a dangerous situation. Every time a bike is on that street trying to share a lane with cars or buses they are exposed to that kind of risk.”
RELATED: Cyclist Dies After Hit By Bus Downtown
That risk became apparent after a cyclist was hit and killed by a Capital Metro bus on the University of Texas campus last week.
“San Jacinto currently has bike lanes on all parts except for the university campus,” Riley said.
The former city councilman notes that UT's campus master plan, approved in 2013, calls for a physically separated bike path in the exact area, yet no action has taken place.
“They would be protected from the dangers that resulted in this most recent death,” RIley said.
UT officials declined to comment. Bike Austin believes that eliminating the angled parking and perhaps substituting parallel parking spots would be a good place to start.
“Restriping the street and putting in some barriers to protect bicycles. That could be done very quickly and inexpensively.”
Bike Austin hopes to meet with campus officials soon to find a way to make San Jacinto a safe place for everyone.
“We really need something more than we’ll look at this,” Riley said. “We need some action and that could be done in days. I hope we are not talking about years.”