Cesar Chavez 2-way Conversion - Good or Bad Idea?

A

atxbaby

250+ Posts
What do you think? I feel like there is already so much traffic heading east on CC that trying to limit the eastbound traffic to 2 lanes (or 3 for part of it) is no bueno.

Thoughts?
 
Yup.

I personally want every street one way and alternating no matter what. This goes for Congress too. Widen lanes and actually have room for real bike lanes, making it truly bike friendly and safe. Both bikers, pedestrians and drivers would benefit.
 
Yes, project started in November. It was supposed to be done in April, but now they're saying "fall".

The plan is to make Cesar Chavez more pedestrian friendly as part of the grand scheme to make downtown more livable. I don't think it will impact traffic greatly so I'll reserve judgment until it's done.
 
Good, because I'm tired of not knowing whether I'm at the 2way part or the 1 way part and almost turning into traffic the wrong way.

Also, I thought it was done already so I did turn into traffic the wrong way.
 
Hell it has only been 2 or 3 lanes for the last couple of years anyway with all of the construction that has been going on. I don't like it though. Right now driving through there every morning is like taking a covered wagon on the trail. It will beat you to death.
 
I'm fine with it, but I would also love to see Congress Avenue become pedestrian only between the river and the Capitol.
 
I'll be curious to see how it affects the Town Lake hike/bike trail. Right now the trail is detoured because of the construction.

I got pretty used to Cesar Chavez as it was, but I do remember being confused as heck when I first moved to Austin 10 years ago. I wonder if the Californians downtown couldn't figure it out.
 
I've only been in Austin for 7 years, but I thought that Cesar Chavez used to be 2 way the whole way, and then it was changed in the 80's. And now its going back. So in 20 years, maybe we'll have it change again.
 
If its not broke, don't fix it. I've been against this construction since day one. When I saw the sign that said "Expected completion 5/2008" I laughed knowing full well they would never get it done by then.

Now, was it broken? I don't think it was. Confusing, yes, but is the new road really going to alleviate any traffic? It seemed so arbitrary to me, why choose Cesar Chavez? Lets spend some money on Congress while we're at it cause it gets backed up just as bad.

I was thinking about it the other day...I know downtown Austin is transforming, and I feel we are experiencing the worst part of this transformation. The construction has closed down lanes and blocked roads, not to mention I hear a ******* jackhammer all day outside my window at work. The roads are always being shut down due to festivals downtown which makes it impossible to go anywhere. When all the kinks get worked out In 5 years it'll be a hell of a lot better. But for now, we're dealing with the worst part of a growing downtown.
 
I rarely drive in the downtown area, but the street surfaces are as bad as those in a 3rd world country.
The overall maintenance is poor, IMO.

I agree the one-way system is much more efficient than it used to be when I moved here in 1959.
 
There is a strong push to make all streets downtown 2-way, and narrower, to slow traffic down and make downtown more pedestrian friendly. This will encourage people to park and walk, use mass-transit, etc.

If we're going to bring this many people downtown to live, it needs to be easier to walk places. If you're commuting from outside the city, you may eventually need to make concessions. right-of-way is not just for cars. that's part of the reasoning that has our country so behind the times.
 
I live downtown and walk around a ton and agree with mynametaken. One-way streets are easier to walk across and move more cars. We need a few good flowing roads to get cars in and out of downtown, 1st, 5th, 6th, and 15th seem natural. Make the other roads slow.

We can have good access for cars while enhancing walk-ability downtown.
 
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