Stakeholders are currently debating the proposed extension of Pressler Street and the associated improvements planned by the City of Austin. Pressler Street, which currently dead-ends just South of W. 5th Street, lies approximately halfway between MoPac and Lamar. In an effort to alleviate congestion on these thoroughfares, the City of Austin has proposed to extend Pressler street across existing railroad tracks and the Lamar Beach public parkland. The extension, which is funded by the $143.3 million transportation bond from November 2012, will also include a roundabout where Pressler would hit the frontage road. “The design elements place primary focus on creating multi-modal connectivity to serve all roadway users including improved bicycle and pedestrian facilities,” project manager Jules Parrish said.
While the proposed extension would provide a much-needed connection between 5th Street and Cesar Chavez, it is raising concerns for many members of the community and organizations who use the Lamar Beach area.
“The main concerns are, first and foremost, the safety of our students…and for the amount of traffic that is going to be added to our campus because of that extension. It’s going to create more of a safety issue for our students and our staff,” Principal Sandy Compian said.
Students and staff trying to access the school from Lamar and MoPac would have to go through the roundabout, an infrastructural feature that most student drivers will not have experience navigating.
“A fourth of our student population becomes beginning drivers every year, so we consider the design very risky to students coming and going to school,” PTA President Julie Ballard said.
At the onset of the project, the city named West Austin Youth Association (WAYA), Old West Austin Neighborhood Association (OWANA), Austin Pets Alive!, and the YMCA as stakeholders in the debate surrounding the extension. Austin High School was left out of the preliminary conversation. This was a major concern for members of the Austin High PTA, like President Ballard.
“I guess our number one concern with the city is that they really didn’t even identify Austin High as a potential stakeholder,” Ballard said. “I regret that they are so far along in the planning process already, but we don’t really feel responsible for that because they didn’t bring us in.”
The school is technically a part of OWANA, yet was not immediately contacted when the discussion surrounding the issue began. After the proposal was brought to the attention of the school by a concerned parent, Principal Compian and members of the PTA began reaching out to other stakeholders to compile their concerns, however they did not receive the kind of response they were expecting from the city.
“We feel that we very clearly communicated our concerns to the city, but so far they haven’t made any significant changes to their proposed design,” Julie Ballard said.
Principal Compian received similarly little consideration for her concerns.
“The city has been really vague in answering any of my questions. They are stalling on many of our requests,” Compian said.
An open house that was held in the school’s cafeteria in December allowed the PTA to voice concerns over the effect that the extension will have on the school’s traffic levels. As a result the city agreed to further investigate traffic patterns. A final traffic report is anticipated in the spring of 2015.
While the Pressler Street Extension is funded by the transportation bond of 2012, there is still a series of steps that have to be taken before the project’s implementation, including a final review of the plan by the city council.
“My goal for the Pressler Extension is that the road not be developed in that area,” Compian said. “My belief is that the city should look back to our concerns and find another way to reach their goal without jeopardizing Austin High, our students, our faculty, and our community.”