Stay in the right lane coming over the bridge from shopping centers north of Austin, and chances are the person in the left lane will stay there too.

Friday, March 17, 2000

Stay in the right lane coming over the bridge from shopping centers north of Austin, and chances are the person in the left lane will stay there too. When suddenly the lane markings go from two-lane to one-lane, it’s a test of courage.

The good news? Complaints about traffic flow on 14th Street NW have not gone unheeded by city officials. Plans – and a grant from the state – are in the works to widen the street from the bridge over Interstate 90 to Eighth Avenue NW from its current two-lane status to a three- or four-lane street.

The bad news? The estimated $750,000 project is scheduled for the summer of 2003.

"We need right of way from Riverland in order to widen the street," city engineer Jon Erichson said. "They have to go to the state Legislature before there can be any land transfer."

Erichson told the Council Public Works committee Thursday the city also had to work out a different location for the entrance to the college, somewhere between 10th and 12th Avenues. That intersection would be signalized.