The Austin City Council is moving ahead with an adjusted plan for the $1.3 million project to widen and replace Fourth Drive Southwest and add a biking/walking trail.

After voicing concerns at a meeting two weeks ago, residents of Fourth Drive Southwest returned to the Austin City Council Monday after being presented with four roadwork options that the council considered.

After discussion, the City Council voted 5-2 on the third option to add an eight-foot wide trail on the west side along with a 34-foot road and a parking lane on one side. Public Works Director Steven Lang said the 8-foot wide trail can have two-way bike traffic, which all trails in Austin are. This trail can be a sidewalk and trail combination.

The options

The Fourth Drive Southwest project is one of many the city is undertaking to improve roads around Austin.

But public discussion was continued from the Feb. 16 meeting after many residents voiced concerns about the widened roadway affecting their yards, trees, winter maintenance on the trail and flooding.

The original plan called for Fourth Drive Southwest to be widened from 24 to 38 feet with 8-foot parking lanes and 11-foot driving lanes. The current conditions of the road have steep ditches and deteriorated pavement because of subsoils.

But residents and city council members were presented with the four options.

Option one was the original plan, which was considered as the best for the future of Austin. In this option, the road would be widened from 24 to 38 feet, with a parking lane on both sides, a bike trail on the west side and ADA accessible pedestrian ramps. The change to this option was the trail was reduced from 10 feet to eight feet.

Option two was a 38-foot road, which is wide enough for parking. There would also be a five-foot sidewalk, which is not conducive to bicycles, meaning they would have to share the road with the parking lanes on both sides.

Option three adds an 8-foot wide trail on the west side, a 34-foot wide road and a parking lane on one side.

Option four would offer a 36-foot wide road, no parking on either side, a bike lane on each side, no sidewalk and no trail.

Lang said there are some tweaks that could go along with this project after council approves it, like if tree removal would be necessary.

Lang said the road would not come onto peoples’ property, because it would still be within the public right-of-way.

“Based on what I’ve heard from the county engineer with where they’re laying it out, there’s not a plan to acquire property beyond the right-of-way line,” Lang said. “In most cases, the right-of-way line is approximately 33 feet to each side of the centerline.”

Community concerns

Some issues were reiterated from the Feb. 16 meeting such as tree removal, flooding, how far it would come into their yards and higher speeds on a wider road.

Resident Eric Harder said people that don’t live on that road and don’t drive it every day are ones that want to “ride their bike there every once and a while.” But for people that do live there every day, they want the least impact to them and their property.

“It’s easy for people to say if it doesn’t affect me, they can go with it,” Harder said. “I feel like it’s impacting me more than a project should.

Resident Diane Stevens said she grew up on that road and still lives there. Her 96-year-old mother still lives there.

“I rode my tricycle out there then I rode my bicycle, roller bladed, …and I never had a problem with a safety feature on that road. I never got hit by a car or anything. I lived to tell you,” Stevens said. “Yes, the road needs a shoulder… A curb and gutter? No. It would wreck the beauty and take away everybody’s yards out there to add all the parking.”

She also mentioned elderly people might have a hard time keeping the sidewalks clean unless they can afford to hire someone.

Winter maintenance was also brought up by the council and residents. Lang said they do not actively enforce winter maintenance, instead they go off of reports of unplowed sidewalks. Then they go and inspect it, take pictures and then hire someone to clean it. Lang added the trail wouldn’t have to be cleared all the way; if they cleared half of it, that would be okay.

Council Member At-Large Janet Anderson asked if they could perhaps not require residents in that area to clear the trail, which could be discussed at a later meeting.

Council member Judy Enright asked about replacing sidewalks when they deteriorate. Lang said it’s left up to property owners to repair the sidewalks, but since the trail will be asphalt, the city would handle repairs.

After the public had the chance to speak, Mayor Tom Stiehm asked for a show of hands between the options. Options one and two had no hands. Option three had a few people, but the fourth option was most popular among the residents.

Council takes action

After closing the public discussion portion of the meeting, council members discussed the plans further. Council member Michael Jordal said the first option has the most foresight for the future, but he had talked to several people who said they could live with that option.

Council member David Hagen said option four is a good option, but option three also made sense.

“That Fourth Drive is a very windy road. It’s such a windy road, for safety reasons, it would be good to have bikes and pedestrians off the road, I think that’s very necessary for our community,” Hagen said. “I listened to the people that live in that area and I understand where they’re coming from and I have to take a look at the future and into the future of Austin.”

Council member Steve King said the width of the road alone should be a good compromise and he liked option four best.

Council member Jeff Austin said he thought option three was a good compromise.

“We’ve got to look to the future, we’ve dealt with things that people never expected to happen,” Austin said.

Hagen eventually made the motion to choose option three and Jordal seconded it before it passed 5-2.