Proposed improvements to Congress Avenue could bring more foot traffic and fewer cars to what many consider the city’s unofficial main street, and the city wants to know what you think of the plan.
The plan from the Austin Public Transportation and Public Works Department’s Congress Avenue Urban Design Initiative "envisions Congress Avenue as a more human-centered, multimodal complete street with a clear and attractive identity,” according to the department’s website.
More specifically, its first phase includes replacing the Congress Avenue roadway with pedestrian plazas on the blocks between Seventh Street and the state Capitol as well as other improvements to the street between East Cesar Chavez and 11th streets. East-west streets on that stretch of the avenue would remain open to vehicular cross-traffic.
The plazas are inspired by those installed in the four blocks north of the Capitol as part of the recent renovation of its north mall.
CAUDI’s full, $130 million vision entails major changes to Congress Avenue from East 11th to Riverside Drive on the south side of Lady Bird Lake and includes pedestrian enhancements and additions to the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge.
The 2020 Active Transportation and Safety Bond will fund most of project's first phase, which will cover the blocks between Ninth and 11th streets and cost an estimated $22 million. The city says it will seek additional funding for both that phase and the full initiative through private, philanthropic, and managing partnerships.
The city is soliciting input on the plan through a virtual open house through November 24 and two in-person events:
- Tuesday, October 22, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Downtown Austin Space Activation at 506 Congress Avenue
- Saturday, October 26, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Downtown Austin Space Activation at 506 Congress Avenue.
