Our Congress Avenue by Imagine Austin

Process

2015–2016 Set Project Direction

2016–2017

Community Engagement

Urban Design Analysis

“What We Heard”

“What We Found”

Select & Contract Consultant

Thanks to the active participation of many Austinites like you, we are moving full speed ahead towards defining the future of Congress Avenue. In this document, you will find a sample of what we’ve discovered and what you have told us about Congress Avenue. You will also see how we are beginning to transform your thoughts and ideas into goals and potential strategies.

SPRING 2017 Project Survey

SUMMER 2017 Stakeholder Focus Groups MAY 2018 Alternatives

SUMMER 2018 Draft Project Report

FALL 2018

http://www.austintexas.gov/congressavenue

Final Project Report

Public Event 1 “Launch!”

Confirmed Vision Goals

The vision guides the development of the plan.

Goals set out what we hope to achieve, and reflect the community’s vision.

Public Event 2 “Transform!”

Public Event 3 “Imagine!”

Potential Strategies

Strategies describe specific actions to achieve the goals.

Public Event 4

Alternatives Public Event 5

Alternatives will be unveiled at Public Event 3.

What We Heard & What We Found Through your input and our urban design analysis, we developed a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and

opportunities facing Congress Avenue around the themes of social equity, mobility & connectivity, culture & history, economics, and environment.

State Capitol E 11th

What We Heard & What We Found

Social Equity

11th 10th 9th

Brazos

7th

Sample community input

Do you or someone you know ever experience difficulties physically navigating Congress Avenue? (1 = never, 5 = very frequently)

Do you think Congress Avenue can be made more welcoming to racial and other minorities?

2.5

3.8

Average of 113 responses

6th

E 10th

San Jacinto

Congress Ave.

Lavaca

Colorado

8th

5th 4th

(1 = no, 5 = yes)

3rd E 9th

2nd

Average of 137 responses

Cesar Chavez

Get in ADA compliance and install benches every block so folks can have a resting spot

ADA Accessibility Issues* Sample (above)

Ensure that there are public spaces that are free, accessible, and welcoming to ALL...

LADY BIRD LAKE

*Issues to resolve in order to achive wheelchair-accessible and walkable sidewalks for all Cross-slope exceeds 2%

Accessible parking is non-compliant

Curb ramp slope exceeds 8.3%

Push button reach range or level clear floor is non-compliant

Horizontal opening on walking surface exceeds 1/2â&#x20AC;? s

rt Ba

pri nS

South Central Waterfront ER ive

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Our Congress Avenue Survey (left) Places where respondents go to exercise freedom of speech

What We Heard & What We Found

Mobility & Connectivity

Samples from “Build Your Avenue”

Existing Conditions

120’ ROW

Section 1

Circulator

4’ Café Seating

8’ Pedestrian Path

18’ Parking & Landscape Buffer

Sample community input

Fully connected sidewalks and bike lanes with no breaks, better directional signage, and beautification along the entire corridor...widen the sidewalks to allow for more street cafes and public events...

For one thing, I think we need to move toward incentivizing the usage of mass transit (plus adding mass transit to get people around town)...and charge for the [parking] spots we do have.

Section 2

120’ ROW

10’ Restaurant Seating

20’ Active Pedestrian Path

Bicycle median

Section 3 0’ 5’ 10’

Shared lanes

120’ ROW

10’ Landscape Zone

5’ 15’ Drive Pedestrian and Bike Path Lane

20’

Pedestrian Right-of-way (above right) Pedestrian path

Not accessible to pedestrians

Red River District

le x mp Co o l s t in pit Au Ca T To & U

State Capitol

What We Heard & What We Found

Culture & History

1th

0th E1

Old Bakery & Emporium W

Wooldridge Square

State Theatre 9th

3.2 Average of 163 responses

The Contemporary W

8th

Mexic-Arte Museum W

What is the most memorable civic event you’ve attended on Congress Avenue?

46%

20%

th E4

6th

4th

hav ar C

Waller Creek

es EC

3rd

and t St istric d n 2 lm D o eah

ail tR h g Li rd

Republic Square

and ike H tler Trail Bu To Bike

d 2n

hav ar C

s Ce

Congress Ave Bridge

LADY BIRD LAKE

Seaholm District ‘Nightwing’ Bat Sculpture

Key Destinations

Auditorium Shores

Butler Park

uth e So Av To ress ng Co

Key Destinations Nodes of activity Key Districts

Palm Park

5th

March / Protest Parade Out of 150 responses

Identify the history and make it more visible and obvious to the public. Incorporate building signage, incorporate elements of diverse culture that funded and developed and contributed to Austin history.

Convention Center

Brush Square E5

7th

City Hall

We should be very ambitious to create a great avenue worthy of a world class city. We should be looking towards the great avenues of the world for inspiration and example

Paramount Theatre

Sample community input

(1 = disagree, 5 = agree)

I-35

tre hS

h 10t

Do you consider Congress Avenue an arts and culture destination?

6th Street District

h 11t

State Capitol

0th E1

Old Bakery & Emporium

What We Heard & What We Found

Economics

11th

h 10t th

10th W

9th

9th th

Brazos

7th

Sample community input

How important is it that local and small businesses can afford to stay on Congress Avenue? (1 = not at all, 5 = very)

4.1

Average of 146 responses

How do you rate the quality of Congress Avenue as a working environment?

6th

Paramount Theatre

San Jacinto

Congress Ave.

Lavaca

Colorado

8th

Publicly Accessible Ground Floor Use on Congress, north of Lady Bird Lake

5th 4th

(1 = not good, 5 = very good)

3rd

3.1

YETI Store

2nd

Average of 50 responses

nS prin

Offer rent subsidies or other financial incentives, including free or low cost business training for local entrepreneurs.

LADY BIRD LAKE

Bar to

...Build walking traffic on Ave. Activate abandoned buildings for more synergy and less holes in the landscape.

gs R d

Cesar Chavez

Publicly Accessible Ground Floor Use on Congress, south of Lady Bird Lake

Ground Floor Use (left) on

rt Ba

g rin

South Central Waterfront ER ive

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Publicly Accessible Ground Floor Use (above)

Study Area Office/Commercial Lobby Retail/Hotel Cultural Vacant/Construction

What We Heard & What We Found

E 11th

11th

Environment

10th

9th

Wounds on trunk

8th

E 10th

7th

6th

Sample community input

How important is it to control flooding and use rainwater wisely?

How important is it to protect the bats?

4.4

4.6

(1 = not at all, 5 = very)

Average of 153 responses

The bridge is SO HOT and we were almost run over by cyclists on the sidewalk

Bluejay spotted in this area

5th

(1 = not at all, 5 = very)

Average of 150 responses

Would love to have more nature integrated and more of Austinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history reflected

I wish South Congress could have more green space or pocket parks. The North Congress re-design from the state looks awesome.

E 9th

4th 3rd

2nd

Seven grackle nests in this tree! E 8th

Cesar Chavez

Sample Tree Survey (above) LADY BIRD LAKE

Quercus fusiformis Live Oak Quercus virginiana Southern Live Oak

Fraxinus velutina Arizona Ash Quercus polymorpha Monterrey Oak

Taxodium distichum Bald Cypress

Quercus muehlenbergii Chinquapin Oak Quercus shumardii Shumard Oak

Ilex Vomitoria Yaupon Ulmus Crassifolia Cedar Elm

Condition - Fair

Condition - Good

Condition - Bad

Summer Shadow Analysis (left) Average amount of shade during the longest days of the year Sunny

Shady

Comfortable Uncomfortable

These goals reflect the issues and challenges that we uncovered during the community engagement process and urban design analysis, and represent tangible outcomes of this process.

Goals

Strategies These are examples of potential specific actions to achieve the goals. Come help us imagine other possibilities at our next public event on October 25!

Are these the right goals? Tell us what you think!

SOCIAL EQUITY

MOBILIT Y & CONNECTIVIT Y

CULTURE & HISTORY

ECONOMICS

ENVIRONMENT

Ensure a welcoming, accessible, and representative space for all

Re-balance mobility options along Congress Avenue

Enhance Congress Avenue as a destination

Amplify the economic strength and diversity of Congress Avenue

Celebrate biodiversity and urban habitat in a functional, resilient streetscape design

• • • •

• Bike lanes • Pedestrian zones and crosswalks • Circulator • Accessibility • Parking management • Signalization • Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge improvements • Right sizing vehicular right-ofway

• Lighting • Public art • Wayfinding and signage • Place branding • Interpretative markers • Events and performances • Cultural anchors (north and south of Lady Bird Lake) • Great design

• Ground floor activation • Diversity of retail options • Pop-up food & beverage / retail opportunities • Enhanced café zones

• Shade and thermal comfort • Street trees • Stormwater management • Permeable paving • Connection to Lady Bird Lake ecology • Habitat diversity

Accessibility Telling the stories Diverse programming Connectivity to neighborhoods • Civic engagement (protest and representation)

Strategies

These are some initial ideas...do you have others?

Social Equity Ensuring a welcoming, accessible, and representative space for all

• • • •

Accessibility Telling the stories Diverse programming Connectivity to neighborhoods • Civic engagement (protest and representation)

2013 Day of the Dead Parade

Celebrate arts and culture

ADA-friendly walkway, 2nd Street, Austin

Accessibility

Women’s March, Austin

Civic engagement

Mademoiselle Maurice origami installation, France

Cultural events / installations

6th Street Yoga, Austin

Diverse programming

Tell the stories

Strategies

These are some initial ideas...do you have others?

Mobility & Connectivity Re-balance mobility options along Congress Avenue

Bike Bridge, Copenhagen

Bicycle or pedestrian bridge

The Avenue, Washington DC

Wider sidewalks

Street Color, Chicago

Pedestrian-focused intersections

Circulator, Bethesda

Circulator

SFPark

Parking Management

Prospect Park West, New York

Bike Lanes

Strategies

These are some initial ideas...do you have others?

Culture & History

Enhance Congress Avenue as a destination

• • • • • • •

Lighting Public art Wayfinding and signage Place branding Interpretative markers Events and performances Cultural anchors (north and south of Lady Bird Lake) • Great design

Legible London wayfinding system

Wayfinding

18 Nuances de Gai, Montreal

Distinctive lighting

Pitt Street, Taiwan

Interpretative markers

Engaging public art

Parklet, WMB Studio

Interesting design

Market Street, San Francisco

Walk signs, Raleigh

Connection to cultural anchors

Strategies

These are some initial ideas...do you have others?

Economics Amplify the economic strength and diversity of Congress Avenue

• Support small, local businesses • Ground floor activation • Diversity of retail options • Pop-up food & beverage / retail opportunities • Enhanced café zones

Klyde Warren Park, Dallas

Food truck space

South Street Spring Festival, Philadelphia

Street festivals

Market Street, Philadelphia

Enhanced café zones

Temporary plazas

Le Fashion truck, Los Angeles

Temporary retail

Lawn on D, Boston

Royal Blue parklet, Congress Avenue, Austin

Support small, local businesses

Strategies

These are some initial ideas...do you have others?

Environment Celebrate biodiversity and urban habitat in a functional, resilient streetscape design

• • • • •

Shade and thermal comfort Street trees Stormwater management Permeable paving Connection to Lady Bird Lake ecology • Habitat diversity

Passeig de Saint Joan, Barcelona

Pollinator garden, Portland

Plant diverse, native species

Use permeable pavers

Harbor Pavilion, Boston

Rainwater sculptures

Houtan Park, Shanghai

Shade structures

Uptown Circle, Illinois

Tell the water story

Las Ramblas, Barcelona

Shade trees

Vision Our Congress Avenue is a great Texas people place – the cultural, historic and commercial spine of downtown Austin where people come to share, celebrate and create a bright future.

Values The Vision will be achieved and maintained through loyalty to a set of Values related to Character, Function and Management. A great street needs to do many things well but a street asked to perform too many tasks is likely to perform none of them well. Our efforts to achieve the Congress Avenue Vision will adhere to these Values that will guide what we ask of the Avenue and how we direct our work.

2015–2016 Set Project Direction

2016–2017 Select & Contract Consultant

SPRING 2017 Project Survey

SUMMER 2017 Stakeholder Focus Groups MAY 2018 Alternatives

SUMMER 2018 Draft Project Report

FALL 2018 Final Project Report

Public Event 1 “Launch!”

Public Event 2 “Transform!”

Public Event 3 “Imagine!”

Public Event 4

Public Event 5

IMAGINE! Save the Date: Tuesday May 15th at 800 Congress Ave Morning Open House: 7 am to 9 am Evening Open House: 5 pm to 8 pm

Join us in May as we continue to imagine and shape the future of Congress Avenue! Stay tuned for further details on Public Event 3 “Imagine!” where we will explore different design alternatives. And in the meantime, please see the full results of our Analysis and Public Outreach, which will be posted to the project web site: http://www.austintexas.gov/congressavenue