Frustrated Old Town residents packed a community meeting hosted by Georgetown City Council member Amanda Parr Wednesday, January 7, to learn about possible changes to downtown traffic signals and Austin Avenue.
The meeting discussed work associated with the Austin Avenue Corridor Study. Projects would decrease lanes on Austin Avenue through downtown Georgetown in favor of dedicated turn lanes with medians, to better accommodate pedestrians and cyclists.
Most residents, however, focused on a proposal that would remove the traffic signal at Main Street and University, and add a light one block east at Church Street and University instead. The move would help accommodate turn lanes and other changes at the Austin Avenue/University intersection.
Residents said moving the traffic signal to Church would cause an increase of traffic through the neighborhood. They characterized Church as a “residential road” that was not engineered to handle the amount of traffic that would come from a designated traffic light.
“That [traffic light proposal] has not been finalized,” Assistant City Manager Nick Woolery told attendees. “It is definitely better — from a traffic standpoint — than [the light at] Main Street. The status quo of a signal at Main Street is not possible if we want to do the [Austin Avenue] road diet.
“We’re trying to figure out what the solution is to get this great project done.”
The proposal would create a “right in, right out only” configuration at University and Main, meaning traffic to and from Main would only have access from University’s west-bound lanes.
“Having an intersection here [at Main Street], a lighted intersection just doesn’t make any of the rest of the project work,” said Trae Sutton, Vice President and COO of KPA Engineers.
Because of the contention around a possible light at Church, Old Town resident Larry Olson asked city staff why there needed to be a light two blocks after the intersection at University and Austin, when on the west side of State Highway 29, there isn’t another traffic light until Scenic Avenue.
“Based on how people are moving today, a lot of people are using that light at Main and therefore, the presence of the light is introducing a lot of people there,” said Kelly Rees, transportation manager at engineering firm Kimley-Horn. “The volumes that we’re seeing in our model say that there’s enough people that do need a light – especially the left turning movements both south and north.”
A couple residents asked about a roundabout instead of a traffic light. Georgetown Transportation Manager Lua Saluone said the study showed a roundabout worked well for traffic, but not with pedestrians.
“I really pushed for it. I really wanted it to work,” he said. “The reason it fails is pedestrians. If we could keep pedestrians away from the roundabout, it will work really well.”
Those in attendance left their thoughts on sticky notes on a printed out schematic of the altered Austin Avenue that included fewer lanes and dedicated turn lanes. City staff and third party consultants will take the feedback to make changes before presenting them to city council for approval.
Mr. Woolery said 30 percent schematic design for Austin Avenue is estimated to be finished this spring. The city expect to select an engineering firm for the project in August or September, who will then work on the 100 percent design plans.
Editor's note: A correction was made to accurately reflect the timeline of selecting an engineering firm and completing design plans.