Austin, Texas

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Austin, Texas
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latitude: 30.315, longitude: -97.834
Browse map of Austin 30°18′54.00″ N, 97°50′02.40″ W
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Austin is a city in Texas at latitude 30°18′54.00″ North, longitude 97°50′02.40″ West.

Bicycle Route Relations

Introduction

Austin has experienced explosive growth since the original bike network was conceived in the late 1990s. Destinations, housing, and infrastructure have all fundamentally and significantly changed how people get around. The original network consisted of numbered (numerical) routes that did not correspond to numbered streets but were instead arbitrary numbers. Many of these routes today have little to no existing wayfinding on the ground. The changesets for these routes contain no sources, and most of the users who created them 10-15 years ago are no longer active. A few routes have green Bike Route <- -> signs; even fewer have wayfinding signs with You-are-here mini-maps. Besides these, there are no current sources - physical or digital - that show the original bike route network. Furthermore, many of the original bike routes that remain in OSM are broken, with many gaps and redundancies, which of course cannot be verified without either a current map or consistent physical signs. For these reasons, Austin's bike routes need to be manually and individually audited, and their OSM relations updated or removed.

It would also be helpful to fully audit other bike route relations (i.e. Walnut Creek Trail and others) in Austin City and Travis County, with an eye for local vs. regional designations, consistency, gaps, and other issues.

Since the city's 2014 master bike plan and 2020 map updates, Austin has chosen to follow other bikeable American cities by remapping city roads on a stress/comfort-based system for the average bicyclist. However, since this is inherently and highly subjective, it cannot be translated into OSM.

Notably, the city of Austin does not appear to have a map of bike infrastructure, so Austin's OSM bike data must necessarily rely on users' local knowledge - and accuracy - since it can't be verified.

If the city does implement a comprehensive and cohesive system of bike routes in the future - one that is not based on perceived rider stress but on objective criteria - then this system should be created as one singular local ("lcn") bike route relation called "US:TX:Austin," following the common standard of many other bikeable American cities.

Resources

  • Bicycle | AustinTexas.gov - Austin DOT/DPW's official page of bicycle resources: master plans, maps, projects, etc.
  • Bicycle Austin - a website associated with the original Austin bike/ped committee but unaffiliated with the City itself. Heavily used in the 1990s-2000s but outdated now. Still an impressive and helpful singular resource. Some links may require archive.org's Wayback Machine to read.
  • Austin Bicycle Plan Part 1 (1996) via archive.org - the first half of the original (numerical), outdated bike route plan. The Bicycle Route Map in Appendix C was never scanned, so it's missing. Because of course.
  • Austin Bicycle Plan Part 2 (1998) - via archive.org. Chapter 4.6 lists the numerical bike routes, sort of, but by street, and alphabetically. In the alphabetized table of street names, the number in the first column ("Route - Seg.") does correspond to the few existing numerical routes that remain. For example, 12th St is designed as Bike Route #48.
  • 2014 Austin Bicycle Plan - html page of chapter PDFs
  • 2014 Austin Bicycle Plan PDF, 266 pages, 33.8MB
  • OSM Slack channel local-texas

Maps

Major Trails and Named Routes

These trails' relations should also audited and revised, or have new relations created for them. We should also come to a consensus on using “Greenbelt” vs “Trail” (or both) in titles and reference initials. It would be very helpful for this section to organized in a table that includes the relation IDs, descriptions, statuses, notes, etc. RE: ref tags (initials), keep in mind that OpenCycleMap.org will only render three initials, but CyclOSM can render 4+. And speaking of which, there should probably be a conversation about whether to prioritize "G" for greenbelt/greenway or "T" for trail for routes that have both in their name. https://www.austintexas.gov/page/trail-directory

route name ref relation ID # network type status notes maps/resources
Lance Armstrong Bikeway LAB relation 67561 local
Austin to Manor Trail AMT? relation 6848582 regional Needs construction tags: the trail route is currently rendering from Walnut Creek trailhead at Lindell Lane to Ben E. Fisher Park in Manor, but the trail has not been built yet.
Northern Walnut Creek Trail NWCT? regional?
Southern Walnut Creek Trail SWCT? relation 3457710 regional?
MoKan Trail MT or MKT? local?
Shoal Creek Greenbelt Trail SCGT relation 14677018 regional? should all Shoal Creek Trails be separate relations or combined?
Shoal Creek Urban Trail SCUT should all Shoal Creek Trails be separate relations or combined?
Shoal Creek Park Trail SCPT should all Shoal Creek Trails be separate relations or combined?
Lady Bird Hike & Bike Trail LBT? local
Ann & Roy Butler Hike & Bike Trail ARBHB local Should ref initials be shortened to ARBT? Given the name, once a consensus is reached, there should be a Bicycle Route relation, and either a Hiking Route relation or a Walking Route relation.
Boggy Creek Greenbelt Trail BCG? BCT? BCGT? local
Red Line Trail RLT? local
Red Line Parkway RLP? local
Violet Crown Trail VCT relation 16137374 regional? Given the terrain and quality of the trails themselves, I (BPTT) would argue this existing relation should be changed to a Mountain Bike Route relation instead of a basic Bicycle Route. https://violetcrowntrail.com/explore/
Barton Creek Greenbelt Trail BCT? BCGT? relation 17289355 ?
Latta Branch Greenbelt LBG? Is the Western Oaks Trail part of Latta or separate?
Mueller Greenway MG? local? Several exist - separate or combine?
Bastrop State Park BSP relation 89928 Is this a de facto route or an official route? Appears to be the former. This page recommends Park Road 1C: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/bastrop
Gaines Greenbelt GG?
Circle C Metro Park
Union Park Loop UPL local Since they are so short, these three should be combined into one.
Union Park East Loop UPEL local Since they are so short, these three should be combined into one.
Union Park West Loop UPWL local Since they are so short, these three should be combined into one.

Numerical Bike Routes

Caption text
route # relation ID roadways/general area physical signs (route or wayfindning) status notes
1 relation 71208 City Park Road in Emma Long Metro Park only Share the Road signs removed 2/26/24 No route number signs or wayfinding, only Share the Road signs (no painted sharrows, however). Relation was removed and roadways tagged with cycleway:both=shared lanes.
2 relation 77099 Reagan Blvd, Parmer Lane no removed 2/27/24 No signage, 6-lane highway with shoulders and 60mph speed limit; can't be corroborated, so should probably be removed. Bike Lanes on Reagan and Parmer were added when relation was removed, but someone could add cycleway=shoulder tags if they really wanted to.
4 relation 77096 Duval Road yes updated 2/27/24
5 relation 71210 Beckett Road, McCarty Lane no removed 2/29/24 removed route, added bike lanes to Beckett
6 relation 77097 Santa Cruz, Duval, MoPac sidepath yes 80% updated 2/27/24 Added this map note at MoPac/Burnet/Gracy Farms Lane: "As of 2023, Gracy Farms Lane has a two-way bike lane beginning at Burnet and continuing southbound. (Northbound GFL maintains its one-way bike lane.) How far does this new two-way bike lane go? To Hobby Horse, Stonehollow, Metric Blvd, or further? It will need to be added to Bike Route #6, and probably remapped separately. There is no current consensus on two-way bike lanes that are on the roadway but unprotected. If it were protected or separated from the roadway, it would need to be mapped as a separate feature." Perhaps =contraflow AND oneway:bicycles=no is the best combination of tags.
7 relation 71211 Spicewood Springs Rd no removed 2/29/24 removed route, added bike lanes
8 relation 1713278 Yager Lane relation should probably be moved from Yager Lane to the adjacent sidepath
9 relation 71213
10 relation 77276 Floral Park Drive, Braker Lane
11 relation 78321
12 relation 1713279
13 relation 77828
14 relation 2340914 Rundberg Lane currently westbound only
15 relation 78687
16 relation 77274
17 relation 73191
18 relation 77278
20 relation 1715077 Great Northern Blvd has a two-way bike lane that is part of the roadway and not separated, so existing tags at least need to be upgraded, but this falls in a grey zone between lane vs. track... "=contraflow" or "=opposite" might be best here if they can accommodate two-way traffic
21 relation 73315
22 relation 73307 Jester Blvd, Beauford, Lakewood, Driftwood, Sprucewood, Lemonwood, Backtrail, Far West Blvd, overpass path, Shoal Creek Blvd, Greenlawn Pkwy, Daugherty, Pegram & Justin cycletrack, Grover, Brentwood yes but updated 2/29/24 Only signed from MoPac overpass (Far West Blvd) eastward to Shoal Creek Blvd where it crosses BR 31. Overlaps with BR 31 on Shoal Creek Blvd.
23 relation 71425
24 relation 1715078 Denson Lane relation should probably be moved from Denson Drive roadway to the cycletrack
25 relation 71423 Melridge Place move from roadway to Melridge Place sidepath?
27 relation 73269 Menchaca Road
28 relation 1713464 Hancock, North Loop Blvd, 53rd St
29 relation 73270 Lynn, Niles, Hartford, Bull
30 relation 1713463 51st St
31 relation 2340911 Rio Grande, Neuces, Shoal Creek Blvd, W 31st yes but updated 2/29/24 Is incorrectly mapped on Rio Grande from 4th & Shoal Creek to MLK. Needs to be moved to Neuces, from 7th to 17/18th? Unclear where it goes north of MLK. Has green Bike Route signs at SW corner of Neuces & 7th, SW & NE corners of Neuces & 12th, and mini-map signs at 1107 Neuces and 1204 Neuces. Overlaps with BR 22 on Shoal Creek Blvd. There are very few green BR signs on/near Shoal Creek Blvd between Allandale and the intersection of W 30th & West Ave. There is one green BR 31 <--> sign on the east side of Hancock at SC Blvd, but nothing south of there. It's unclear how/where Bike Route 31 connects from W 30th & West Ave to the next sign at Shoal Creek Blvd & Hancock, or where it goes from 7th & Nueces, but the rest of the route is accurate now.
35 none yet Amherst Drive near Duval Road yes
36 relation 71427 35th, 38th, 38th 1/2,
38 relation 1713321 W 34th, E 34th
39 relation 2340915
40 relation 1713322 W 29th
41 relation 77804
42 relation 71426 Scenic, Windsor, 24th, Guadalupe, Dean Keaton, Manor,
44 relation 1713296
45 relation 77477
46 relation 1713297 E 21st gap in UT campus
47 relation 73310 Colorado, Capitol Grounds, Guadalupe
48 relation 71479 12th yes but Missing two relations on Capitol Grounds to connect to Route 47. Has two green Bike Route signs at SW & NE corners of 12th & Neuces.
49 relation 1739948 Trinity & San Jacinto
51 relation 1825775 Red River
52 relation 71424 5th & 6th
57 relation 1739965 Wedgewood, Hansford, Furness, Rutherford, Cameron, Coronado Hills,
60 relation 74125 Riverside Drive
64 relation 78815 Barton Springs Road
66 relation 77474 Southwest Parkway
80 relation 77475 William Cannon Drive needs bike lanes added
82 relation 77478 Cooper Lane, Convict Hill Rd
84 none yet possibly along Davis Lane around Violet Crown trailhead
86 relation 77476 Slaughter Lane Want to get 86'd? Ride your bike on Slaughter Lane! :/
115 none yet Latta Drive at Violet Crown trailhead yes
339 relation 78688
434 relation 1713280 Arboretum Blvd
934 none but see notes Barton Creek MoPac Bridge loop not a route relation, but for some reason was tagged
cycle_network US:TX:Austin
network lcn
ref 934

which highlights the way but does not provide a relation for managing tags, nor does it waymark the route on maps that render waymarked trails

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