AUSTIN, Texas — After a man was hit and killed by possible construction debris from a West Campus high-rise, City of Austin officials said a citywide safety campaign is underway.
The area near the high-rise construction site on the intersection of 24th and Rio Grande streets is an active part of West Campus near the University of Texas.
A spokesperson for Austin's Development Services Department (DSD) said the City's chief building inspector has been working with the construction team to identify and address debris management following two incidents in March.
The latest happened in late March. A viewer sent photos of paint that fell from the Greystar construction site and onto multiple vehicles in a nearby parking lot. The viewer, who wants to stay anonymous, said construction site management told her it was "paint mud," which doesn't wash off. The City said the site's general contractor is working on getting the vehicles repaired.
A few weeks prior, on March 2, Shell gas station surveillance video showed a large piece of debris falling from the construction site, hitting 29-year-old Michael Delgado, who later died.
The DSD said the general contractor on the site has already made multiple safety changes. The DSD spokesperson said the contractor installed barriers to keep construction materials within site. It has also hired a third-party team to monitor safety conditions within and around the facility.
The contractor is taking additional steps to remove trash and debris and log job site safety activities. City inspectors are now making routine, unannounced site visits to monitor the site and evaluate job site safety logs.
The City is also collaborating with contractors and organizations like Safehorns, which called for increased construction safety measures at UT.
"We had a great conversation, really a starting point," SafeHorns President Joell McNew said. "So I feel good about those conversations and the need to address the issues. This is a very high pedestrian area. The community currently has over a dozen construction projects going on, with multiple coming online. So the construction is going to continue. So we need to make sure that we are addressing these issues now, that we don't have to be reactive after an individual was murdered."
The citywide safety campaign will roll out in the coming months.