AUSTIN, Texas —
The city of Austin is working to make the trip to school safer for walkers and bike riders.
The "Safe Routes to School" program has made improvements to more than 100 schools. One of the latest is Mills Elementary School in South Austin.
The city completed the most recent phase at Mills Elementary over spring break, adding sidewalk and crosswalk improvements.
"When you protect the street space for children, you're protecting for the most vulnerable users, right? Which actually protects the street for all," Coleen Gentles, the city's infrastructure manager for the Safe Routes to School program, said.
The city has added new signage, curb ramps, lights at crosswalks and more bike lanes with barriers to keep riders safe.
"When kids are biking, since they tend to be shorter and smaller than their adults, they're not as much visible. And so, having these barriers up gives them that safety perception," Gentles said.
Mills is one of the larger projects for Safe Routes to Schools. The school has more than 700 students.
But recently, the project has been getting mixed reviews.
The bike lanes have reduced the lanes for vehicles, but the project did add some parking pockets along the way.
"There's spots to park. It's just a little bit of a change that I'm sure people get used to," parent Rosalind Lopez said.
Lopez said she appreciates the changes.
"We've been biking to school since the beginning of the year. Even in the 100-degree heat. But that intersection, Davis and Escarpment, has always been kind of scary in the morning," Lopez said.
Lopez has been able to take advantage of the new lanes.
"It was really lovely to just have this come through after spring break and show up Monday morning and feel really comfortable going across," she said.
However, some parents said the project has created new congestion.
"I utilize all the bike lanes, regularly because I'm a, I'm a cyclist, and so I appreciate them," Rachel Oswalt said. "It's just kind of caused a little bit of a hiccup in the morning."
Oswalt said there's less parking for cars doing drop-off and more traffic.
"They've made the bike lane narrowed down, and the parking pockets that they're offering are very narrow. And so, it's just caused a challenge when the kids have to open the doors directly into the bike lane," Oswalt said.
Safe Eoutes representatives said they are monitoring the traffic, making adjustments and are open to feedback.
"We appreciate everyone's patience with everything. We know that change is difficult and change is hard to adjust to," Gentles said.
Everyone involved is working together to get students to the classroom safely, no matter which way they take.
So far, the Safe Routes to Schools Program has made improvements at around 120 schools since it started in 2017. Along with Mills Elementary, the program currently has 12 schools in construction.
If you want to share feedback for this or any other project, you can reach Safe Routes to Schools by phone at 512-974-23700 or email mobilitybonds@austintexas.gov.