City of Austin wants feedback on design options for 6th Street

AUSTIN, Texas - The City of Austin wants your opinion on what 6th Street should look like in the future. It's part of an effort to revitalize the street. 

Revitalizing 6th Street

The backstory:

Sixth Street has gone through a lot of changes in the past year, with it opening to cars on weekend nights. Barriers for separating pedestrians from traffic have changed from white fencing to water-filled blockades to now concrete barriers. 

Now, in an online survey, the city wants your feedback on three design options. Each looks different for bike lanes, pedestrian space, and curb access (for drop-offs, deliveries, etc.). They all keep 6th Street one-way for cars. 

The options build on the recommendations in the Austin Core Transportation Plan and in collaboration with Great Streets. 

Option 1

The first option has bike lanes on both sides with curb insets on one side.

Option 2

The second option has one bike lane on one side with curb access on one side.

Option 3

The third option has no bike lanes with curb access on one side. 

What's next:

A preliminary engineering study is expected to be done by the end of the year. The city hopes to begin design in 2026, with construction as early as 2027. 

A feasibility assessment did look at whether 6th Street could be converted to a two-way street.

City of Austin's response

"Reducing westbound traffic to a single lane would cause morning backups, and trucks or rideshare vehicles stopping on the street would block traffic. Adding turn lanes to reduce congestion would take away valuable curbside space that businesses and visitors rely on, while limiting opportunities to widen sidewalks and improve the walking experience.  

For these reasons, the City is not recommending a two-way conversion of Sixth Street at this time. However, if vehicle demand decreases in the future, and we see drastic mode shifts with a clear plan to prevent vehicles from stopping in the travel lane, a two-way conversion is feasible within the curb-to-curb space of each alternative. " 

People weigh in

What they're saying:

"Regarding my preference of options, it would be not having bike lanes from the standpoint of electric scooters. The electric scooter is going up and down 6th Street. As we know, they just go everywhere. If they were just bikes, it would be different, but the scooters would cause those lanes to become hazardous in the evening," Marc Roppolo, owner of Roppolo's Pizzeria, said. "All three of the designs are great, but my preference would be to have the bike lanes on the 500 block and let the 6th Street area be all for pedestrian walking and traveling."

"It would probably be smart to put a couple of bike lanes," Cortney Hogan, who was visiting 6th Street said.

"As far as the bike lanes and stuff like that, I think if we had one on each side that would probably work out better," Darren Clark, an Austin resident, said. "[The sidewalks are] narrow in some spots, and they're wide in other spots. I think they just need to be full."