East 51st Street redesign keeps four lanes and skips roundabout, Austin staff say

Austin’s redesign of East 51st Street between Berkman Drive and Cameron Road will keep two travel lanes in each direction and use a signalized “protected intersection” at Berkman instead of a roundabout, transportation officials told the City Council’s Mobility Committee at its Oct. 1 meeting.

Staff expect a final permit resubmittal in early 2027 and about two years of construction starting in late 2027, said Richard Mendoza, director of Transportation and Public Works. A 2012 bond only partially funded the project.

The stretch runs between the Mueller and Windsor Park neighborhoods. A 2012 vision plan called for a corridor that calms traffic and strengthens connections between them, Mendoza said.

Three public speakers said the design falls short of that vision and asked for fewer lanes, roundabouts or a “main street” approach, even if it takes longer. Staff and some committee members said changes now would add cost and delay to a project first planned in 2012.

“What we're seeing in the current designs is more of a highway configuration.”

“Our staff feels very confident that this design will affect the desired improvements,” Mendoza said of safety for people walking, biking and driving.

What changes on 51st Street?

The design adds landscaped medians and moves bike paths behind the curb, separated from sidewalks and within the existing right of way, Mendoza said. Tighter corners shorten pedestrian crossings, and cyclists get protected signal phases at Berkman.

After a June open house with 60 to 70 attendees, staff straightened the bike and pedestrian paths through the Berkman intersection, said Anna Martin, assistant director for transportation engineering. The project will lay conduit for a future signal at Lancaster, and a separately funded pedestrian hybrid beacon is planned at Tilly, a crossing for children who attend school in Mueller.

The plan drops the on-street parking bays the vision plan recommended, Mendoza said. The added paving would have triggered drainage and water quality work under the city’s Atlas 14 floodplain rules, beyond the project’s funding and scope.

New street trees will go on the south side and in the median. Overhead Austin Energy lines and underground utilities limit planting on the north side, where staff will use utility-compatible trees, Martin said.

Asked by Vice Chair Zohaib “Zo” Qadri (District 9) about results, Mendoza said similar Vision Zero intersection projects have seen 30% to 37% reductions in deaths and serious injuries.

Why not a roundabout or fewer lanes?

Traffic analysis for Berkman called for a two-lane roundabout, Mendoza said, and staff recently reviewed that analysis and proposed the protected intersection instead. A roundabout would take land from at least four parcels and parkland, move Austin Energy lines and trigger major drainage work, and condemnation could add at least two years.

On cutting lanes, Martin said traffic volumes near Interstate 35 have approached 30,000 to 35,000. The city’s past lane conversions topped out around 20,000 to 25,000, Martin said, and the stretch east of Berkman, where traffic drops off, already has two lanes.

Qadri cited Safe Streets Austin figures: Barton Springs Road carried just over 24,000 vehicles a day before its conversion to two lanes, and East 51st carried just under 25,000 in 2025. “If we could go from four to two lanes on Barton Springs Road, why not on 51st Street?” Qadri said.

“A 4-2 conversion is not a one-size-fits-all approach,” Martin said, noting that the Barton Springs change followed a terrible crash.

Mayor Pro Tem José “Chito” Vela (District 4) worried that redesign costs could leave the city without a funded project. Vela said Windsor Park residents want traffic to stay on 51st Street rather than cut through the neighborhood once the Texas Department of Transportation reworks I-35 access roads.

Vela also said cyclists find the I-35 roundabout “a little tricky.” Citing a vacant block at 51st and Cameron that could hold about 1,500 homes, Vela asked staff for a memo for the council and public explaining the lane decision.

What residents asked for

The first speaker, who said they hold a doctorate in civil engineering and have about 30 years of transportation experience, said: “All intersections should be one lane roundabouts, no excuses.” The speaker also asked for one travel lane each way, separate paths for bikes and low-speed vehicles such as golf carts, and the existing shade trees.

That speaker said staff refused requests from Mueller groups to review the design before it reached 90%. “City staff pushed through the 90% design despite requests by the public to have a say,” the speaker said.

Greenfield said about 20 local businesses and organizations back a slower, narrower approach. The street “could be with the community for 80 years, a century,” Greenfield said.

Andrew Clements, Qadri’s appointee to the Mueller Commission, said drivers race at 50 or 60 mph. “Reducing lanes and installing roundabouts will achieve the original vision,” Clements said, calling a three-year delay to get it right “the right thing to do.”

Why has it taken so long?

Preliminary engineering finished in 2015 and design began in 2017, Mendoza said. New Atlas 14 floodplain requirements forced a redesign, and the city brought on a new design consultant in late 2024.

Qadri said information requested from staff pointed to poor consultant performance and mismanagement by former supervisors. Mendoza said the city funded construction before engineering had identified the right-of-way, drainage and utility constraints. “We commit to doing better going forward,” Mendoza said.

Mike Rogers, an assistant city manager, said staff made mistakes on older bond projects, but stalled projects are now coming in on time and on budget. Of this one, Mendoza said, “it's really a tight budget at this point.”

Council Member Krista Laine (District 6) asked how much cost limits shaped the design. Martin said nothing necessary for the corridor’s goals was cut.

What happens next?

Staff plan to advertise for bids early next year, after receiving the construction permit. The record does not show whether staff agreed to write the memo Vela requested.

Nearby, the council approved a funding agreement for the Belfast bridge and trail on its consent agenda at its Aug. 27 meeting. Vela said the bridge will give Windsor Park pedestrians and cyclists a route across a creek and 51st Street into Mueller.

Residents can weigh in during public communication at Mobility Committee meetings.

“Would a roundabout been nice? Yes, it would've been very nice,” Mendoza said. “However, it's not, that's not the only ... way to affect these much needed safety improvements.”