Welcome to the Milwood Neighborhood Association - Austin, Texas 78727

I heard back from the developer, so here’s three additional snippets to add on to the post below:

1. the project is a 56 pot subdivision, and Mercedes Homes will be the homebuilder.
2. The layout of roads and infrastructure will take about 5 months, and the buildout of homes will take 9 to 15 months after that.
3. The traffic up to the site will primarily go Duval to Dorsett, avoiding going through the center of the neighborhood.

Many folks have noticed that the bulldozers have begun on the Enchanted Forest project off of Dorsett between Hawkhaven and Ganymede and have asked for a little extra information. Navigating city development information is always an experience, but we were able to locate some information on what it’s going to look like.

It looks like this is where you can find out information about the project. Traffic questions, which is the main source of concern I received, has less to do with the developer and more to do with Public Works determinations. That said, we do have a call into the engineering first to see if they will share a rough timeline with us. More info later.

There is a PTA meeting being posted on the Summitt letterboard, voting on officers will ensue. So for those of you with kiddos at Summitt, something for you consider attending.

Attention soccer players and parents!
North Austin Soccer Alliance (NASA) registration for the fall season is now open. Soccer is fun and great exercise for kids ages 4 and up. Team selection will be completed mid August and practice starts the week of 8/27. For more information and registration forms, please see the website at http://www.northaustinsoccer.org/

The following note came from the Texas Cooperative Extension:

Only about 5% of all the world’s insects are pests. Many insects are beneficial, helping to pollinate plants, breaking down waste material or feeding on insects we consider pests. There are numerous common arthropods (insects, spiders, etc.) that help manage pests in your own backyard. With a bit of care and patience, you can help these creatures remain to help out with your pest control.

Beneficial specialists consume a narrow range of hosts and can be very good reducing specific pest populations. If you choose to augment your backyard population by releasing things like ladybugs, it is best in an enclosed environment. Build a small cage to place over the plant with pests and release ladybugs in the cage to allow the ladybugs a smaller area in which to find the host and lay their eggs. Many times when ladybugs are introduced into a backyard habitat, they simply fly away. Building an enclosure can help prevent this from happening. Other insects are also available, such as Trichogramma sp., that parasitize eggs of a variety of insects. These can be good management tool since they attack only one stage of the insect.

When looking at things to release in your backyard to help manage pest populations, it helps to know what the pest is so that you can choose a proper insect that will eat the pest. For more information or help with identification, contact Wizzie Brown, Texas Cooperative Extension Program Specialist at 512.854.9600.

Just got this email:

“After receiving input and questions from citizens at a meeting early this week and via subsequent email communication, Public Works staff contacted TxDOT for more information regarding the Parmer/Mopac intersection improvement project. City Engineers have reviewed the information and determined that the improvements may impact traffic at Duval and Amherst. As a result, the Duval/Amherst project will be placed on hold until after the Parmer/Mopac intersection work is complete. At that time, another traffic count will be taken to determine if the Duval turn lane is still justified.”

i.e. they listened to the concerns of people at the meeting and who sent emails, which is somewhat comforting. I’m still interested in how this project could have gotten to this state without neighborhood involvement, but for the issue of the turn lane itself, that is probably unlikely to resurrect.

Last night city design staff came out to present on turn lane they have designed at Duval and Amherst. Basically the planned project would add a lane after the live oak tree after the bridge leading up to the light.

Main pros of the project:

• Would improve getting people through the light at Duval.
• Traffic considerations in light of Domain are of extremely high importance.
• Would put sidewalks down Duval from Amherst to the bridge (although still not giving pedestrians an adequate path across the bridge).

Main cons of the project:

• Increased traffic flow capacity increases the volume of traffic on Amherst and likely the speed, near the park and the school.
• Turn lane likely encourages more non residents to use Duval/Amherst as a cutthrough, a long standing fear (that dates back to fights by some not to increase Duval to four lanes)
• The project would in effect eliminate the wildflower corner that many in the neighborhood historically spent a lot of time to establish. (although the project plan would include reseeding and efforts to reestablish)
• The project would increase traffic flow next to a bus stop, meaning that bus stop would probably be less safe and/or need to be moved.

Project cost is estimated to be 425 thousand, would start in summer 2008 and last 3-4 months.

The view of the 8-10 residents in attendance was that this was a project they didn’t want to see, for the cons listed above. We’re interested in your opinions so that we can present up to city staff and elected officials what your opinions are. If you hate the project or think it should have happened years ago, we want to know. If you have questions or comments please email us.

**Note that there was a variance hearing about this topic on Tuesday but it has been cancelled for further consideration of the topic, which I view as a good sign.

Speaking only for myself, my issue is actually less about the the project itself – for which I can legitimately see pros and cons – but more the lack of outreach prior to a major traffic project being prioritized and designed. The city, somewhere, is prioritizing the use of tax dollars – and unless some mail to the neighborhood association fell out of the post office box somewhere, they are not involving the people who will be the primary users of the project.

It doesn’t take that much effort to involve neighborhoods early if you have the mindset that it is valuable. The time the city may gained by being efficient gets lost when they hit surprised people who recoil about things happening to them as opposed to with them.

In the long run involving the neighborhoods is the most effective approach, and helps direct tax dollars into work that people appreciate. It won’t always work that way, there will be times when the city has to disagree with a neighborhood because a larger city issue must be addressed, but at least then people feel you took concerns into account.

Making people feel surprised in these types of situations never makes things better.

You have probably noticed that street resurfacing is underway for basically the whole neighborhood. It is part of a preventive street maintenance operation the City of Austin has been using for several decades to keep streets in good condition and prolong their lifetimes. You will get an orange door hanger three days before the operation.

The city asks that you please leave park your cars off street for the process, so look for the door hanger!

Sealcoat is a fast process that typically takes a few hours to a day per street. Once the new asphalt is laid and the rock aggregate is distributed over the hot mix, crews use a heavy roller to embed the aggregate into the “hot mix” and smooth the street surface. At the end of the day’s application, crews sweep up remaining loose rock. The curing process takes several weeks and requires the additional action of cars driving over the surface to further embed the aggregate. You will continue to see loose rock for some weeks after the initial application. During that period, crews also return to the street to continue sweeping up excess rock. The city urges cyclists in particular to watch for recently sealcoated streets and to take alternative routes during the curing process to avoid any loose aggregate generated during the cure.