Milwood Neighborhood Assoc.

You have probably noticed that the lines on Amherst have disappeared in the last week or so.

The Public Works/Streets department has decided after studying the street that they are going to go ahead with restriping it as 2 lanes + center turn lane (just like most of Duval) for the entire length from Parmer to Duval. The bike lanes would run the entire length of Amherst on each side.

Work is scheduled to begin imminently.

Public Works has said that they looked at the traffic patterns and think this is the best way to reduce cut-through traffic and reclaim this as a neighborhood street.

On the north end of Amherst, there will still be turn lanes leaving the neighborhood.

On the south end of Amhert the center turn lane would be dedicated to turn left, still leaving two lanes exiting the neighborhood. The dedicated part will be somewhere south of Eton

The bus stop on the south part of Amherst is a slight question mark, although the number of drop offs and pick ups is less than 10. Cap Metro is aware of this and has said they will look at adjustments if this becomes an issue.

Once people adjust and it all settles down into a pattern, we should hopefully see an improvement in both safety and neighborhood friendliness of the street.

This re-striping will occur soon. If you have a burning question or comment, please email me directly.

Thanks to everyone that turned out for the 6th annual Milwood and Walnut Crossing 4th of July Parade and Picnic! We had an incredible turnout despite the triple-digit weather.

This year’s highlight was the Austin Civic Wind Ensemble’s excellent concert under the live oaks! The raffle and memership revewal tables were hopping and absolutely everything was eaten and consumed with not a scrap left. Amazing!

We especially want to thank the many supporters of this event, starting with YOU, the volunteers! This event couldnt go on without your hands-on help, whether at the grills, chips table, or raffle ticket booth. Many neighbors offered table, sun shades, ans grills. And let’s not forget those of you that walked the hot streets putting out flyers on your neighbors’ doors…thank you!

Also, this was a banner year for business support from within and around Milwood and Walnut Crossing! Thanks to this great set of sponsors, the parade and picnic was a raging success!

Harvey Pikoff Realty
H&H Design and Build
Milwood Baptist Church
TSS Photography
Austin Roofing
Tammy Fariss Realty
Gift of Serenity Massage
Twihtlight Faerie Nostalgic Notions
Vanessa Shield with Mary Kay cosmetics
Yoga Yoga
Mangia Pizza
Stepping Stone School
The Steeping Room
Top Spa Nails
The Texan Market

If you are interested in volunteering for our July 4th festivities, we’ll be having a planning meeting on Thursday at 7:30 in the park by the playscape. Please come by and let’s get the plan in order. If you would like to volunteer, but can’t come out on Thursday, please email egarana at gmail.com.

See you then!

Do you want to help us make the food line fantastic? Let us know if you can donate supplies of food goods towards a successful event. Food donations should either be of a generic variety (hamburger buns, etc) or some sort of baked good for desert (i.e. cookies).

Do you have a business that you want to promote at July 4th? We have an easy solution for you – donate a gift card towards something of general interest to help us make the July 4th raffle a sucess. In the past our prizes have ranged from the simple food gift card, to hardware store gift cards supplies by realtors, to sponsoring the water bottles for the parade. If you are willing to help, we usually turn 250+ people, last year substantially more than that.

send a note to dustin at milwoodna.com with ideas.

Can you lend a hand getting the word out about the neighborhood July 4th parade and picnic?

We always make sure to get info out to every house in the neighborhood before the 4th so that new and old residents know they are welcome to share some neighborhood spirit.

If you can walk a street or two, and just drop off the flyers on the stoop, it is super easy: come to 4103 Dauphine Drive, the flyers are on the porch, already broken out by street. Take flyers for a street, sign up on the clipboard, and deliver in the next several days.

received this by email:

CAPITAL METRORAIL PROGRESS REPORT – JUNE 19, 2009
Capital Metro has made significant progress on the MetroRail project since last month’s report. We are much closer to announcing a new opening date for the Red Line. However, we will complete the remaining milestones and ensure proper safety and operation of all systems prior to selecting a date to open the service to passengers. Safety has and will continue to be the top priority.

Milestones Completed Since May 13
• The Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) signal system is in full operation and Rail Dispatchers are utilizing it to direct train operations.
• The signal system, including new work added to the original scope of the project is complete and final crossings adjustments are underway.
• The installation of traffic signal preemption equipment at several crossings adjacent to intersections is complete and final adjustments are underway.
• All MetroRail, freight and Austin Steam Train engineers and supervisors are now certified on the use of the CTC signal system.
• MetroRail trains have begun operating under full-service conditions in the morning – to meet the timelines and stops according to the proposed service schedule but with no passengers aboard.
• MetroRail engineers have begun comprehensive contingency training to prepare and train for unforeseen challenges.

Remaining Milestones
• Complete adjustments to crossings and complete final testing for full-service operation.
• Complete full-service test runs to finalize schedules.
• Complete Engineer contingency training.

When will service begin?
Capital Metro will announce an opening date when the entire rail system is demonstrated to be operating in a consistent, reliable and safe manner. We will report back to the community in mid-July if not before.