Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Austin

The crash site from the driver's perspective. Image: Goggle Street View

Hit-and-Run Driver Killed Woman Who Had Collapsed in Austin Crosswalk

By John Greenfield | Jan 4, 2017 | No Comments

The case of a 50-year-old woman who collapsed while crossing the street in Austin, and was fatally struck by a driver who fled the scene, appears to be the first pedestrian fatality of 2017.

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How Unrepresentative Is Your Regional Planning Agency?

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 12, 2016 | No Comments

Do the people who make transportation funding decisions in your region represent the people who actually live in your region? After sitting through dozens of meetings presided over by a legion of white men, Texas transportation reformer Jay Crossley wanted to find out. He recently released the first phase of a report on the Austin region’s Capital […]

West Garfield and Austin Got Divvy Bikes Last Week. Will Anyone Use Them?

By John Greenfield | Jun 20, 2016 | 6 Comments

[Last November the Chicago Reader launched a weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership allows Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We syndicate a portion of the column on the day it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website or in […]

Why Didn’t More Locals Show Up for the West-Side Bikeway Hearings?

By John Greenfield | Mar 28, 2016 | 14 Comments

[The Chicago Reader recently launched a new weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership will allow Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We’ll be syndicating a portion of the column on the day it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website […]

Police: Teen Intentionally Struck 3 Relatives With a Car, Killing His Father

By John Greenfield | Feb 17, 2016 | No Comments

A 39-year-old man is dead after his teenage son intentionally struck him and two other relatives with a car in Austin, according to police. On Saturday at around 11:15 p.m., a domestic dispute took place outside in the 5400 block of West Kamerling, according to the police. After the fight, a 19-year-old man intentionally struck […]

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Highway Boondoggles: Texas State Highway 45 Southwest

By Jeff Inglis | Jan 21, 2016 | No Comments

In a new report, Highway Boondoggles 2 (the original came out in 2014), U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group teamed up to profile the most wasteful highway projects that state DOTs are building. Streetsblog will be serializing the case studies in the report. Today, we focus on a road project that risks contaminating the water supply in and around Austin, […]

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Brutal Jaywalking Arrest in Austin Caught on Video

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 9, 2015 | No Comments

Austin police were captured on video beating a group of “jaywalkers” into submission late last Wednesday in an incident that reeks of racial profiling. The arrest was recorded and shared on Facebook by Rolando Ramiro. He told the website Photography is Not a Crime that he and a group of friends were trying to cross a street that had been barricaded […]

Driver Who Killed Woman in Austin Charged With DUI, Hit-and-Run

By John Greenfield | Apr 24, 2014 | 1 Comment

View Larger Map The crash site from the driver’s perspective. Maurice McDowell, 32, has been charged with fatally striking Jennie Davis, 64, on Easter Sunday and then fleeing the scene. Around 9:40 p.m., Davis was crossing the street at 5532 West North in the Austin neighborhood, a block north of her home on the 5500 […]

Hit-and-Run Driver Fatally Strikes and Drags Pedestrian in Austin

By John Greenfield | Feb 27, 2014 | No Comments

View Larger Map The crash site from the driver’s perspective. Yesterday the police department’s Major Accidents Investigation Unit issued a community alert in hopes of locating the hit-and-run driver who fatally struck and dragged a male pedestrian in Austin on January 17. Police have not released the name of the victim, and it’s not clear […]

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Four Reasons Cities Can’t Afford Not to Invest in Bike Infrastructure

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 16, 2014 | No Comments

It isn’t window dressing. Or a “hip cities” thing. Bike infrastructure — not the watered-down stuff, but high-quality bikeways that get more people on bikes — is becoming a must-have for cities around the U.S. That’s according to a new report from Bikes Belong and the Alliance for Biking and Walking. Researchers at these groups […]