South Austin Neighborhood Shared Street

The City of Austin Shared Streets program is working to improve safety and mobility in the South Austin neighborhood north of the South Austin Recreation Center. The project area includes Havenside Drive, Southwood Road, Fieldcrest Drive, Stone Crest Drive, South Sixth Street, and Juanita Street. The comment period closed on December 8, 2024; results will be posted on this page. 

The  Shared Streets program  aims to make neighborhood streets without sidewalks safer and more comfortable for walking, bicycling, and rolling, accommodating all travel modes, ages, and abilities.

Shared Streets refers to an environment where people walking, bicycling, and driving share the same space in a way that prioritizes the safety and comfort of pedestrians while allowing for the movement of bicycles and motor vehicles.

The project intends to improve safety and mobility for people of all ages and abilities by encouraging slower speeds, slowing turning movements, reducing the crossing distance for people walking, incorporating green spaces, and creating opportunities for placemaking.

The streets included in the project area were first designated as Healthy Streets in February 2024. Healthy Streets is part of the Living Streets Program, which is an applicant-based program that requires 60% of parcels in the participating area to support the project. After an initial six-month installation, many neighbors saw noticeable differences in speed and volume of traffic. A block walk in April 2024 and a community meeting in June 2024 introduced the idea of converting the Healthy Street into a Shared Street. The South Austin Healthy Street area is also a priority location for the Sidewalk and Urban Trail Division, so the area was chosen for Shared Streets implementation.

Based on the conversation and feedback, the design team has developed a design proposal, as described below.

• Sidewalks will wrap around the corners at West Oltorf Street, Havenside Drive and South Sixth Street, bringing pedestrians into the Shared Street.
• The sidewalk at South Fifth Street will similarly wrap the corner at Juanita Street and bring pedestrians into the Shared Street.

Signage (as shown in the image above) helps raise awareness that the street is a shared space. Along with street markings, extended sidewalk curbs, and concrete mountable medians, the signage informs everyone—whether walking, biking, rolling, or driving—to be mindful of their surroundings.

• Curbs at Southwood Road and Fieldcrest Drive, Southwood Road and Havenside Drive will be bulbed out to support safer, slower turning movements.
• A traffic circle will be installed at the intersection of South Sixth Street and Juanita Street to create green space and support slower speeds and turning movements.
• An offset curb extension will be installed at South Sixth Street and Southwood Road to create green space and encourage slower speeds and turning movements.
• Pinch points will be installed at South Sixth Street and Fieldcrest Drive, Stone Crest Drive and Fieldcrest Drive to encourage slow speeds and turning movements.

Feedback from people who use these streets is key to developing a project plan that best reflects the needs of the community. The comment period closed on December 8, 2024; results will be posted on this page. 

Email  sharedstreets@austintexas.gov  to join the mailing list for project updates.

 Shared Streets 

 ATX WalkBikeRoll 

 Speed Management  

 Traffic Calming Toolkit 

 Vision Zero 

 Austin Strategic Mobility Plan