Tag: Safety

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Clean Up After Your Pet

Many people in our neighborhood have pets that they love to take on walks in our community. This is good for both the pet and for the owner.  While getting fresh air outside, dogs love to defecate and urinate while on their walks. Owners should pick up after their animals to keep the surrounding areas clean and sanitary. Feces on the sidewalk or adjoining grass is unsightly and unpleasant to neighbors that walk or live nearby. Owners should carry “poop bags”, pick up their animal droppings, either place them in containers that the HOA has provided along Boulder Lane, or place this trash in their own trash containers, not in the neighbors’ down the street. The HOA board believes this is a simple thing to request of our homeowners and asks that all of us comply with this request. We appreciate your compliance and your neighbors appreciate it as well.

This applies to our nature trails too. And please do not leave a loaded poop bag for someone else to remove.

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  • 2020-04-23 (jmw): Page moved to WordPress platform.

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Canyon Creek Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Newsletter – Fall 2019

The Canyon Creek Traffic and Pedestrian Safety (TAPS) Committee has completed a survey of city sidewalks that includes sidewalk issues reported by our community residents. This survey resulted in the documentation of 80 significant city sidewalk safety issues with sidewalk mismatches noted up to 4.5 inches. The survey found significant sidewalk issues on 26 different streets in our community. A list of these documented mismatches was submitted to the City of Austin the week of Nov 11, 2019.

Our committee has been notified that a city official will be coming to our neighborhood in the near future to observe and confirm our noted sidewalk issues. We expect the city to repair these noted issues after an assessment and a written plan is developed to mitigate these issues. Our goal is to make the use of our city sidewalks safe for all pedestrians and to offer a safe alternative to jogging on our city streets, which is not only unsafe but also illegal when a sidewalk is available.

  • The CC HOA board has approved a 2020 budget that includes doubling the frequency of paid deputy constable patrols starting in January 2020 from one patrol every two weeks to one patrol every week. These patrols have been taking place since November 2018. This should result in further traffic calming and should promote awareness that traffic and pedestrian safety is a high priority in our community. These paid deputy constable patrols are in addition to patrols by other law enforcement agencies such as APD and Travis County Sheriff’s Department. On average, 3-4 vehicles are ticketed per patrol for speeding and other moving violations.
  • Many of you may have noticed two new radar speed signs (officially called “Dynamic Speed Display Devices or “DSDD’s”) installed on Chestnut Ridge Rd. These DSDD’s are temporary and will be removed after collecting speed data for around six weeks. After these DSDD’s are removed, Austin Transportation Dept (ATD) personnel will analyze and evaluate the data. Our TAPS committee and the HOA board will be given access to this data and a decision will likely be made by the 1st quarter of 2020 on whether future additional traffic calming measures are justified. The purchase and installation of two permanent DSDD’s on Chestnut Ridge Rd is one possible outcome. However, the TAPS committee and HOA board will solicit feedback from homeowners concerning issues such as acceptance and possible placement locations before proceeding with any additional DSDD’s.

Reminders:

  • Respect the right-of-way of pedestrians in our neighborhood
    Note: it is state law that vehicles must yield the right of way to pedestrians standing at the entrance of or in crosswalks. To yield, vehicles must come to a complete stop and wait while pedestrians enter, cross and exit the crosswalk.
  • Drive within the posted speed limits for safety (trying to save a few extra seconds by speeding is not safe or smart and it can cost you a lot of money). Note speed limits are set based on ideal driving conditions so wet roads, heavy traffic or pedestrian presence warrants reducing speed below the posted limit.
  • If you see someone driving recklessly or if you experience “road rage”, call 911 immediately and report why it was reckless and with as many details of the vehicle as you have such as license plate number, make/model/color of vehicle, location, driver description, etc. Please do not chase or confront the driver.

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  • 2020-04-23 (jmw): Page moved to WordPress platform.

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Spring 2019 Canyon Creek Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Newsletter

Canyon Creek Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Newsletter Spring 2019

Link to PDF Version

 The Canyon Creek Traffic and Pedestrian Safety (TAPS) Committee is working with the City of Austin to address the numerous sidewalk safety hazards. TAPS needs your help to identify specific uneven, mismatched, or broken sidewalk locations. Please report any specific sidewalk hazards to traffic@canyoncreek.net. Be sure to include the specific street address / location and nature of the hazard. After this list is compiled, the committee will formally request the city to repair the noted hazards. Note: The city will likely make temporary repairs first, followed later by a more permanent fix as city ATD crew schedules allow.

 The Canyon Creek Traffic and Pedestrian Safety (TAPS) Committee is working with the City of Austin to address the numerous sidewalk safety hazards. TAPS needs your help to identify specific uneven, mismatched, or broken sidewalk locations. Please report any specific sidewalk hazards to traffic@canyoncreek.net. Be sure to include the specific street address / location and nature of the hazard. After this list is compiled, the committee will formally request the city to repair the noted hazards. Note: The city will likely make temporary repairs first, followed later by a more permanent fix as city ATD crew schedules allow.

 The Canyon Creek HOA board authorized paid patrols starting last year by off-duty Travis County deputy constables to provide and promote traffic calming and more awareness of traffic and pedestrian safety in our neighborhood. In addition, other law enforcement agencies, such as City of Austin police and Travis County Sheriff’s Department deputies patrol our community (they are not directly paid for by the CC HOA). Here are a few examples of what a traffic citation can cost you from Travis County:

  • +15 mph over posted 35 mph speed limit $257 ($107 court cost + $10/mph over)
  • +10 mph over posted 20 mph speed limit in a school zone $307 ($107 court costs + 20/mph over)
  • Failure to fully stop at a stop sign: $257

 The two radar speed signs (officially called DSDDs) installed on Boulder Lane are indeed calming traffic. There has been a noted general speed reduction according to actual recorded data provided by the city of Austin (ATD). The CC HOA board has allocated money for the possible addition of two new DSDDs to be installed on Chestnut Ridge sometime in 2020. In addition, the TAPS committee has recently made an official request to the Austin Traffic Department (ATD) to add our community to the waiting list for two temporary (mobile) DSDDs on Chestnut Ridge to collect data and determine if Chestnut Ridge is a candidate for future DSDDs. If these temporary mobile DSDDs are approved by ATD, it will likely be several months before actual availability and placement. The TAPS committee and the HOA board will canvas and solicit feedback from homeowners on Chestnut Ridge and surrounding streets concerning the desirability, acceptance, and possible locations of potential permanently installed DSDDs before any final decision is made on the purchase and installation of these additional units.

 The TAPS committee encourages children and adults to cross the streets near Canyon Creek Elementary School only at designated crosswalks whenever possible and specifically only at crosswalks that have crossing guards, when available. Crossing the streets at intersections without a crossing guard, when a guard is available, is discouraged for safety reasons.

 Reminders:

  • Respect the right-of-way of pedestrians in our neighborhood. Note: it is state law that vehicles must yield the right of way to pedestrians standing at the entrance of or in crosswalks. To yield, vehicles must come to a complete stop and wait while pedestrians enter, cross, and exit the crosswalk.
  • Drive within the posted speed limits for safety (trying to save a few extra seconds by speeding is not safe or smart, and it can cost you a lot of money). Note: speed limits are set based on ideal driving conditions, so wet roads, heavy traffic, or pedestrian presence warrants reducing speed below the posted limit.
  • If you see someone driving recklessly or if you experience “road rage”, call 911 immediately and report why the driving was reckless and with as many details of the vehicle as you have, such as license plate number, make/model/color of vehicle, location, driver description, etc. Please do not chase or confront the driver.
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Fall 2018 – Canyon Creek Neighborhood Pedestrian & Traffic Safety News

Traffic Safety Alert:

Drivers, slow down when approaching the crosswalks in Canyon Creek.

Prepare to stop for pedestrians crossing the street!

Neighborhood Pedestrian & Driver Safety Reminders:

• Respect the right-of-way of pedestrians throughout the entire neighborhood.

• Slow when approaching crosswalks and school zones and always look for pedestrians.

• Remember, there are children playing and walking throughout Canyon Creek.

• The speed limit along sections of Boulder, is 35 mph. At 35 mph, it takes 136 feet to come to a complete stop. There is a 50% chance of a severe injury if a pedestrian is struck by a vehicle at 31 mph, and there is a 25% chance of a fatal injury if a pedestrian is struck by a vehicle at 32 mph. So, drive carefully.

• It’s not cool to speed through a neighborhood, especially one which has children walking to school, going to bus stops, and biking to the parks. Drive cool, not fast.

• Set an example for the student drivers and others driving through the community. Drive at or below the speed limit and always yield to pedestrians.

• If you’re a parent of a student driver, remind them to drive responsibly.

• The best “power trip” is a fast jog or walk through the neighborhood, it’s not speeding or tailgating other drivers to pressure them to speed up.

• If you see someone driving recklessly or you experience road rage, call 911.

• Let’s work together to keep Canyon Creek safe and pedestrian friendly!

• Remember, we’re all in this neighborhood together. Be neighborly.

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Canyon Creek Traffic Safety Announcement

The CC HOA board has reviewed data provided by the Austin Transportation Dept (ATD) for the two radar speed units (formally called Dynamic Speed Display Unit or DSDD) installed in July on Boulder Lane. (see chart below) There is some good news and some quite shocking news. The good news is that average vehicular speed recorded on both the N. Boulder and S. Boulder radar speed units was 35 mph (in 35 mph posted zones). The shocking news is that there were 789 vehicles recorded on N. Boulder at speeds exceeding 45 mph and 15 vehicles exceeding 60 mph. One vehicle on N. Boulder was recorded at a speed of 73 mph. The data for S. Boulder was questionably better where 733 vehicles were recorded exceeding 45 mph and 9 vehicles were exceeding 60 mph. One vehicle on S. Boulder was recorded at 77 mph.  This is shocking and verifies what essentially all residents in Canyon Creek already knew: we have a significant and unacceptable traffic safety issue.

Canyon Creek Traffic Safety Announcement:

The CC HOA board is currently investigating options to provide further traffic calming such as requesting additional Austin police patrols and asks every driver in the community to make an effort to slow down to the posted speed limits. Additional police patrols alone will not fix this problem, it can only offer some degree of traffic calming. Traffic safety is even more important now that our schools are back in session and more children will be walking along Boulder and other neighborhood streets. Again, we ask that all residents in Canyon Creek do their part to help mitigate this traffic safety issue to prevent a vehicular tragedy from occurring.

Slow down, watch pedestrians, yield to those in crosswalks and stop for school bus loading and unloading on undivided streets.

The DSDD units will be left place and data will continue to be studied going forward in order to determine further actions by the appropriate authorities.

Please contact the Canyon Creek board at board@canyoncreek.net or the CC traffic safety group for questions or comments:

Randy Lawson: randylawson96@gmail.com

Dave Marshall: dave.marshall.austin@gmail.com

Mark Weaver: JMarkWeaver@gmail.com

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Traffic Safety Issues in Canyon Creek

Many Canyon Creek residents have expressed concerns over some noted traffic safety incidents in our community in recent weeks. The Canyon Creek HOA board would like to assure concerned residents that we have also noted speeding and other unsafe acts and we share those concerns. The HOA board has been actively investigating possible solutions to noted traffic issues. In a conversation this month with City of Austin traffic engineers, they have advised that the city will not be taking any applications or considering new traffic calming measures such as “speed humps” for the remainder of 2018 while they review and adopt possible new regulations. However, the HOA board is actively looking into other possible solutions such as permanently installed radar speed signs.

Radar speed signs will not totally cure the speeding and unsafe acts, but it has been proven in traffic studies that they do have a positive general effect in reducing speeding and promoting traffic safety. If installed, these radar speed signs will not take photos of vehicles passing by, but all of the data obtained by the on-board computer system will be available for the board to review and analyze. The board will be discussing this topic further at our regular board meeting next Monday the 14th at 7:00 p.m. at The Church at Canyon Creek (9001 N. FM 620). All community residents are invited to attend this regular board meeting and speak publicly to the board if so desired. Residents can always contact the board through at board@canyoncreek.net  on this or any other topic.