Park Improvement?

Future of Town Lake Park could bring changes to South Austin landscape

The suggestions are part of a 10- to 15-year plan to maximize the space.

Courtesy of KVUE News

KVUE — The view of the downtown skyline is one of the best Austin has to offer. The splash pad is a hit with the kids and the lawn where dogs run free is a favorite for both pooch and owner. Which is why maintaining and planning for the future of Town Lake Metropolitan Park — which includes Auditorium Shores — is a big priority.

The Austin Parks Foundation hired Tur Partners, a consulting firm to study the park and come up with a 10- to 15-year plan to maximize the space.

On Monday, consultants presented recommendations to change the infrastructure. The Dougherty Arts Center is on contaminated soil and needs a new home. The firm suggests relocating it to between the Long Center and Palmer Events Center and turning that space into an above ground parking facility.

Another big change deals with Riverside Drive. There has been talk of closing the road to accommodate park goers, but a transportation study by the firm found that's just not feasible. The suggestion is to downgrade the street, or take some portions of it underground, and add walking bridges on top. The road would then provide access to an underground parking garage with 1,200 spaces. The downside is that the plan eliminates free parking on the street.

"We have to have a city park, a major park like this, that's available to everybody, not just the folks that can afford to pay $10 for parking," said Austinite Jeff Jack, one of the stakeholders who helped build the park.

He said the ideas are innovative, but he's concerned about the price tag. "If we do all of this infrastructure improvement, we've got to pay for it somewhere, and the voters were very clear when they voted for this park," Jack said.

Right now, the park is funded through the rental car tax. The consultants will talk about ways to fund the improvements at the next public meeting. Then the plan is to present the suggestions to the city council in October.

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See the full story, with video, on KVUE.com.

Changes to Town Lake Municipal Park could include relocating the Dougherty Arts Center and moving parking underground.

Courtesy of KVUE News

Changes to Town Lake Municipal Park could include relocating the Dougherty Arts Center and moving parking underground.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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