KXAN
by: Mike Rush
Posted: Dec 10, 2023 / 07:45 AM CST
Updated: Dec 8, 2023 / 02:32 PM CST

AUSTIN (KXAN) — With his measuring tape in action, James Harding believes he’s measuring futility.

“Let’s say it’s 12 feet,” Harding read off the tape. He was measuring the width of a bike lane on his street, Greystone Drive in Northwest Hills.

“That’s 12 feet that got taken away from the people,” he said.

Taken away, he believes, because the city installed flexible traffic poles, or delineators that border the bike/pedestrian lane. A few are even installed in the lane.

Harding and his neighbor Bennett Brooke have many ways to describe them.

“It’s architectural trivia,” said Harding. “It’s the circus comes to town.”

“It’s definitely a black eye,” Brooke said.  

Throughout August and September, the city installed 28 speed cushions and 32 delineators near the cushions at several spots along Greystone Drive. City officials said the intent is to keep drivers from swerving into the bike/pedestrian lanes while trying to avoid the cushions.

“I think it’s a hazard,” said Brooke, who’s been back and forth with the city trying to get the poles removed. He’s worried they’ll lead to accidents.

“One vehicle can be over across the yellow line. So, the vehicle coming in the opposite direction needs to move over. Well, with the poles there, you have no room at all to move over without hitting the poles,” Brooke said.

He also said they take up street parking, make it difficult for people to back out of their driveway and, he said, they’re ugly.

“No, they’re not attractive,” said Brooke. “There’s nothing attractive about them.”

Austin Transportation and Public Works Department Division Manager Laura Dierenfield has a different opinion.

How traffic delineators help prevent accidents

“They can be very effective,” she said.

The city started using delineators about a decade ago, she said, because they’re less expensive and intrusive and a quicker fix than other options.

“A mile of protected bike lane in concrete would cost you, you know, 10 times as much as that perhaps,” she said.

According to city records, there are roughly more than 19,000 delineators covering around 155 miles of Austin streets at a cost of almost $3 million.

Dierenfield said the devices are used near speed cushions, like on Greystone Drive, but also pedestrian crossings, intersections and bike lanes. 

Based on studies of protected bike lanes in Austin, Dierenfield said ‘before and after’ comparisons suggest an estimated 140 crashes avoided a year, adding up to an estimated savings of $35 million in economic and quality of life costs.

Dierenfield said the city evaluates streets on an ongoing basis to determine where the delineators are needed. A city spokesman told KXAN Investigator Mike Rush someone from the neighborhood requested a speed study for Greystone Drive.

Greystone Drive ranked No. 11 for speeding

“Greystone [Drive], it was one of the most egregious speeding streets. if you will, in the city,” said Dierenfield.

Greystone Drive ranks, she said, No. 11 out of 375 streets. A city transportation spokesman said 27% of drivers were observed speeding on that road during the study period. 

Dierenfield said drivers eventually adjust and adapt to safety measures without much trouble. But as far as Harding and Brooke are concerned, they’re not inclined to adjust.

“They’re just totally useless and all they are is just ugly and get in the way,” Brooke said.

Dierenfield told KXAN Investigates that often the overall safety needs of the community outweigh individual concerns on projects, although she said feedback from the community is needed and taken into account.

She said, like other projects, the city will do another study on Greystone Drive in about a year and a half, allowing time for a variety of drivers to get used to the measure. They’ll compare the data from before and after the speed cushions and poles to determine if they’re effective and if changes should be made.

Check here to see Austin’s ranking of streets with the most speeders.