Residents and neighborhood leaders urge roundabouts, road diets for East 51st

Three public commentators used the meeting's public‑communication slot to press staff to change the East 51st Street design and more closely follow the corridor's 2012 vision.

Katie Can, who identified herself as a civil engineer with a master's and PhD, said the presented 90% design "is extremely disappointing" and argued it is inconsistent with the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan and Vision Zero. She told the committee the process was flawed and that "city staff pushed through the 90% design despite requests by the public to have a say."

Adam Greenfield said businesses and organizations he represents support a "slower, narrower, calmer, more Main Street approach" and urged additional time to reach a community‑embraced design. Andrew Clements, who said he is an appointee to the Mueller Commission and chair of his neighborhood association, said the 90% design retains four vehicle lanes and will not calm speeds; he urged a multiyear redesign and suggested a three‑year delay would be appropriate to achieve the project's original multimodal vision.

Staff responded in the later item that the city's 2012 vision had explored roundabouts but that the consultant analysis and recent traffic modeling recommended two‑lane roundabouts where feasible; staff emphasized constraints including potential right‑of‑way acquisition, parkland impacts, Austin Energy line relocations and Atlas‑14 drainage requirements. Assistant Director Anna Martin summarized June open‑house feedback and said staff will adjust bike path geometry and is advancing a pedestrian hybrid beacon just outside the project boundary at Tilly with separate funding.

The committee did not take formal action on design changes at this meeting; members requested additional technical memos on traffic modeling, funding implications and tree/utility tradeoffs as follow up.