Bike Austin weighs in

As of Thursday, key figures at Bike Austin were pleased with Senator Watson’s proposal to finance improvements to IH-35 without a bond election. The non-profit has been publicly campaigning for a bond proposition that would fully fund the 2014 Bicycle Master Plan as well as pay for the city’s highest-priority sidewalk projects. All told, the estimated cost of that proposal is north of $400 million. Mercedes Feris, the group’s executive director, attended Watson’s speech on Thursday. Afterwards, she told the Austin Monitor, “We were absolutely relieved that we don’t have to go up against” a competing I-35 bond proposition. Bike Austin’s advocacy director, Miller Nuttle, said, “That’s what voters want to see. Local money spent on local projects.”