Great Streets Plan
The Great Streets Plan envisions Downtown as the heart of Austin, and its streets as the primary signal of thriving urban life, vitality, and vibrancy. Essential to achieving this vision is curating a pedestrian experience that makes downtown streets become destinations, places for interaction and spending time as opposed to thoroughfares to pass through. The Great Streets Program aims to enhance the livability, safety, and aesthetics of Austin’s downtown streets by creating “streets for people”, a more equitable balance of space between the roadway and the sidewalk zones with the implementation of enhanced streetscape standards. The City’s transportation mode hierarchy gives highest priority to pedestrian travel, followed by public transit, bicycle use, and lastly automobile use. All users, regardless of initial mode of transportation, become pedestrians at some point, and the Great Streets Plan aims to highlight and humanize this hierarchy via the downtown streetscape design.
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Great Streets Plan Objectives
The Great Streets Plan outlines a handful of simple but profound objectives:
- Change the space and scale of the street to create a “sense of place” that elevates the human experience in public spaces.
- Create an environment that is safe, generous enough for multi-purpose use, and sheltered from the elements.
- Traffic calming through pedestrian prioritization, traffic management in a two-way street system, and rigorous enforcement of traffic lanes to promote pedestrian safety.
- Redistribute the usage of the Right-of-Way (R.O.W.) from its current distribution of 75 percent roads and 25 percent sidewalks to 55 percent roads and 45 percent sidewalks.
- Provide an array of elements such as shade trees, lights, benches, bike racks, trash receptacles, local public art, and other amenities that enhance the pedestrian realm.
- Encourage businesses to utilize and activate the sidewalk with cafes, kiosks, and other pedestrian-oriented activities.
- Accommodate automobile traffic to downtown but discourage traffic through downtown.
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Great Streets Boundaries-
The program boundaries are 11th Street to the north, Cesar Chavez Street to the south, I-35 to the east and Lamar Boulevard to the west.
Benefits of Great Streets-
There are several benefits of installing Great Streets. The goal of the Great Streets program is to provide a plan as an instrument to pursue this vision of streets for people. The Urban Design Guidelines established a set of values for downtown development, including authenticity, history, safety, diversity, density, and economic vitality.
Project Implementation-
The Great Streets Plan is the primary source for the implementation of shade trees, benches, bike racks, and trash receptacles in downtown. Since 2003, the application of Great Streets has occurred in three principal ways: by the private sector in exchange for increased entitlements via the Downtown Density Bonus Program (DDBP), cost-sharing between the City and private developers through the Great Streets Development Program (GSDP), and via City-sponsored capital improvements projects (CIP). To date, Great Streets improvements have been implemented along approximately 230 block faces in downtown Austin.
Downtown Density Bonus Program (DDBP)
The installation of Great Streets is a gatekeeper requirement for the Downtown Density Bonus Program (DDBP), meaning any development project that wishes to seek an increase in density through this program must meet the Great Streets standards along the street frontages. These projects are not eligible for reimbursement through the Great Streets Development Program. See this link for more information (DDBP Link).
Great Streets Development Program (GSDP)
The Great Streets Development Program (GSDP) is an incentive program that reimburses private developers for a portion of the costs associated with implementing Great Streets standards with their projects. The program is mutually beneficial, allowing the City and developers to share the costs of implementing the standards with emerging downtown projects. The City gets much needed community benefits as well as above and below ground streetscape improvements, while the development gets street frontages with enhanced function, quality, and aesthetics.
In order to be eligible for reimbursement, projects must:
- Be within the program boundaries of 11th Street to the north, Cesar Chavez Street to the south, I-35 to the east, and Lamar Boulevard to the west.
- Be implementing Great Streets voluntarily, meaning the project is not already required to implement Great Streets as a part of their participation in the Downtown Density Bonus Program.
Once deemed eligible for participation in the program a per square foot reimbursement cap, ranging between $10-$18/SF, is established based on the project’s location on High, Medium, or Low pedestrian corridors. See this link for more information (GSSP Info Packet)
City Capital Improvement Project (CIP)
For City Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) the Urban Design Division can participate in collaborations with internal and external stakeholders to advocate for Great Streets in public projects.
Program Funding-
Initially, Great Streets projects were implemented through bond funding in 1998 and the Smart Growth Matrix process, which offered fee waivers for development projects that incorporated desired improvements. In 2003, City Council established The Great Streets Parking Meter Fund.
- The fund sets aside 30% of the revenues collected from downtown parking meters within the program’s boundaries.
- The fund generates approximately $728,000 per year and is the primary source of on-going funds for Great Streets.
- Funds are used to implement the Great Streets standards by supplementing City CIP projects as well as cost-sharing with private developments via the Great Streets Development Program (GSDP).
The City also leverages private development dollars by cost-sharing with private developments via the Great Streets Development Program (GSDP). Implementing Great Streets is a requirement for any project seeking increased density and entitlements via the Downtown Density Bonus Program (DDBP).
Project Examples
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Second Street-
Second Street: The Second Street Retail District is a pedestrian-oriented street where all building frontages are required to have active ground floor uses and a unique 32-foot-wide sidewalk on the north side allows for generous sidewalk cafes. This project included the extension of the Lance Armstrong Bikeway through downtown Austin.
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Caesar Chavez Promenade -
Cesar Chavez Promenade: Conversion of Cesar Chavez Street a major east-west boulevard in the heart of downtown Austin, to a two-way boulevard bordered by a 32-foot wide pedestrian promenade with trees, furnishings and other urban design elements overlooking the banks of Lady Bird Lake.
More Information
- Frequently Asked Questions
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How does the Great Streets Program align with Austin’s overall planning goals and initiatives?
The Great Streets Program aligns with the multiple initiatives and overall planning goals for the City of Austin through focus on urban mobility and promotion of a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly downtown. These aims align with and support the City’s Austin Strategic Mobility Plan (ASMP) objectives, as well as complements the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan by fostering sustainable development and improving the public realm to create a more connected and livable city. Additionally, Great Streets supports the Downtown Austin Plan by revitalizing key corridors, thereby reinforcing the City’s commitment to creating a dynamic and economically thriving urban core.
What types of improvements are made under the Great Streets program?
The Great Streets Program guides the design of pedestrian-friendly streetscapes for new projects downtown, beginning with widening of sidewalks and the pedestrian right of way (ROW) to allow for greater streetscape design and enhancements. Streetscape elements include, but are not limited to, street trees, light poles, trash and recycling receptacles, bicycle racks, and public art pieces, among others. Additionally, the program pursues diverse-mode transportation models prioritizing pedestrian oriented transit as well as improvements such as bicycle lanes.
How does the Great Streets Program impact local businesses?
Through enhancement of street environments to become more pedestrian focused and increasing pedestrian foot traffic through people-centric urban design, the program aims to boost local business viability and attract more customers to downtown areas.
Who can I contact for more information about specific projects or the overall Great Streets program?
Information about current and future projects can be found on the City of Austin’s website, through local government announcements, or by contacting the City’s Urban Design Division.
- Technical Resources
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For more information on Great Streets standards, please reference the following:
For more information on Great Streets programming, please reference the following:
- Related Links