EMLK hike and bike trail - May 21, 2017

here are few more updates which I thought you may be interested

1. A shout-out goes to my own council member, Ora Houston, for passing the city resolution where by PARD can rezone all the parcels to "P". (Thanks to her office staff too)

You can see the details of the resolution here 

2. We will be working with PARD to get some short term help for both Red Bluff and Little Walnut Creek Nature Reserve (like signs)

3. We, the neighbors, have to identify how we can bring some grant money to both the Nature reserve, we cannot ask PARD to take all responsibilities. 

4. Andrea Beleno is putting together multiple application for various organization to solicit help like Asakura Robinson, National Park Services (thanks Justin Bates and Chris Riley again). If she requests for any letters of support please help her. She is putting in a tremendous effort and we are thankful about that

5. Tyson Brown presented in the Golf Advisory Board for the Trail through the Morris Williams Golf course.

The primary concerns were around

• Cost
• Safety
• Routes impact on golfers

We have to respect everybody's ideas and get into a discussion regarding how to solve this. We may need a strong letter of support from Mueller Community to make this happen.

6. I presented to the city council about EMLK Hike and Bike trail during the above mentioned resolution hearing. The mayor has shown interest to look into it.

pinaki ghosh

EMLK hike and bike trail for Imagine Austin

The East MLK Combined Neighborhood Plan encompasses one of the largest neighborhood planning areas in Austin by combining the MLK, MLK-183, and Pecan Springs/Springdale planning areas.  Though rich in amenities such as creeks and green belts, the area lacks interconnectivity and much of it is considered a food desert. To bridge this gap, the East MLK Combined Neighborhood Planning Contact Team alongside several community organizations are working to develop a hike and bike trail that will connect a wide array of important community spaces including four schools, three swimming pools, and four green spaces and community centers. The trail will connect to the Southern Walnut Creek Trail to both the north and south and weave through the green spaces of Little Walnut Creek Park, the Morris Williams Golf Course trail, and the newly dedicated Red Bluff Nature Preserve, as well as link two of the largest mixed-use developments in the city (Mueller and Think-East). Connectivity to the Mueller development will be particularly valuable to the surrounding communities because it employs many people in the service industry and is also home to the largest grocery store in the area. This trail will be especially significant in this area because it will create a safe north-south route option in an area where many alternative transportation routes run east-west.

This project exemplifies the values of Imagine Austin by demonstrating how a group of community members coming together can further our community vision by advancing mobility and interconnectivity, access to green spaces and nature in the city, and social equity. To learn more about the details of the plan and how to get involved, check out this presentation or contact Pinaki Ghosh (pinaki@utexas.edu).

update on EMLK hike and Bike Trail - reporting some success

Hello Everybody,

I want to provide you all an update on the hike and bike trail - please forward it to other members of your community because everybody should be aware of what are trying to achieve.

You can see the details for the trail here (https://doc.co/e9tzu9) 

Goal: To make the EMLK Hike and Bike Trail a reality

Summary: We are in the process to open up 300 acres of land as park land for hiking in east side (this is real equity)

Success:

1. A big shout-out goes to CM Pio Renteria and his staff for helping with the 90 acre land in Red Bluff. You can see his newsletter 

Even better is that transportation bond money can be used to build some of the trails. Without this the EMLK hike and Bike trail would not have moved forward

2. CM Houston's office is working on a resolution to rezone the entire Little Walnut Creek Park to park zoning. (Some of it was zoned as multi-family). We hope in a future resolution we can use some bond money to improve the trail in 200 acres park.

3. Andrea Beleno from PSSNA and her group has put in a tremendous effort to clean up the park. You can see her efforts here(thanks Andrea). She is working with couple of Architectural Companies to get a landscape design done mostly pro-bono. Still about $10K to 20K will be required to move forward and I will come to everybody for some donation.  (A lot of advice/suggestions also came from ex CM Chris Riley)

4. We were able to meet Parks and Recreation Commission and Urban Transportation Commission to explain the concept. We will create a resolution for the Urban Transportation Council in the next 1 month. 

5. Tyson Brown of PSSNA will be speaking in the Golf Advisory Body Meeting on May 17th to explain about the path through the golf course. (We are requesting our council member Mrs. Houston to help us in this effort - Mueller community can also help)

6. We had an appointment with the mayor's office (to meet Jean Michael Cortez) to explain the concept. Six community members went to the meeting taking time off from our work but Mr. Cortez delegated us to a junior aid instead of meeting us.