Pedestrian safety and Bikeshare<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the University defined a new \u201cPedestrian Friendly Zone\u201d<\/a> that will take effect on the first day of classes. The zone covers the area between 21st and 24th streets and Guadalupe Street and San Jacinto Boulevard, along with a stretch of Speedway. Riders of personal electric vehicles, such as electric scooters and bicycles, will be expected to dismount and walk their vehicles through the area with the aim of improving pedestrian safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPEVs tend to be ridden at higher speeds, left in spaces that violate fire safety codes and have batteries that pose additional risks in our buildings,\u201d University Parking and Transportation wrote on its website.<\/a> \u201cThe mobility changes we\u2019re implementing are intended to address these challenges and support a campus experience that is welcoming and safe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Capital Metro Bikeshare<\/a> returned to campus after a brief suspension in June. The bikes were pulled after a warehouse fire in May, according to CapMetro. During the suspension, two new electrified bike stations were installed at UT. Service resumed Aug. 11 with one-third of the fleet currently available. Full service is expected to return by the end of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018TEXAS\u2019 crosswalk removed<\/p>\n The \u2018TEXAS\u2019 crosswalk mural on Guadalupe Street was paved over July 2<\/a> in compliance with an order from Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Department of Transportation to remove roadway art flagged by the state. In May, the city requested to preserve the art and others like it around Austin, but TxDOT rejected the proposal, forcing the removal under threat of withholding funding and suspension of mutual agreements.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe initiative emphasizes that intersections and crosswalks should be \u2018kept free from distractions,\u2019 including political messages, artwork or any other non-standard markings that may compromise safety,\u201d TxDOT wrote in its order released Oct. 8, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n The directive also led to the removal of the \u201cBlack Artists Matter\u201d art on East 11th Street and the rainbow crosswalks on West 4th Street, among others around the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez statue removed<\/p>\n Workers removed<\/a> the statue of labor activist and unionist C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez from outside Battle Hall on the University\u2019s West Mall on June 4. The de-installation came after a New York Times investigation<\/a> published in March, which revealed evidence that the civil rights leader had sexually abused women and girls close to him in the movement. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pedestrian safety and Bikeshare Earlier this month, the University defined a new \u201cPedestrian Friendly Zone\u201d that will take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-415078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}