Here’s the latest calendar for Burleson Heights. Please note that Austin Police Department Region III will change its schedule for monthly Commanders Forums starting next month. To allow for other community events, there will be no forum in March, June, September or December. For more information, see a Feb. 5 announcement from our region’s commander, Fred Fletcher.
If you know of an event we should include in the neighborhood calendar, please submit information by using the Contact page.
It’s back to school and back to work in the Burleson Heights and Burleson-Parker neighborhoods.
It’s also back to some neighborhood business, including hearings on a fenced off-leash area proposed for Mabel Davis Park. City Council might hear the dog park issue at its Jan. 31 meeting. Find out how to participate in council meetings here.
Coming even sooner is Residential Bulk Collection, when items that are too big to fit in trash bins will be picked up by the city.
If you know of an event we should include in the neighborhood calendar, please submit information by using the Contact page.
The Hurly-Burly just wrapped up its first complete calendar year as a neighborhood resource, attracting 4,600 views!
The five posts that drew the most visits were about a new pocket park on the grounds of a mansion torn down by developers, the possible gating of Carlson Drive, flea control, a burglary caught on video and recurring Time Warner Cable outages.
Sometimes what’s news isn’t something you like to hear. But in 2012, some worrisome news had happy endings for the Burleson Heights and Burleson-Parker neighborhoods:
Even people who don’t live in the area dropped by the neighborhood blog after Web searches led them to the Hurly-Burly for information on bastard cabbage, the East Riverside Corrider Master Plan and Mabel Davis Park.
To find out more about the past year in the Hurly-Burly and how people are using it, click here to see an annual report compiled by WordPress.
What do you want to read about in 2013? Post a comment below or use the Contact page to share the neighborhood issues that you want to see covered.
For many people, it wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without fireworks. Even though New Year’s Eve has been a drizzly day, please be aware that Travis County is again in a severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. There also are ongoing limits on fireworks inside the city limits and in Travis County parks, and the Travis County Fire Marshal again issued a burn ban on Nov. 13.
If you want to see big fireworks, check out the municipal fireworks show on Auditorium Shores.
For a really big bang, check out Austin’s New Year 2013 at Auditorium Shores. The City of Austin’s family-friendly event will wrap up with an early New Year’s fireworks display at 10 p.m. If you want to see the fireworks but skip the crowds, the hill near the Main Building at St. Edward’s University is one of the best places in our area to watch the show.
If you use fireworks at home, please use only the varieties allowed within the city limits without a permit. Here’s a list from the Austin Fire Department.
Pyrotechnics:
Trick noisemakers:
Call 311 to report a nonemergency fireworks violation. Call 911 to report emergencies such as fires and crimes.
Have a safe and happy New Year!
Happy holidays from the Burleson Heights and Burleson-Parker neighborhoods!
This year, Christmas and New Year’s Day both fall on our regular trash collection day, so trash will be picked up on Wednesdays those weeks.
See the Austin Resource Recovery website for complete holiday collection schedules.
If some of your holiday trash is too big to fit in your bins, no worries! Coming up the week of Jan. 14 is Residential Bulk Collection.
As 2012 winds down, take a look at our neighborhood calendar for December, which includes school holidays, changes in garbage collection dates and other events. New this month are watering times under the Stage 2 water restrictions.
Travis County has returned to severe drought status. Keep up with drought conditions at the U.S. Drought Monitor, droughtmonitor.unl.edu.
For the first time in 115 years, no rain fell in November. Even though it’s almost winter, new trees still need to be watered regularly until established, and mature trees and landscapes like a drink now and then when it’s this dry. See tree watering tips from the Texas Forest Service and winter watering tips from Plant Answers, and learn how a Treegator can help you water a young tree without runoff or evaporation. Austin Water will give each residential customer a free Treegator or moisture meter.
When’s the last time it rained? Find out from National Weather Service maps showing where and how much rain fell in our region on any given date.
If you have an event you would like to include in the neighborhood calendar, please submit information by using the Contact Form.
Representatives of the City of Austin Watershed Protection Department and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will present the first of several public forums on reducing bacterial contamination in Austin Creeks on Wednesday.
The forum will focus on four creeks (all north of the river) where bacteria levels exceed standards allowed for recreation: Spicewood Tributary of Shoal Creek, Taylor Slough, Waller Creek and Walnut Creek.
The meeting is an effort to get the public involved in solving water quality problems. Like the four creeks above, our creek, Country Club Creek West, exceeds the state standards for bacteria. The forum is an opportunity for our residents to learn about watershed integrity, and for representatives of city and state agencies to learn about our concerns for our own watershed.
Water quality in the spring-fed pond in Mabel Davis Park and in Country Club Creek West is a prime reason that some area residents oppose a proposed off-leash area (OLA) in the park. (See conceptual drawings.)
If built, the OLA would sit on an environmentally sensitive part of the park, over illegally dumped pesticides that are sealed under a clay cap, but that could be released if heavy use causes erosion. The facility could also bring more dogs to the park, potentially contributing to one of the biggest problems in Austin’s waterways, fecal contamination. The pond would be adjacent to and downhill from the OLA, capturing its runoff.
Watershed integrity map:The Burleson Heights and Burleson-Parker neighborhoods and Mabel Davis Park are in the Country Club West watershed (green and yellow). The Country Club East watershed (orange) includes the Montopolis neighborhood. Map modified from Austin Watershed Protection. (Click to enlarge.)
City representatives have seemed unconcerned about the possibility of contamination, in part because the pond isn’t used for recreation such as swimming. However, watershed integrity in the Country Club East and West watersheds already is ranked bad, poor and fair, worse than in the creeks that are the focus of the forum.
Longtime residents say that the pond is looking less healthy and biologically diverse than it has in their memories. Where they once saw a variety of birds and fish, they’re now seeing more dead turtles, aquatic weeds and debris.
Tim Ornes, who has an interest in the beauty and the science of the pond, as well as life science education in secondary schools, lives in a house that backs up to the park. He videotaped the pond on the day after Thanksgiving to inspire a dialogue about conditions there.
This isn’t the first time concerns have been raised about the watershed. Originally a landfill, Mabel Davis Park was contaminated with pesticides and heavy metals that contributed to the worst watershed integrity in the city for many years before a 5½-year environmental cleanup started in 1999. One crisis along the way was a fish kill in 1979 that has inspired curriculum on water pollution for middle schoolers.
Get involved: It would help our neighborhoods to have residents get informed and represent our interests at the upcoming series of public meetings. Please contact your neighbors by using our neighborhood message boards if you plan to attend.
Learn more: The upcoming Improving Austin Stream Quality meeting is discussed in video from a Nov. 7 Environmental Board meeting (item 5B). Read a February 2012 city report on the need to monitor creeks where bacteria impairs recreation. Read a Nov. 20 Austin American-Statesman story about the meetings. And check out the new Watersheds & Water Quality links on the right rail of this blog to find — and find out more about — your watershed
Improving Austin Stream Quality forum
When: 6:30-8 p.m. Nov. 28
Where: Room 325, One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Road
More information: UT Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution or City of Austin Watershed Protection Department
You can post a comment below to tell us what you’ve noticed at the pond and the creek that runs through our neighborhoods.
Update: Four neighborhood representatives attended the Nov. 28 forum, which provided public input on a coordination committee to develop a plan for reducing creek contamination. The next forum will take place Jan. 8. See the neighborhood calendar for details.
Coming up on April 13 is CleanSweep, Keep Austin Beautiful’s annual city-wide cleanup. Start thinking now about public places and waterways that would benefit from volunteer efforts, and we can ask to include them in CleanSweep.
Burleson Heights residents greeted cyclists on their way to the U.S. Grand Prix as they arrived at the Country Club Creek pocket park on Saturday morning. City Council member Chris Riley, representatives of Bike Austin and visitors from around the U.S. and Europe were among at least 70 riders who passed through over three hours on their way to Richard Moya Park, where a bicycle valet service took them to the Circuit of the Americas. Nuevo Estilo stylists joined the cheering squad, too, before their customers arrived.
The pocket park is almost at the halfway point on the city’s designated bike route to the F1 auto races, and several riders paused for free water, maps and advice from the locals. A few lost F1 fans in cars stopped for directions, too.
Neighbors alerted drivers near the pocket park, where the cyclists had to cross Burleson Road without a crosswalk, intersection or sign to slow drivers. Residents also temporarily posted bilingual bike-crossing signs and replaced bike route signs that had been vandalized.
Three Englishmen were so excited to see volunteers helping at the Burleson Road crossing that they stopped to take their photos.
“We’ve been to Grand Prixes around the world,” one said, “and we’ve never seen a group like this.”
“At most events, you’re on your own,” said another English cyclist who passed through later, after a flat tire on Elmont Drive set him back an hour. He was on his way again after a crew from Bicycle Sport Shop patched him up.
Even the wildlife were welcoming, and a nine-point white-tailed buck pranced through the greenbelt by the crossing, to the astonishment of a few Austin visitors and Burleson-area residents.
Residents will be back at the pocket park on Sunday for the biggest day of the U.S. Grand Prix, and we need volunteers! Drivers were speeding through the area, but slowed to read our signs, and some even stopped to let large groups of riders cross. We’re one of the only neighborhoods on this inner-city bike route, so please join us in a show of hospitality and support for safety. Drop by for as long as you can any time between 8:30 a.m. and noon Sunday.
Update: Over the three-day U.S. Grand Prix, 1,120 people rode bikes to the shuttles at Richard Moya Park, according to the Austin American-Statesman. City and Bike Austin representatives said more support is possible for next year’s event, so start planning now for ways to make this a better rest stop and safer clycling crossing point in the future. A portable toilet, a bike rack, a tent for shade, a crosswalk, better street signs, restriping bike lanes and replacing crumbling curb cuts come to mind …
At last count, Austin had a population of 790, 390, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Next week, expect that to grow by up to 300,000 as Formula One racing at the new Circuit of the Americas racetrack in Southeast Austin draws visitors from around the world. As many as 120,000 of them will go to the track in person for the Nov. 16-18 races.
The Circuit of the Americas racetrack southeast of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was finished just in time for the United States Grand Prix Nov. 16-18. The track’s official website highlights Riverside Drive and the Texas 130 toll road as main routes, though it mistakenly puts the Riverside label on both Riverside and Oltorf. Click to enlarge. (From Circuit of the Americas)
Austin roads will see a huge influx of rental cars, limos and taxis. Give yourself plenty of time to commute next week, and check event maps to plan your route around road closures, bus route changes and other surprises.
Traffic hot spots: Expect heavy traffic downtown and on East Riverside Drive, East Oltorf Street, Burleson Road, Interstate 35, Ben White Boulevard/Texas 71, U.S. 183 and Texas 130. See the Circuit of the Americas transportation page for information on park-and-ride shuttles and more.
Downtown: If you’re willing to brave the traffic and try the shuttles, there should be plenty of free activities for Austinites, but getting to work will be tricky. Twelve blocks will be closed to vehicles Nov. 14-19 for outdoor concerts and other events during Fan Fest. Capital Metro is offering free bus service in a loop around downtown Nov. 16-18, as well as expanded MetroRail service Nov. 17-18. See Cap Metro’s F1 page for maps, fares and detours. (Cap Metro says the downtown loop and 75 F1 shuttles will continue to run in the event of a possible bus drivers strike this week.)
Overhead: Two helicopter charter companies might fly over Burleson Heights up to 70 times a day as they ferry fans to the track from temporary helipads at Riverside Drive/Congress Avenue and at MoPac/Bee Cave Road.
A designated F1 bike route from downtown to Richard Moya Park will bring many cyclists to Burleson Road and the adjacent pocket park on Nov. 16-18. Click to enlarge. (Detail from City of Austin route map.)
Bicycles on Burleson Road: The city has designated a cycling route to the F1 races that will take bike commuters right through our neighborhood. City Council member Chris Riley and bicycle safety instructors will accompany several group rides that will depart City Hall at 8:30 a.m. Friday and 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Cyclists will probably arrive at Burleson about 20-40 minutes later. Also expect cyclists in the area on their return trips and throughout the weekend.
The route takes cyclists through the Country Club Creek pocket park that follows the large power lines between Pleasant Valley and Burleson roads. What’s tricky is that in order to enter the southbound bike lane on Burleson Road, they will need to cross Burleson Road under the power lines between Santa Monica Drive and Terrilance Drive, in between two curves with limited sight lines.
Please watch for cyclists in the area pictured here:
VIEW FROM THE NORTH: Cyclists will come from the park and enter Burleson Road under the large power lines. Click to enlarge.
VIEW FROM THE SOUTH: Watch for bikes near the curve in front of Nuevo Estilo salon, north of Terrilance Drive. Click to enlarge.
WHAT THE CYCLISTS WILL SEE: The pocket park follows big overhead power lines and meets Burleson Road at a large oak tree. To continue left in the southbound bike lane, cyclists will have to cross Burleson Road between two curves, without a crosswalk. Click to enlarge.
Volunteers needed: Want to welcome arriving cyclists and alert drivers that there will be more bikes on the road? Use the contact form or the neighborhood message boards to sign up for a neighborhood bike brigade near the pocket park on Friday, Saturday or Sunday morning.
Restaurants: Throngs of humanity will be just west of I-35, one of the reasons we’re glad we don’t have to cross it to reach our own fabulous restaurants! Some nearby are Patsy’s Cafe, Catfish Parlour, Vic’s Barbecue, 888 Vietnamese Restaurant, Java Noodles, Hai Ky, El Jacalito, El Mesón, Super Burrito and El Pollo Rico. Have another recommendation? Submit a comment to share.
For more information:
The Hurly-Burly 