Roundabout opens in Dove Springs area, bike lanes up next
Austin (KXAN) — The latest milestone is complete along South Pleasant Valley Road.
It's part of a bigger project to improve safety and mobility along South Pleasant Valley Road from Oltorf Street to Onion Creek Drive. That's more than 15 miles of roadway.
The City of Austin held a ribbon-cutting on Thursday, May 1, to celebrate the completion of the roundabout at the intersection of Teri Road and South Pleasant Valley Road.
'This area in Dove Springs, Southeast Austin, has been historically under invested in, so seeing these type of safety improvements come into our neighborhood does come a little bit of like, 'okay, what's going on?' It's a little, it takes a little bit of adjustment. But after you do it a couple of times, it becomes the norm. And this is really about normalizing safety,' said Vanessa Fuentes, Mayor Pro Tem and District 2 City Council member.
The city says roundabouts typically reduce injury crashes by 75%. Plus, with the newly added bike lanes and a new MetroRapid line running through the neighborhood, city leaders say it benefits current residents and future Austinites.
CapMetro celebrates launch of Dove Springs Pickup Zone
'We're bringing the necessary safety infrastructure to give people that choice, and once they have that choice, it is going to increase participation. So I think with us building out a strong bike network throughout our city is looking at what will future generations benefit from and what is the safety that current Austinites deserve,' said Fuentes.
One neighbor we spoke with welcomes the change.
'We love it because we like alternative modes of transportation, I like the pedestrian crossings and the extra space. I've been out of a lot of places that the funding can go to. This is not one of the worst,' said Emmanuel Sanchez.
The roundabout marks the completion of Phase 3 of the South Pleasant Valley Road project. The next phase of work will install protected bike lanes between Teri Road and Button Bend Road. From there, shared-use pathways south of Nuckols Crossing will begin construction.
Funding for the South Pleasant Valley Road Corridor comes from the 2016 Mobility Bond.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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