City using electronic signage for ACL

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The city of Austin installed electronic informational signs along more than a dozen streets earlier this year, but the signs haven't been put to full use until now.
 
October's Austin City Limits Music Festival and November's Formula One race are changing that.

The city is working to program 13 electronic signs to provide critical information to both visitors and Austinites.

The signs, which are attached to posts and hang overhead of lanes on the roads, have been flashing the date and time for the last several months. Some of them are completely off.

But just in time for the ACL Music Festival, actual messages will appear on the screens.

The signs give the city the ability to share important information with travelers in Austin -- whether driving, walking, riding a bike or on a city bus.

City officials can communicate with about half of the signs wirelessly right now, allowing them to push messages to the public in real time. The other half will be wirelessly enabled before F1.

The electronic signs are part of the larger system that the city's Planning and Development Review Department is putting into place.

In the coming weeks, expect to see signage, brochures and kiosks directing people to taxi stands, pedicabs, shuttle busses and so on.

"The bigger picture that these sings play a part of is trying to better convey information to the traveling public -- whether you're a motorist, bicyclist, pedestrian or transit rider," said Austin Transportation Department assistant director Gary Schatz. "And it looks at our transportation system holistically."

Schatz said short, efficient messages on the signs are not only safe but effective.

"If people at least know what's going on or feel like they have been provided information where they can get more information, that helps them plan in advance. So, timely sharing of information is important," Schatz said.

When big events like ACL  Music Fest, F1 or South By Southwest are not in the picture, Schatz said the electronic signs can be used for public service announcements.

He also said the city is working to incorporate technology that's tied into the traffic signal system that can give people live traffic updates and travel times.

ACL Music Festival street closures

There are street closures from midnight Thursday through early Monday morning and motorists should expect delays around the Zilker Park/Barton Springs Road area and throughout downtown.

Barton Springs Road from Robert E. Lee to Rollingwood Drive.

There are street closures from midnight Thursday through early Monday morning and motorists should expect delays around the Zilker Park/Barton Springs Road area and throughout downtown.

• Barton Springs Roadfrom Robert E. Lee to Rollingwood Drive.
• Stratford Drivefrom Barton Springs Road to Nature Center Trail.
• Barton Springs Road/Lou Neff to Stratford Drive (right lane westbound).
• The Zilker Botanical Gardens and Austin Nature and Science Center will be closed on event days.

Barton Springs Pool

Barton Springs Pool will remain open to the public, with access to the pool via the Robert E. Lee Drive parking lot.  ADA accessibility to the pool will be through the west side of the park. Parking can be accessed via the Andrew Zilker Road entrance, from the MoPac/Loop 1 access road, with a valid Disability Parking Tag.