Five months into a pilot program to improve safety on Sixth Street, Austin police officials said there have been fewer fights, arrests and incidents where they used force.
Late last year, Austin began reopening Sixth Street to vehicles on weekend nights, erecting barriers to keep people on newly expanded and protected sidewalks.
Water-filled, orange-and-white plastic barricades have been installed, replacing metal fences that were damaged by people leaning on them or vehicles driving over the footings.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the metal fencing was never meant to be long-term and called the new barriers another phase in the program.
"When you look at [that old fencing] and when you look at the crowds getting larger now that the summer is coming up and the weather is getting warmer, [we knew] it was time to change the barriers," she said.
The new barricades are stronger and more cost-effective, city officials said.
Sixth Street is lined with bars, restaurants and clubs, making it a popular nightlife destination. The road had been closed to vehicle traffic on weekend nights for decades. That allowed crowds to gather in the street, which public safety officials said created an unsafe environment.
Restricting people to sidewalks keeps them safe and discourages fights and shootings from breaking out, Davis said. She added that it took a lot of resources from the short-staffed police department to close the street to traffic.
Preliminary data from the Austin Police Department show the use of force by officers against someone on Sixth Street decreased by 50% from January to February of this year, when the data was last collected. Anecdotally, APD officers said they've also noticed a decrease in fights.
Davis said safety improvements on Sixth Street is about policing differently and officers being more visible while they are patrolling on foot and in vehicles.
"We have to be more engaged with the people" on Sixth Street, she said. "And I think being seen, being more visible, being more engaged with what's occurring there, that is where we want to be, where everyone is safer."
As summer approaches, Austin is preparing for an influx of visitors. The city said it is committed to keeping the street open, but that might not always be possible as crowds grow.
“Crowd size changes based on the weather, they change based on a number of factors," Davis said. "But how do we move with that? And so we always have to be prepared that when we see [crowds getting too large] that safety always comes first. And anytime it's about safety we will close the street.”
APD is also working with bar and club owners to help maintain crowds and keep people moving safely up and down the sidewalks.
It's unclear when the city will decide on a permanent change to Sixth Street or how it will pay for it, but Davis said it could be a while. The city is staring at a $33 million budget deficit for next fiscal year, making funding programs and projects difficult.
"The reality is this a citywide-led focus," she said. "We have to look at different things, and it's going to be a cost shared throughout the city."
