1 year after bicyclist killed on San Jacinto, cyclists push for bike lanes

A year has come and gone and the memory of Anthony John Diaz still lives on.

AUSTIN, Texas - A year has come and gone and the memory of Anthony John Diaz still lives on. The 39-year-old Navy veteran was a friendly face behind the scenes at FOX 7 Austin since 2012.

On January 28, 2019, Diaz finished his shift at the station, hopped on his bicycle and traveled north on San Jacinto. Diaz was riding along the diagonal parking spaces when a Cap Metro bus drifted and struck him.

The driver, Mindi Stafford was charged with manslaughter. She has since been released on bond and is set to appear in court in late February.

Kathryn Flowers with the bike advisory council has worked diligently over the past year with the University of Texas at Austin on enhancing traffic safety for cyclists.

"This is something for us, we really don't want to fall off the radar, we consider what happened to be a terrible tragedy and something that UT has not really acted on in the way that we would have hoped," Flowers said.

This past summer, UT has improved pedestrian striping, worked with CapMetro on moving bus stops and added speed management signs in the area on San Jacinto but with Red River closed to construction, foot traffic has been pushed to San Jacinto.

"San Jacinto, it’s not a safe corridor and I hope nothing else happens but you would think one person dying on San Jacinto would be enough for UT to say hey let's make a temporary fix while this long term construction is ongoing," Flowers said.

UT spokesperson J.B Bird said soon Red River will have designated bike lanes for cyclists. As it stands with a new basketball arena in the works, there are no bike lanes planned for San Jacinto.

"It's just not practical right now to add bike lanes to San Jacinto. We don't want to pursue short term changes at the expense of looking at the best overall comprehensive long term solutions," Bird said. "These were terrible events a year ago today and there are events that aren't forgotten on this campus and they won't be as we look to the future with safety improvements he will always be remembered."