AUSTIN (KXAN) — Central Austin neighbors are worried changes to the city of Austin’s Street Network could mean the end of their neighborhood as they know it.

In Rosedale, West 49th Street is a narrow road surrounded by homes, a school and a historical site. Joe and Caroline Reynolds have called this area home for the last several decades.

“We’ve lived here for over 40 years,” Caroline said.

West 49th Street is just one of the many city streets listed in the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan’s Street Network. It’s a plan that will serve as the blueprint for how streets are developed in the city for the next 20 years and beyond.

Currently, the city is proposing some technical changes to the street network on how streets are defined and categorized. Those at the Austin Transportation Department said these changes align with plans like the 2014 Austin Bicycle Plan.

For longtime neighbors like the Reynolds — who are also part of the Austin Neighborhood Council — along with others, it’s the right-of-way proposals that have them concerned.

Under the adopted ASMP plan, West 49th Street is listed as a Level 2 street with various right-of-way requirements section by section each proposing improvements.

For example, between Lynnwood Street to Burnet Road there is a need for sidewalk and bicycle facilities improvements with the following look at its right-of-way.

Between Ramsey Avenue to Lynnwood Street it features similar improvements with a variation in the right-of-way.

From Sinclair Avenue to Ramsey Avenue, officials list bicycle facilities as the improvement with a similar right-of-way as the previous section.

Bicycle facilities are also on the list for Shady Glade Court to Sinclair Avenue with the right-of-way changing just a bit.

The same goes for W. 49th Street between Woodview Avenue to Shady Glade Court. The city lists bicycle facilities as well.

The Reynolds said one of their major concerns is that the narrow road cannot be widened for additional right-of-way or people will lose their homes.

Those at the city’s transportation department said any proposed changes to existing streets are simply technical — at least for now.

“The intent isn’t to acquire all that right of way,” said Cole Kitten, a division manager with the transportation department. “It’s simply to capture and reflect that a bicycle facility is desired along that street.”

That means a street like 49th could eventually see some bicycle facilities installed, but those changes would be made within the existing right-of-way. That could include stripping or redesigning parking.

When it comes to the new proposed ASMP Street Network right-of-way requirements, the city said those classifications are for the new development of streets, not existing ones like 49th Street.

“I think that’s a lot of what may have been absent through this round, is these clarifications may not have been readily available to not be alarmed with the type of changes,” Kitten said about this round of feedback.

However, the Reynolds remain uneasy about what those classifications could mean for the future.

“If bicycle lanes need a Level 2 street, go find a Level 2 street. This is not,” Joe said.

Those who would like to review the ASMP Street Network Amendments have until the end of the month to provide feedback. A proposed plan will go before two commissions and the city’s mobility committee in March before heading to City Council for approval later this spring.