I would like to ride to Kealing Middle School (1607 Pennsylvania Ave.)
with my daughter and I would like to figure out the lowest stress way to
ride there (i.e. least traffic hazards as a first priority, followed by
least potholes and other obstructions). I don't mind riding more distance
for a better route.

I know the best way to 34th and Speedway. How do I proceed from there?

I'm guessing it is best to cross 35 on 26th/Dean Keaton, then drop back to
Leona (perhaps on 22nd) and take it South to the school. If you know the
area, please feel free to give me advice about a better way to go. Like
"Go right on XXX, turn left on YYY, etc."

The trip will be during early rush hour and returning in the early afternoon.

If you ride Dean Keaton to cross over, I would suggest taking a right at Red
River and riding over to Manor Road and crossing there. The Dean Keaton way
past Red River is not awful - but can be a little stressful as traffic speed
seems higher and people are entering into the right lane to merge onto the
access road to get to IH35.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1096693

Also note: you could avoid Dean Keaton and ride through Campus. Speedway to
E 24th to San Jacinto Blvd to E 23rd to Robert Dedman Dr to Manor and
across. I've not done this - might need to test it out. Course riding
through campus isn't always a picnic either. But traffic is slow moving.

Depending on where you are starting from, you could also consider riding
over to Hancock Shopping Center, you can exit the shopping center on the
IH35 side and cross under (by Sears, there is a light) then, on the other
side cut through the parking lot of what used to a Outdoor store or Academy
(heading south). This puts you on Wilshire Blvd. Take that up to Cherrywood
Rd and that's a nice ride over also. Neighborhood, tree cover, low traffic
and wide streets.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1096700

Hope this helps some. Have fun riding....

One nice thing about gmap-pedometer is the little
graphic about elevation

This map
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1096693
has a valley near San Jacinto and Dean Keaton and then
another valley at Kealing

whereas
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1099413
which goes 34th to Harris to 32nd to Lafayette
has only one valley at Kealing

I don't know which is more pleasant or safe or
whatever, but they illustrate how nice the elevation
graphic can be.

I don't think it's safer to take the S. 1st steet across the bridge vs. the pedestrian path, do you? Car traffic is often very heavy on that bridge.

... I think Woodrow is a fine route to consider in many cases. The road itself is fine (and superior to [Shoal Creek Blvd] at the moment, especially when heading southbound). As for getting there from the northwest, bike route 22 (Far West-Greenlawn-Daugherty-Justin) is a good one. I know, I know, too many stop signs on Justin for your taste. My wife and I don't have a problem with them. That said, there's another way across from Far West which is actually superior, anyway. That being: Greenlawn-Greenhaven-Richcreek to Woodrow. I see quite a few people using that route instead of the Justin leg of route 22. You only have three stops between Far West and Woodrow this way (SCB, Burnet, Yates [and Yates is a very low stress stop]).

Of course, Woodrow is more useful if you're ultimately going downtown via North Loop-Guadalupe. If you're going to the river via North Loop-Bull Creek-Jefferson-Johnson Creek, or North Loop-Bull Creek-Jefferson-29th-Lamar, it's a little bit more out of the way to cut over to Woodrow and then cut back on North Loop. (maybe an extra kilometer's work). SCB makes much more sense there.

But in general I often use Woodrow as an alternative to SCB when heading southbound. Less so northbound. Grover's less attractive because it seems to have more speeders, and you get an extra stop at Brentwood.

Let's say we start at Seton Hospital, since getting there to/from UT/downtown is about the same for either route.

"Woodrow route": 9.6 miles
http://tinyurl.com/q3d7f
From 38th St, take Medical Pkwy north.
Cross 45th onto Burnet Rd.
R on Woodrow Ave.
(You can even avoid the short distance on Burnet by taking 44th to Ramsey Ave
to 49th to Woodrow, which should only add maybe a quarter mile.)
Cross Anderson Ln.
Woodrow Ave becomes Wooten Park Dr.
R on Teakwood Dr.
R on Shadowood Dr.
R on Ohlen Rd.
R on Contour Dr.
L on Fairfield Dr.
Cross under 183.
L on Parkfield Dr.
Cross Payton Gin, Rundberg, Rutland, Kramer, and Braker.
R on Bittern Hollow.
L on Gracy Farms Ln.
L into IBM.

"SCB route": 11.2 miles
http://tinyurl.com/ndyde
From 38th St, take Medical Pkwy north.
L on 39 1/2 St.
R on Shoal Creek Blvd.
L on Steck Ave.
R on Robbie Dr.
L on Hyridge Dr.
R on Mesa Dr.
L on Jollyville Rd.
Cut across large dirt-covered area to Loop 360.
Cross 360 at 183.
Cut across field/parking lots to the Arboretum.
Through Arboretum parking lots.
R on Jollyville Rd.
R on Balcones Woods Dr.
L on Santa Cruz Dr.
R on Duval Rd.
Cross Mopac.
L on Mopac access road / Gracy Farms Ln.
R into IBM.

I've mapped these out with the main goal to stay off of Burnet, Braker, 183, and Metric as much as possible, since those are all pretty intimidating roads for an inexperienced cyclist (and frankly, Duval's not all that fun, but at least it has a sidewalk if the traffic is really too heavy). If you can find a shorter route between those two general locations, I really would be very eager to see it.

And just to be thorough, taking Burnet straight there is about 7.3 miles. So from that standpoint, both routes are certainly out of the way.

I've been reading updates on the construction taking place on 45th St. It's great that sidewalks are being added between Burnet Rd. and Highland Terrace, but I don't see anything about bike lanes. I suppose that means that they're not included. (And there's no parking on 45th St. How do residents manage if they can't park on their street?)

The alternative to 45th St. between Burnet and Bull Creek is Hancock to the north, and 38th St. to the south. Bike lanes would be a great addition, since there's a moderate hill that makes it hard to ride at a steady pace.

Does anyone know if there are plans (and funds, of course) to repair the section of the H&B trail just north of the MoPac bridge and Austin High where the concrete slab has shifted a couple of feet out of place? The City installed obstructions to keep people off that section, which happens to be one of the prettiest areas of that trail in my opinion, quite a while ago, but there is no indication of when they intend to do repairs. It's a small section of trail that is damaged and preventing a very nice ride.
Also, it's now difficult to navigate the lower part of the Shoal Creek trail from Town Lake to just south of 9th Street. This wasn't a big deal when I was riding solo, but now that I'm pulling my three-year-old in a trailer our Sunday rides up to Pease Park and beyond are made a bit more difficult by having to jump curbs and cross 5th and 6th Streets and fight the Whole Foods traffic. A couple of improvements here would make a huge difference - a raised concrete path to cross the creek and a navigable path in a couple of sections are all that is needed.