By Kim Hilsenbeck

Despite protests from environmental groups, the proposed construction of State Highway 45 Southwest (SH 45SW) appears to be one step closer to reality.

With the release of a draft of the environmental impact statement (EIS), which evaluates the environmental, social and economic impacts potentially resulting from the proposed construction of SH 45SW, few barriers remain to prevent its eventual build out.

Hays County Commissioner, Pct. 2, Mark Jones, who has been a strong proponent of the road since taking office in 2010, said he is happy with the draft report.

“The draft results show we can build that road with environmental sensitivity,” he said in a phone interview Monday.

The non-federally funded project, being developed by TxDOT in conjunction with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA), would connect Loop 1 (Mopac) in south Austin to FM 1626 in northern Hays County. Under its current project plan, the road would be a four-lane, limited access toll road about four miles long.

Initially proposed in the 1980s as a way to improve connectivity, local mobility and travel times, the road plans have sputtered and stalled over the intervening years. The primary roadblock, figuratively, was outcry from the environmental community, including Save Our Springs (SOS) Alliance founder Bill Bunch.

Bunch was unavailable for comment before press time.

Lucas Short, project engineer with TxDOT, said there was nothing surprising in the draft report.

“Since we set out from the beginning with this, we were going about developing the project in most environmentally sensitive manner possible. A lot of people spent time writing and reviewing [the report]. The biggest thing that comes out of the document is the water quality standard we’re able to retain. We will actually exceed TCEQ standards,” Short said.

The main purpose of the road, according to TxDOT officials, is to improve system connectivity, local mobility, and travel times, while providing an efficient alternative route to congested local roadways in northern Hays and southern Travis counties. About 70 percent of Hays County residents in Kyle and Buda commute into Travis County for work.

By 2040, the Texas State Data Center (SDC) projects Hays County’s population at 628,309.

Between 1990 and 2010, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) the population increased 241 percent within the census tracts surrounding the proposed project area (US Census, 1990, 2010). Population within the area is expected to increase by an additional (approximately) 40 percent between 2010 and 2035. As noted in the report, there is a direct correlation between population and traffic. Therefore, as the population of the area increases, so too does the volume of traffic on the existing roadway network. TxDOT estimates that without the new toll road, morning travel times between Hays and Travis counties using the route from FM 1626 to Brodie Lane to Slaughter Lane to Mopac would take approximately 38 minutes. Today, the observed time is 20 minutes. With the new toll road built, the Brodie Lane route would take about 29 minutes in the morning and 28 minutes in the evening. In contrast, the toll road route would take commuters about 12 minutes in the morning. That same commute in the evening would take 10 roughly minutes.

Summary of results

Cost to drive

The estimated cost to drive the toll road is $600 per year, assuming a toll rate of $0.30/mile and 250 round-trips annually. In the report, the authors note a full financial analysis to set toll rates is underway.

Water Quality

According to the report, no discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the U.S. is anticipated. As a result, the proposed construction at waters of the U.S. in the state-owned ROW would not require a Section 404 permit under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The draft report also indicates that potential consequences of the proposed project on Edwards Aquifer groundwater quality and quantity would be negligible due to the 47.9 acres of proposed impervious cover over the Recharge Zone and proposed water quality protection measures and BMPs.

Potential for pollutants in stormwater runoff from the construction site and completed roadway to enter the aquifer and potential for changes in recharge rates to the aquifer resulting from increases in impervious cover would be minor. Impacts would be minimized by the use of what the report called “robust” best management practices (BMPs) during roadway construction and operation. These BMPs include multiple levels of water quality treatment measures, such as PFC pavement, water quality ponds, vegetative filter strips, and grassy swales. The BMPs to be utilized under the Build Alternative would remove at least 90 percent of post-construction TSS over the Recharge Zone. Stormwater runoff would also be treated by BMPs over the Transition Zone, although treatment over the Transition Zone is not required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality TCEQ.

Flint Ridge Cave is a significant recharge feature that has its surface opening location approximately 150 feet out side of the state-owned ROW. The surface opening of this feature would not be directly impacted by the proposed project. However, a portion of the drainage area and sections of the cave passage are overlapped by the state-owned ROW. Under the Build Alternative, approximately 13 percent (approximately 5.6 out of approximately 43.8 acres) of the surface catchment basin would be covered by impervious surfaces. However, with the proposed design, no runoff from disturbed areas or the eventual roadway surface would enter the cave opening. An approximately 2,900-foot-long berm adjacent to the eastern ROW would capture and direct on-site runoff to water quality ponds that would discharge into Bear Creek after treatment.

To read the full report, visit the SH 45SW website.