By Moses Leos III
With federal funding for road projects on the table, narrowing down which were worthy of federal dollars was priority for Buda.
City leaders wanted to ensure those projects would compete for $76.5 million from the Surface Transportation Program – Metropolitan Mobility (STP MM) fund, selected by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO).
“We are optimistic that we will be selected for at least one of the projects [submitted],” Buda Mayor Todd Ruge said. “There are a lot of worthy projects countywide. It’s up to CAMPO to find the most worthy.”
On July 21, the Buda City Council voted unanimously to apply for the design cost for the Main Street widening and Old Goforth Road reconstruction. An additional application will be submitted for the design and construction of the Main Street and FM 967 intersection.
Determining which roads were priority began in January. After compiling its “universe of projects” list in January, Buda whittled down its top three priorities, using CAMPO’s scoring criteria.
The criteria focuses on seven key attributes, including crash frequency, congestion and connectivity. Projects must also fall under the CAMPO 2035 plan.
Once completed, the matrix will be used to help fund regional and local transportation projects over the next five years.
All three of the city’s projects, part of the city’s Capital Improvement Plan and the potential 2014 bond election, are designated for $37.8 million in local funding dollars, along with an additional $12.1 million for bike and pedestrian access.
The three are also slated for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
“Projects were chosen based on scoring criteria from CAMPO and keeping in concert with the bond committee’s road project recommendations to Council for final approval of project selection for the November 2014 bond election,” Assistant City Manager Brian LaBorde said in an emailed response.
Two of the projects Buda selected involve the city’s main thoroughfare. The widening of Main Street between the Union Pacific Railroad and Cabela’s Drive would turn the road from a two lane undivided road to a four lane undivided road way.
In addition, the city plans to add a bike lane and sidewalks.
Buda’s plan to reconstruct the Main Street and FM 967 intersection involves adding a turn only lane onto the northbound side of the road. In addition, the city plans to add connectivity elements for pedestrians.
The city’s final project to CAMPO involves reconstruction of Old Goforth, which will add a center turn lane, along with pedestrian and bicycle elements on the shoulders.
“We looked at all categories to collect as many points as possible including bike/[pedestrian] scoring,” Laborde said. “We hope our chances are good when ranked by CAMPO.”
Joining Buda is Hays County, which submitted its three-project wish list on July 15.
However, the county had to reassess its initial list, originally compiled in June. Two projects — the Centerpoint Road extension from RM 12 to Hunter Road and the Dacy Lane to Hillside Terrace to Bebee road phase two construction — would have created issues for the county.
Applying for federal funds for the projects could have forced the county to go through “different levels of approval,” according to Hays County Pct. 3 Commissioner Will Conley.
“We felt we could better address the issues on those roads with more local and traditional state funding instead of federal funds, which would have brought requirements,” Conley said.
Instead, the county focused on two different projects. All of the projects would focus on improving roadway safety.
That includes adding a center left turn lane and shoulders to RM 1826 at the Travis County Line to Nutty Brown Road.
“There are a lot of rear end accidents where people are turning into subdivisions [on RM 1826],” Conley said.
The county applied for funding the State Highway 80 at Old Bastrop Highway project. A center turn lane will be added to the roadway. The final project will add shoulders to RM 12 at Fitizhugh Road to FM 150.
With CAMPO set to decide who gets funding as early as September, both Buda and Hays County now cross their fingers.
“I think all [Hays County] projects will be competitive going through the STP MM process,” Conley said. “We will compete at a very high level with those projects.”
