Hays County officials continue to move forward with development of a Nature and Character Plan that will result in a Corridor Master Plan for FM 150 West in Hays County.
The character plan is a document that defines how best to provide the future capacity needed for FM 150 West.
According to the improvefm150 website, development of FM 150 West provides the county an opportunity to plan ahead for the anticipated growth and related transportation needs.
The first part of the FM 150 West Character Plan resulted in a Features & Themes Report, which identified existing conditions, input from stakeholders, different community context zones, and important historical and environmental features to be considered when looking at alternatives.
Now the county is working on the next phase, which extends to developing a Nature & Character Master Plan, which will be a more detailed plan of the Corridor Concepts.
Ultimately, this plan will guide future planning and improvements on and near the FM 150 Corridor.
During the last meeting, officials updated residents on current activities toward crafting the plan. That includes updating traffic counts, reviewing and updating crash data, as well as human and natural environment constraint data.
According to data presented to stakeholders, 98 crashes between January 2010 and June 2014 were assessed. A majority of those accidents involve no or possible injuries. Three of those accidents were fatal.
The team then reviewed data from 44 accidents that occurred on FM 150 from July 2014 to August 2016. According to the data, 66 percent of the accidents involved no injures. There was only one fatal accident during that time.
According to findings, there was a significant portion of fixed object crashes, while a majority of crashes were non-intersection related. Most crashes occurred when weather was clear.
According to the findings, the “potential influence” of narrow shoulders, isolated or tight curves and non-recoverable sections of the roadway contributed to accidents.
Part of the process will include three Citizen Advisory Panel Meetings as a means of gauging and involving residents in addressing issues of interest regarding the Character Plan. The next CAP will be held Jan. 19, 2017 at the Dripping Springs High School Lecture Hall from 6 to 8 p.m.
