By Andy Sevilla.
Local governments in six Central Texas counties will fight to the finish for a chance to get a chunk of the more than $28 million up for grabs for transportation projects in the CAMPO region.
City and county officials in the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s service area have been scrambling for cash to fund projects geared toward improving mobility and relieving traffic gridlock within their boundaries, and Monday night’s announcement of available monies by the group was met with resounding excitement.
“We’re definitely gonna go after it!” Kyle Mayor Lucy Johnson said in a text message after learning of the attainable transportation funds.
But, Caldwell County, the city of Georgetown and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) have beat Kyle to the punch and already submitted their wish lists to the planning organization, even before Monday night’s announcement, according to CAMPO Director Maureen McCoy.
“Over the past several weeks, staff has received inquiries as to the availability of additional funds,” CAMPO documents in Monday night’s agenda stated.
CAMPO, which divvies out federal transportation dollars in Bastrop, Burnett, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties, announced Monday night that $64 million are available for projects in the 2014 fiscal year, though $35.6 million have already been apportioned to previously approved proposals.
McCoy said CAMPO’s board approved the $35.6 million for projects they selected in 2011, and that only $28.4 million were available, but that figure is expected to increase by at least $10 million as TxDOT finalizes its reconciliation of projects funded in fiscal year 2013.
The planning organization’s policy board could allocate the funds to a single project, a set of projects or it could conduct a call for project applications.
“It’s a funding opportunity that could help toward furthering transportation improvements in Hays County or in the municipalities within Hays County,” CAMPO Chair and Hays County Commissioner Will Conley said. “The stipulations on these particular funds don’t have to be ‘shovel ready’ (projects). They can be used for programming, they can be used for construction, they can be used for research and development, they have a lot looser conditions than some other dollars that apply sometimes on these monies and we have all of the above available in Hays County, from project development to projects that are shovel ready that have not be let yet.”
Conley would not specify what projects the county could pursue, though he said a discussion will be held at the Commissioners Court to agree on projects and to apply for the money.
“We have a pretty good record of developing consensus on these projects on the court,” Conley said. “So my colleagues and I will have that discussion to see what was on their minds. Of course we’ll be reaching out to municipalities in Hays County as well.”
Kyle council members approved contracts Tuesday night to engineer Burleson Road and Marketplace Avenue in hopes of receiving CAMPO money to fund improvements to those roads. Both streets, along with Bunton Creek, Goforth and Lehman roads are part of a $36 million bond voters approved last year to reconstruct the roadways.
CAMPO’s policy board will take the matter up again at its Dec. 9 meeting where government transportation wish lists will be discussed and the winners potentially selected.
