By Andy Sevilla
Tensions flared on the dais Tuesday night as council members reconsidered an earlier approval of a proposed roundabout at the FM1626 and Kohler’s Crossing intersection. The proposed project has attracted much public scrutiny at meetings, as well as on social media. Some council members are interested in changing course on their earlier greenlight of a roundabout over a traffic light.
The potential about face, however, was not well received by all council members, specifically David Wilson who has been a vocal proponent of the roundabout. Seemingly fearing a recommendation reversal or perhaps a stalemate (3-3 vote), Wilson motioned to table the matter until Council Member Chad Benninghoff could be present for a vote, saying that Benninghoff would want to have his voice heard.
Benninghoff, an Army Reservist, was called for service, and Wilson said Benninghoff should be back in Kyle later this week.
Council Member Samantha LeMense, however, said she respected Benninghoff’s service, but found it “inappropriate” to delay the city’s business because one council member was absent.
“I’m not the one that put this on the agenda knowing that Council Member (Chad) Benninghoff would not be here,” Wilson said
“Are you saying that I knew?” LeMense asked
“Well, yes,” Wilson affirmed.
“Whoa! I’m going to stop you right there,” Kyle Mayor Lucy Johnson told Wilson. “Number one, because you’re starting to go over crossing the line on the rules of council, but number two, it was originally Council Member (Diane) Hervol who asked well over a month ago to put this on the agenda.”
The council learned about two weeks ago that Benninghoff was called for service.
In Tuesday night’s meeting, the elected officials also took votes on the proposed fiscal year 2014 (FY2014) budget, the proposed property tax rate, eight development agreements and took up three important matters in Executive Session, among other items, and no asked for a tabling of votes due to the absence of one elected official.
Ultimately, a recommendation on the future of the proposed roundabout was postponed after an hour-and-a-half discussion, and the council members directed staff to look into short term solutions to the intersection’s problems.
Ben Engelhardt, TxDOT area engineer, told council members that funding for the roundabout is not immediately available and that the project could potentially begin construction in 2016. The two-lane roundabout is estimated to cost about half-a-million dollars.
“Even though I am, and continue to be, for this roundabout, it is very hard to stomach the idea of having nothing done to improve safety features for this road between now and 2016,” Johnson said. “... while I understand this is a planning activity, and there is no push to make any decision on something that may not be funded until 2016, there should be a need for swift action on making this intersection safer now.”
City staff will bring the council monetary figures on the implementation of a blinking light vs. a traffic light.
Engelhardt said the present traffic on the intersection “barely” meets requirements for a traffic signal, but TxDOT will reevaluate the need for a traffic light after the Austin Community College campus opens in January.
Once the threshold warranting a traffic light is surpassed, TxDOT could cover the costs of implementing a traffic light at the FM1626 and Kohler’s Crossing intersection, though Engelhardt cautioned that in doing so, the push for a roundabout is eliminated, at least until further traffic improvements are necessary.
