Where should town focus its road dollars?
by WES FERGUSON
Buda city officials know their residents want to ease congestion on downtown streets.
They also know the city must prepare for even busier roads in the coming decades, with a projected 21,000 new residents moving into the eastside Sunfield development alone.
“Those 21,000 residents will have to get to school, get to work, get to the grocery store to buy groceries,” adding even more strain to east-west thoroughfares not designed for such heavy traffic, said Tom Gerrity, an engineer with the LAN consulting firm.
The city of Buda has hired LAN to help seek public input and identify priorities as the city develops a new transportation master plan to replace its most recent plan from 2006.
“You need to update your transportation plan every five years,” said Brian LaBorde, the assistant city manager. “It needs to keep up with the growth coming into the city.”
Since the completion of that 2006 plan, FM 2001 has been realigned, Main Street was widened, the truck bypass was completed and the eastern leg of the Texas 45 toll road was built to Interstate 35.
But ideas about roads have changed in the intervening years, according to LaBorde. In addition to building roads that allow cars to travel efficiently, the city is considering “complete streets” that include sidewalks, bicycle lanes, public transit and streetscapes.
“Our old plan didn’t take into account pedestrian travel, bicyclists and complete streets as far as streetscaping, tree planting and street lights,” he said.
Buda, along with Kyle and San Marcos, has also been identified as a possible location for a station on the LSTAR, an Austin-San Antonio passenger rail initiative.
Planned Buda-area projects in the near future could include a new east-west road connecting the truck bypass, Robert S. Light Boulevard, to FM 1626; improvements to east-west thoroughfares such as West Goforth and Main streets on the west side of I-35; and improvements to Old Goforth Road and Dacy Lane on the east side of I-35.
As they work on the new transportation plan, city officials say they’ll focus on improving connectivity, managing traffic, commuting options to Austin and San Marcos, promoting walking and biking, and planning roadways for existing and future demand.
Officials intend to complete a draft master plan in March with a targeted June adoption by the Buda City Council.
I-35 ramps among next area projects
STAFF REPORT
• If the FM 1626 project comes in under budget, Jones said he will ask the commissioners to approve using the savings to add a turn lane to FM 967 from Onion Creek to FM 1626 at an estimated cost of $3 million.
• The Kyle Crossing overpass at Interstate 35 is set to open Feb. 10.
• The county plans to add six on-ramps to Interstate 35 between FM 2001 and Center Street in 2013 and also plans to add Texas turnarounds to the I-35 overpasses that do not have them, using funds awarded by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.
• Jones said the Travis County judge and some commissioners are receptive to Hays County’s offer to fund a 3.8-mile county road that would connect FM 1626 and MoPac, mostly in Travis County. A planned state highway there has been on hold for several years pending environmental reviews.
Jones, speaking at a Buda transportation workshop last Thursday, said it is unusual for a county to fund a road project in another county, but “it’s our citizens that are going to be using it,” he said. “It’s Hays County citizens getting into Austin and coming back to Buda.”
