DS approves shared use paths for Roger Hanks

DRIPPING SPRINGS — On Tuesday, May 16, Dripping Springs City Council unanimously approved the expenditure of funds for Roger Hanks Extension shared use path improvements.

The city entered into an offsite road and trail agreement with Stratford Land Fund IV, L.P., the developer of the Heritage Subdivision. The agreement requires the developer to construct a 5-foot sidewalk along one side of the Roger Hanks Extension from the Heritage Subdivision west of Dripping Springs High School and then south of the tie-in point with the existing Roger Hanks Parkway.

Upon recommendation by staff, the council approved the expenditure of sidewalk fee-in-lieu funds to upgrade the 5-foot sidewalk to a 10-foot and 8-foot shared use path. The shared use path will be typically 10 feet wide but will have a single section in the curve around the high school parking lot that is 8 feet wide due to grading and right-of-way (ROW) constraints.

The cost of the improvements is $169,999, according to agenda documents, and will be paid for by the city’s sidewalk fee-in-lieu fund, which currently has a balance of $171,496.

“That’s the cost of the change order to go from the 5-foot that was agreed upon on the offsite road and trail [agreement] and move that up to a 10-foot for most of it,” said Aaron Reed, Public Works director. “There are a few areas in the curve that we have to go down to 8 feet, because we don’t have room in the right-of-way.”

Mayor Bill Foulds asked if there will be any upcoming projects where the city will need to use the fund.

“To my knowledge, we haven’t used that fund yet. It just continues to grow and I don’t have any projects that I am anticipating,” Reed responded.

Benefits of the improvements include extending the connectivity of the 10-foot shared use path, that will start construction this year, along the existing portion of Roger Hanks as part of the TxDOT Sidewalk Grant Program; improving pedestrian safety and connectivity through a school zone due to wider path; and improving bicycle safety and connectivity through a school zone by providing an alternative to bicycle travel in vehicular lanes.

It is estimated that constructing these improvements by the developer would save the city about 25% in improvement costs in comparison with a typical design, bid and building process constructed by the city.

“The contractor is already mobilized and doing the work out there. By being a change order to an existing project, we have about a 25% cost savings over what we would pay to do this job ourselves,” Reed said.