Marina Armendariz
BUDA — During its Aug. 5 meeting, Buda City Council heard a presentation on the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) FM 1626 and RM 967 intersection study by Kevin Hoffman of Tetra Tech. The presentation covered several intersection designs to improve flow, public feedback summaries and next steps for the project.
The FM 1626 and RM 967 intersection study was awarded to Tetra Tech June 2023, according to the presentation, and began July 2024. Tetra Tech previously presented an update to council in May 2025 discussing the initial traffic capacity analysis, right-of-way need evaluation and first public meeting. During the May meeting, five at-grade intersection concepts were presented, as well as three concepts involving FM 1626 spanning over RM 967 as an overpass.
A second public meeting was held in June, which exhibited the eight intersection design concepts. According to Hoffman, the survey responses that were received had common concerns about safety and simplicity for the intersection.
“There is a lot of concern for the school traffic that is there, for young users of the corridor that may not understand what an innovative intersection is and how they can work through there,” said Hoffman. “There’s definitely a higher level of comfort when it comes to a typical, conventional intersection.”
Council members, such as Monica Davidson, LaVonia Horne-Williams and Mayor Lee Urbanovsky, echoed this sentiment, with the mayor stating that he was unsure if his three teenage drivers would be able to navigate the roadway.
According to the presentation, many users of the intersection are more comfortable and familiar with at-grade intersection improvements or the conventional diamond interchange concept. Although a conventional intersection was highly rated by the public, it may not be a long-term solution for the problem, Hoffman said. Many commenters felt an overpass may be necessary to remove FM 1626 through traffic from the RM 967 intersection.
“The diamond interchange is the one they were in favor of,” said Hoffman. “It’s kind of what we see at Main Street and IH-35, where you [would] have 1626 going over 967, with 967 at-grade with two intersections on either side.”
Although this intersection was favorable to the community, council member Greg Bowles stated that Buda’s “small town charm” could be jeopardized by implementing an overpass.
Ultimately, three concepts were broken down into more detail within the presentation, based on public feedback, cost, traffic analysis and impacts on stakeholders: the improved conventional intersection, diamond interchange and full displaced left-turn intersection. According to Hoffman, these designs are moving forward with detailed traffic analysis to fully design a layout, which will be presented at a later meeting.
“We’re trying to hone in on what can work and in that next phase we’ll take it a little bit further in determining what is the best ultimate outcome for the intersection,” explained Hoffman.
The next steps for the project include finalizing traffic analysis and concept layouts for two build alternatives and conducting a third public meeting, which will take place Aug. 14, according to Hoffman. Council hopes to find a solution in the meantime through expanding the turn lanes along FM 1626 and RM 967.
“The first option is trying to find something we can do sooner than later to improve the area. Long term, it’s going to be expensive, it’s going to take a lot of land [and] it’s going to take some education,” said Urbanovsky.
In the next one to five years, Tetra Tech recommends a feasibility study, initiating the Texas Department of Transportation into the overall process and conducting a Buda thoroughfare study to evaluate new roadway connections, according to the presentation. As for long term goals, the construction of the ultimate intersection improvements will take place in the next ten or more years.
Special election
Council also adopted an ordinance ordering a special election for charter amendments to take place Nov. 4.
According to city attorney Alan Bojorquez, the ordinance regarding the proposed amendments are the same as those previously intended to go before voters in 2023, with the addition of Proposition H, which grants council the power to make any nonsubstantive amendments to the city charter.
“This is basically to correct errors, grammatical errors, any references to laws that have changed,” said Alicia Ramirez, city clerk.
The slate was held back in 2023 because there were no contested races at the time that would have justified the full expense of an election, according to Bojorquez.
“This is something that was done by a charter review committee years ago at this point, but we have pushed off this actual election process because of not being willing to spend the money for an election just for this,” said Urbanovsky.
Buda residents will vote on the eight following propositions:
Proposition A: Amends the charter to uniformly and consistently compensate the mayor $300 per city council meeting and each city council member $200 per city council meeting.
Proposition B: Amends the charter to provide that the city council appoints the city attorney.
Proposition C: Amends the charter to specify that notices of city council action on a proposed budget will be in compliance with state law.
Proposition D: Amends the charter to require that the annual budget be structurally balanced, so that total proposed expenditures shall not exceed the total of estimated revenue and fund balance reserves.
Proposition E: Amends the charter to state that the purpose for an appropriation for a capital expenditure may be deemed abandoned if three years pass without any disbursement from or encumbrance of the appropriation.
Proposition F: Amends the charter to clarify that the city council shall appoint a certified public accountant to make a complete audit of the books and accounts of every city department and present a report to the council at the close of every fiscal year.
Proposition G: Allows outdated transitional language, non-substantive grammar and typographical errors to be removed from the charter.
Proposition H: Grants city council the power to make any nonsubstantive changes to the charter.
For more information on the upcoming election, visit www.budatx.gov/263/Nov-4-2025-Deadlines-Notices.
Buda City Council will meet next at 6 p.m. Aug. 13 for a budget meeting.
