Hays County Commissioners have given the go-ahead to engineering and design services on a Jacob’s Well Road Corridor Study of the roadway from FM 2325 to RR 12.
The firm of Freese and Nichols will provide the services at a cost of $850,000. The measure passed the commissioners court unanimously.
Identified as a high priority safety project for Precinct 3 as well as the county overall, the road will be studied to see where it needs to be widened and if additional right-of-way will be required to make that possible.
Widening would be required for school buses and, as Pct. 3 Commissioner Lon Shell explained in court, Jacob’s Well Road is expected to see a lot more traffic once One Water School, under construction at the intersection of RR 12 and Winter’s Mill Parkway, opens in the fall. Shell said that Jacob’s Well Road will be the designated point of entry and exit for school buses as well as parents dropping off or picking up students from the new school.
Currently, the roadway is narrow and has a low-water crossing as well as some “intersections with RR 12 that present some challenges,” Shell said. Also, portions of the roadway fall under different jurisdictions including the city of Woodcreek, Hays County and a number of property owners associations, he added.
“Through Woodcreek it is a city street and not the preferred route. Houses are built close to the road which is not meant to be a thoroughfare – we need to make sure we have a safe alternative,” Shell said.
The modifications should also increase sight distances in some areas of the road.
Funding will come from the county’s 2016 Road Bond Program.
