Megan Navarro
DRIFTWOOD — The Driftwood Historical Conservation Society (DHCS) saw a packed room during its Tuesday, April 14, meeting, when several residents gathered to voice their concerns about the county’s current plans to widen and expand Darden Hill Road.
There are several Hays County-led projects that are currently ongoing within the area, resulting from a voter-approved 2024 road bond package. Though a Travis County district judge ruled that the package was void, claiming non-compliance with a public notice requirement, the Hays County Commissioners Court voted to move forward with the issuance of Certificates of Obligation (COs) to fund planning and design for 30 projects originally included in the bond, with eight of them funded through construction.
Two of the projects involve Darden Hill Road, with the first to widen the roadway from Ranch to Market (RM) Road 1826 to east of Sawyer Ranch Road, while also adding a roundabout at the intersection of Darden Hill and RM 1826. Construction would occur between mid-2027 to mid-2029.
The other — for which only the design is currently funded — would extend the widened road from east of Sawyer Ranch Road and have a new extension connect near Woods Loop and eventually tie into planned improvements at RM 150 and Ranch Road 12.
The need for these projects has been heightened with the growing population, as the county has seen the numbers go from 204,345 in 2016 to 256,100 in 2021 to 304,390 in 2025, said Precinct 4 commissioner Walt Smith, who held a presentation and question-and-answer session at the DHCS meeting. This remains true with projected growth, as the county expects to see thousands of families commute in the area once new school developments are complete within Dripping Springs ISD.
“When we talk about how much volume of traffic and how many residents we have in this area, this is what is driving us having to do additional projects and just general traffic safety when we do master transportation plans,” said Smith, who held a presentation and question and answer session at the DHCS meeting.
Other projects that are proposed for the area include:
• Sawyer Ranch Road: Widening the road to two lanes in each direction with four-foot shoulders, extend the 10-foot pedestrian walkway along the east side of the roadway from Meadow Creek Drive to Darden Hill Road and add striped crosswalks at key intersections
• Building a roundabout at RM 150 and RM 12, shifting the intersection to the south to avoid impacts to Phillips Cemetery
• Dripping Springs Southwest Connection: Provide an alternative to US 290 with two lanes in each direction with a median, shoulders on both sides, pedestrian and bicycle accommodations and water quality protection features
• Fitzhugh Road: Design and construct interim safety improvements and study additional enhancements along Fitzhugh Road
“What we anticipate, more than anything, is giving alternatives to 290 to our local residents. The fact is, right now, every resident on Darden Hill, if you want to go anywhere [on] Darden Hill — if you’re on 1826, if you are on 150 — you have to traverse either around one of the worst three corner intersections there is at 150 and Darden Hill or you have to go all the way to 290,” Smith emphasized. “If we can give our local residents alternatives, that’s what we are looking for.”
Despite the claims of increasing safety for those who live and travel in the area, some residents were still hesitant that the projects will do the opposite.
Resident Matt Walters shared that the community members who were informed of what was happening in their neighborhoods were in shock.
“They didn't realize that this beautiful, little rural road that they live next to is going to effectively be part of what is being proposed as a series of improvements, but when they're all done, become a cross-county freight and commuter corridor. Now, maybe that's an okay thing, but there are multiple intentions and problems being attempted to be solved by this because no world is perfect, of course, and we happen to have multiple problems,” Walters said.
He added that, while parents love to see that the plans include bicycle pathways for their students to commute to and from school, they don’t want it to be on a 45 miles-per-hour corridor, where “freight [trucks have] to engine brake at a roundabout. That sounds like death certificates.”
There is also an online petition that has received 442 signatures as of April 20 not in complete opposition of the widening of Darden Hill Road, but rather the current design of the proposed changes. Community members have suggested alternatives for the county to consider with the project, including a two-lane road with dedicated turn lanes, lower speed limit at 35 miles-per-hour, an established truck weight, removing the planned future extension and re-engaging the public before finalizing the design.
Learn more about the Hays County road bond projects at www.hayscoroads.com. To listen to the full Driftwood Historical Conservation Society meeting, visit bit.ly/4cFVFwm. The online petition can be found at www.savedardenhill.com.
