The final section of State Highway 45 Southwest is headed into the engineering and design phase after it received approval by the Hays County Commissioners Court, and Travis County isn’t very pleased with the decision.
The final section will connect the SH 45 loop at FM 1626 with Interstate 35 in Buda. The connection is a part of the county’s transportation plan and will connect the SH 45 loop that goes around Austin.
“We think this project is long overdue,” Hays County Commissioner Mark Jones said. “Studies show that about 80% of the people who live along the I-35 corridor drive into and home from Austin nearly every day. This connector will help make that commute easier.”
Hays County said the connection would include two lanes in each direction and would be a toll road similar to the SH 45 connection from FM 1626 to South Loop 1 (Mopac) in South Austin.
Jones said SH 45’s final phase will help provide easier travel between the central and eastern portions of Buda, Kyle and Austin.
Hays County and the City of Buda will both participate in financing the new highway connector, reducing the burden on each entity, Commissioner Walt Smith added.
Following a 4-1 vote by the commissioners court on Aug. 30 to approve CP&Y, Inc. to start engineering and designing the connector, Jones said it’s expected this portion of the highway would take 18 months with public feedback gathered throughout the process.
“We are working with CP&Y on a public input process that may include public meetings, a community survey and other feedback opportunities,” Jones said. “Just as we’ve done with other road construction projects, we need to hear from the people who live in the area and from those who would potentially use the new roadway.”
Smith added that he’d like to break ground on the connector within the next two years.
“We know this section of the SH 45 Loop is an important piece of the transportation puzzle here in Hays County,” Smith said. “Moving this project forward will benefit a significant portion of our region and we are happy to see movement on this roadway.”
However, the Travis County Commissioner’s Court issued a letter to their counterparts in Hays County outlining their disapproval of the project.
“Making the connection from I-35 to FM 1626 would effectively make Mopac an I-35 bypass, dramatically increasing vehicular and truck traffic,” Travis County’s letter reads. “The traffic impacts of this decision by Hays County would have a profound and detrimental effect almost entirely on Austin and Travis County. The fact that there has been virtually no effort to coordinate this action with either Austin or Travis County is unacceptable.”
During the Aug. 30 Hays County Commissioners Court meeting, commissioners Mark Jones and Walt Smith said they had discussion with Travis County commissioners Jeff Travillion, Ann Howard and Margaret Gómez updating them regarding SH 45 plans. Both Hays County commissioners described their conversations as “very positive.”
“I would say very positive as well to the fact that the vast majority, I would say over 90% of the alignment is located in Hays County,” Smith said on Aug. 30. “That being the case, at least one of those members said specifically, ‘Well, it sounds like it needs to be y’all leading the charge on this and keeping us informed on what’s going on.’” But Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea said the letter corrects Jones and Smith’s portrayal of those conversations.
“We’ve written a letter to the Hays County Commissioners Court attempting to correct the record because it was stated during the [Aug. 30] meeting that Hays County Commissioners Jones and Smith characterized the views of commissioners Howard, Gomez and Travillion as ‘very positive’ about the project,” Shea said during Tuesday’s meeting. “We are writing this letter to make clear that this is not an accurate portrayal of their views.” Shea added that while a majority of the road set to be constructed would be in Hays County, it would have a “dramatic and harmful” impact on Travis County and the City of Austin by funneling traffic to Austin through Mopac” and over the Edwards Aquifer and Barton Springs.
Travis County is asking Hays County to halt any progression on the project until it has an opportunity to collaborate with Travis County and the City of Austin to “better understand the regional impact of taking this action,” Shea said.
