TxDOT Announces Upcoming Projects For San Marcos, Hays, Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Lee, Llano, Travis And Williamson Counties

TxDOT funds local public safety, bicycle, and pedestrian projects to enhance mobility and safety throughout downtown San Marcos and in Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Lee, Llano, Travis and Williamson counties.

The Texas Transportation Commission has approved more than $4.5 million in bicycle and pedestrian projects for three cities in the Austin District.

The projects are part of $44 million allocated for 46 improvements in rural/nonurban and small urban population areas across the state. The funding from the federal Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TASA) Program supports population areas of 200,000 or less.

State-selected TASA projects are intended to enhance safety for people of all ages and levels of ability, improve mobility for pedestrians and bicyclists, help mitigate congestion and connect important community destinations.

“Bicycle and pedestrian projects are important to many Texans,” said Texas Transportation Commissioner Jeff Austin III. “Funding for these projects will help enhance our state’s bicycle and pedestrian programs.”

The commission approved the action at its October meeting.

In the Austin District, the approved projects include:

• Sportsplex Drive Sidewalks in Dripping Springs ($406,000)
  • Builds six?foot?wide sidewalks on Sportsplex Drive between US 290 and Mighty Tiger Drive adjacent to Dripping Springs High School, Walnut Springs Elementary School, and the Dripping Springs Independent School District (ISD) Administration Office
  • Constructs a 10?foot?wide pedestrian bridge (adjacent to Sportsplex Drive in the elevated section),
  • Installs bicycle racks at the library, administration office, sports complex, and schools along the street
  • Installs fire truck and school bus warning signs and crosswalks with pedestrian-actuated flashing beacons at school crossings

• Downtown bicycle/pedestrian loop in Liberty Hill ($1.3 million)
  • Constructs a 10-to-12-foot-wide shared use path along Main Street/Loop 332 starting near the intersection of CR 279 and extending to SH 29
  • Improvements include two flashing midblock crossing signals, two bridges, a rest node with benches and waste receptacles, a railroad crossing, and signage
  • Improves access to the Liberty Hill Library, Lions Foundation Park, and sculpture garden, and connects adjacent residential and commercial properties

• San Marcos River Shared-Use Path ($2.6 million)
  • Constructs a two-mile-long, 10-foot-wide shared use path on the banks of the San Marcos River from just east of Hopkins Street Bridge to just west of I-35 southbound frontage road
  • Improvements include a pedestrian bridge over Purgatory Creek, bikeway signage, benches, trash receptacles, bike racks, and undercrossings at Cheatham Street and at the Union Pacific railroad
  • The shared-use path will be independent of roadway right-of-way, connecting a variety of recreational and institutional areas and will terminate just outside of downtown San Marcos

• Downtown Pedestrian Improvements in San Marcos ($205,000)
  • Upgrades pedestrian crossings at nine intersections in downtown San Marcos
  • Improvements include countdown pedestrian signal heads, audible & vibrotactile push buttons, Accessible Pedestrian Traffic Signal (APS) controllers, and ADA compliant ramps
  • These pedestrian improvements expand mobility and install needed APS infrastructure for those with vision and hearing disabilities

Additional mobility and safety projects approved for Austin area

Safety and mobility projects in eight counties are moving forward, following recent road contract awards by the Texas Transportation Commission.  

Ten projects and contracts totaling almost $5.6 million will improve road conditions in Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Lee, Llano, Travis and Williamson counties.

RM 620 in Round Rock will be getting a third lane in a $472,000 project to resurface and restripe the highway between Cornerwood Drive and Wyoming Springs Road. Austin Materials, LLC will fulfill the contract that will match a section further east to Deepwood Drive that will be completed in the first half of 2018.

Austin Traffic Signal Construction will be working in four counties, adding flashing beacons and improving and upgrading traffic signals.

The work includes intersections on FM 973 at Shadowglen in Manor, RM 2244 at Cuernavaca in Travis County, US 290 in Elgin, two locations in Williamson County including RM 2338 at Ronald Reagan Boulevard and US 183 at SH 138, and seven locations on US 281 in Burnet. The contract is worth almost $879,000, and work will spread out over the next year.

A contract worth $1 million will build a pedestrian trail and sidewalks along RM 152 in Llano. The work will stretch between Post Oak Drive and Mallone Street. Acme Bridge Company won the contract.

Sidewalks will also be added at various locations in Elgin. Trevway, Inc. will build the $496,000 project over about nine months. The sidewalks will be installed at locations along County Line Road, FM 1100, SH 95 and on North Main Street.

Drivers along SH 29 in Bertram will see a continuous center-turn lane at CR 252 in 2018. Denbow Company will carry out a $613,000 contract to build the turn lane from just west of RM 243 to Vaughn Street.

Further west in Llano County, Restek, Inc. will rehabilitate the SH 29 bridge over Elm Creek, east of RM 2768. The $890,000 contract will also handle erosion repair around the bridge. The contract is part of TxDOT’s commitment to bridge maintenance and improvement.

Having quality highways takes more than pavement and signals.

Three companies won four contracts for tree trimming and brush removal in six counties;

Cross Plus Construction received two contracts for $347,000 and $267,000, with Boen Landscaping and Irrigation getting a $347,000 award and Unity Contractor Service, Inc. winning a $216,000 bid.