FM 1626 TxDOT Environmental Meeting

This evening I attended and spoke at the TxDOT Environmental Meeting at Elm Grove Elementry in Buda.  The point of the meeting was to share the road schematic with the public and take thier comments on the project.

About 450 people showed up to get the latested on this (in my personal opinion) much needed project.  I would like to thank all those that took the time to attend this meeting.  As a Mayor and CAMPO board member representing all small cities in Hays County,  it was great seeing such broad support and representation. 

For those that may not know, as part of the successful “Hays County road bond election” heavily supported in Pct. 2, FM 1626 will be widened to a four lane road from the city of Kyle city limits, north, to just inside the Travis County.  Several years ago the city of Kyle funded and constructed a new extension of FM 1626 from IH-35, west, to the intersection at FM 2770.  

I spoke in support of completing FM 1626 as quickly as possible.  Hays County commuters have turned FM 1626 into a vital mobility corridor.  The fact that this corridor is heavily used currently and will continue to see increased usage can not be denied or ignored.  This project does not represent the cutting of a new road but merely making much needed safety improvements to an existing road.

It is true that merely widening FM 1626 is not the complete solution in this area.  Going froma 4-lane road to a narrow 2-lane road as it will once you enter Travis County is not desirable.  The long-term solution here would be to complete widening of FM 1626 and then complete the 7-mile strecth of SH 45 from FM 1626, north, to Mopac.

Map of proposed SH45:  http://www.campotexas.org/pdfs/TxDOT_map.pdf

But the great limiting factor is of course money.  FM 1626 is a state road, but Hays County citizens had to step up and agree to issue bonds to pay for the improvements ($36 Million) and hope to get reimburesed by the state throught the Pass-Through Agreement.  On the propsed SH 45 extension between FM 1626 and Mopac, Travis County has already purchased most of the right-of-way needed.  Because this is a “green-field” project the costs for this approx. 7 -mile of road is significant, currently estimated at $89 Million. 

Again, where is the money going to come from.  It is a state of Texas road, but the state currently does not have the funding.  Most of SH 45 will be in Travis County so it does not make sense for Hays County to funded it.  Travis County and the City of Austin currently and understandably claim that SH 45 will mainly benefit Hays County commuters, so why should they fund it. 

Thinking regionally it makes sense to complete SH 45  because it is a win-win for Travis and Hays Counties.  Many Hays County residents first moved to central Texas because they found a job in Austin and made the personal decision to live in Hays County.  So SH 45 will keep the flow of quality employees flowing into Travis, keeping Travis competitive and improving the quality of life for Hays County residetns. 

But this brings up one very big  point of contention I’ve had in the 5 years of being Mayor.  Why is it that so often, cities and counties have to step up to the plate and fund state road projects or wait decades.  Not only is it not fair for local citizens, it often pits one county or city against another, for something the State should be handleing. 

We are all suppose to be working together for our citizens, right?  When citizens drive to work or drop off thier kids at school, they do not care if they are on a city, county, or state road; they just expected it to be safe and efficient.  I know the answer from TxDOT, the state does not have any money.  This true but the state legislature should do something to address it. 

Why is the State short on funding?  Here are a few reasons just off the top of my head: 

1.  For every dollar of gas tax we send to Washington, Texas only gets back about 74 cents. 

2.  Our State Legislature has not raised the gas tax for 15 years.  So even though we are paying more per gallon, none of that increase goes to Texas roads. 

3.  Road maintance costs has gone up significantly.  About 50% of TxDOT’s total budget goes to just maintain what we already have, leaving less and less to new construction.  And it seems that even at 50%, TxDOT is not doing all the maintance they would like to be doing. 

4.  Cars are becoming more fuel efficient.  This is great for environment and our pocket books but not so good in funding transportation.  To put this simply, we have more cars congesting and degrading Texas roads, but each car (on average) is providing less funding for transportation.

In the end, FM 1626 is a justified road.  It should be completed now that we have the funding in place.  Lastly, FM 1626 is only half of the solution for addressing the needs in this corridor;  SH 45 should be a priority.