Long story short
The move, at a cost of $88,000, comes after a traffic analysis of the intersection where Old Austin Highway and Hwy. 71 meet was completed in late May.
“Based on the analysis, the current design would create an F-rated intersection,” Bastrop Assistant City Manager Andres Rosales said in a staff report. “Grades can be A, B, C, D and F—just like school.”
The details
That initial design for the roundabout was completed before the traffic analysis.
Although officials called for the Blakey Lane extension project to connect Blakey Lane to Hwy. 71, updated plans seek to connect Blakey Lane with Old Austin Highway.
“There’s a reason that we can’t come all the way out to Hwy. 71,” Place 2 council member Kevin Plunkett said during the meeting. “[The Texas Department of Transportation] will not let us because that would put too many intersections too close together.”
What are the options?
Although Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland said he is not opposed to a roundabout, which would mark the first in Bastrop, he questioned if it was the best choice and asked if the city would be limited in its choices.
“I don’t know that the roundabout is our goal,” he said.
Rosales emphasized that Austin-based The Goodman Corp. will provide several potential designs for the intersection, which could include options that are not roundabouts.
“The engineer is going to look at all the different variations of intersections there,” he said. “We’ll see what grades they get as he goes through them. We’ll bring you guys the data he provides us in a kind of workshop setting and let you guys pick through it.”
Also of note
The engineering contract will be paid for with surplus funds in the contracted engineering service account for the Blakey Lane extension project, according to city documents.
