Several residents of the Shady Oaks Estates neighborhood, which is located near Sun City in West Georgetown, said they are concerned about preserving their neighborhood from cut-through traffic.

The Madison, a planned residential and commercial development, is scheduled to be built next to Shady Oaks. The 596-acre community planned to the west of Shady Oaks will have about 940 houses, about 38 acres of multifamily housing and about 38 acres of commercial property. 

Twenty-one residents of Shady Oaks petitioned Williamson County commissioners in February to turn two roadways in their neighborhood into cul-de-sacs. The two streets, Oak Branch and Roble Roja Drives, are planned to connect with streets in The Madison development.

“My neighbors and I in Shady Oaks certainly believe and support the notion that connectivity simply for the purpose of connectivity is not justified and is a safety issue for all parties,” Shady Oaks resident Stanley Miller told the court.

The Madison development is in the city limits of Georgetown, and most of Shady Oaks falls within the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ.

Turning the roadways into cul-de-sacs would prevent the developer from connecting to streets in The Madison, but city and county officials say the current plan follows development code.

Those officials also argue that connectivity between neighborhoods is important for issues such as public safety and traffic flow. With a growing community, city officials say this is not the first issue of connectivity to arise, and it likely will not be the last.

Residents’ concerns

When residents of Shady Oaks went before the court in February, they raised concerns over increased traffic coming through their neighborhood if it is connected to The Madison.

Delton Robinson, Shady Oaks Homeowners Association president, asked the commissioners to consider ways to prevent traffic from driving through the neighborhood.

“It’s almost impossible to close a road after it’s open, but we could always open the road after it was closed,” he said.

This is not the first neighborhood in the Georgetown area to experience issues with connectivity. Several Shady Oaks residents argued they do not want to see their neighborhood become like Woodland Park, which saw an increase in traffic after it was connected to Sun City through West Majestic Oaks Lane.

“This beautiful subdivision has been trashed by a stream of traffic, most of whom do not follow speed limits,” Woodland Park resident Don Scott told the court. “I would just ask that you please don’t let so-called progress victimize the people of Shady Oaks.”

Jerry Hammerlun, who served on City Council when the West Majestic Oaks Lane connection to Sun City was opened, said he drives through a connected neighborhood on his way to work every morning and could understand why connectivity is important to the city.

“This isn’t just a Woodland Park issue, but connectivity is a significant issue for the council on an ongoing basis,” he said. “Traffic impact, life safety and emergency issues are significant ones when you’re trying to prepare from a connectivity standpoint.”

Last fall the city closed the West Majestic Oaks-Sun City connection until construction was finished on Rocky Hollow Creek Drive, which provided an alternate route into Sun City. Georgetown Transportation Director Ed Polasek said the city is evaluating West Majestic Oaks to see if there is a need for continued or additional traffic mitigation and may take the issue back to City Council in May for a final decision.

Connectivity benefits

Williamson County Commissioner Valerie Covey said Shady Oaks residents have valid concerns, and she has reached out to the developer of The Madison, Land Strategies, to provide the neighborhood with three completed traffic safety reports. She said the issue could go back before the court once more research has been done.

“I’m listening to all of their concerns and trying to address those,” she said.

“In general, connectivity is something that counties and cities want, that neighborhoods use,” Covey said. “When you’re talking neighborhood to neighborhood, it’s basically for safety and mobility.”

Land Strategies President Paul Linehan said he has been working with the city to create a master-planned community that achieves connectivity and follows the city’s codes.

“We do have school sites and parkland, and we do have retail corridors that someday [residents] are going to want to go to and shop … and they’re going to want roadway systems to get to them,” he said.

When a development is built within Georgetown city limits or the city’s ETJ, developers have their plans reviewed by Georgetown’s Planning and Zoning Committee, Georgetown Principal Planner Jordan Maddox said.   

Maddox said according to the city’s codes, if a nearby road already exists, the development must connect to it. The plans must also have a certain number of existing and future connection points.

Linehan said he has completed three traffic studies for The Madison, and he expects most residents of The Madison to use the roads that will intersect with Hwy. 195.

Maddox said Shady Oaks and The Madison have been scheduled to connect for years, and that turning the connection points into cul-de-sacs would have serious ramifications.

Linehan said Land Strategies has met with Shady Oaks residents since 2008. Shady Oaks originally had three connections to The Madison, but in 2010 he said residents asked for those to close. Linehan said his firm agreed to close down one of the three and turned it into a cul-de-sac. The firm also created a 50-foot buffer area between the neighborhoods.

“Planners and city managers in the city of Georgetown are working really hard to do it right, and they’re really trying to work with these neighborhoods so there aren’t inadequate streets,” Linehan said. “We still all agree that what we did here is correct, and that it really does do a good job of meeting criteria. … We’re planning it for the future.”