Dozens of Hays County residents gathered at Thurman’s Mansion near Dripping Springs on Oct. 22 to hear updates about Hays County’s plan for the portion of FM 150 from Arroyo Ranch Road near Kyle to RR 12 in Dripping Springs.

The county’s transportation master plan calls for four lanes of travel on the road where currently only two exist. The county is considering ways to accommodate anticipated future growth in the area without sacrificing its natural beauty.

Initial concepts presented at the open house include maintaining the current two-lane alignment on FM 150 from RM 3237 to RM 1826 and building a new additional two-lane alignment somewhere northeast of the road.

Other possible short- or medium-term fixes to the road include adding shoulders in some areas, smoothing out some of the road's curves and adding signage in some areas.

Precinct 3 Commissioner Will Conley said anticipated growth in the county will necessitate increased capacity on the road.

The Office of the Texas State Demographer estimates that by 2050 Hays County could have up to 824,070 residents, up from the 2010 U.S. Census population figure of 157,107. Conley and Project Engineer Joe Cantalupo said the project is intended to be a proactive measure, so the county is not rushed into a project in the future to catch up to the growth.

"If we're planning and doing it early, we have a whole lot of options available to us," Conley said. "What we're trying to prevent is a situation that sometime into the future we're just stuck with a lot of bad or worse decisions."

Cantalupo said the county is rounding out the pre-planning phase of the project. From there, a planning and project refinement phase will be undertaken. After that engineering may begin on the project, and once environmental clearance has been obtained, the final design can be approved and construction can begin.

Cantalupo, Conley and Pct. 4 Commissioner Ray Whisenant, also in attendance, said county residents will be able to give input throughout the process.

"As we look at concerns and changes in central and western Hays County we are sharing information and data that we have collected and sharing that with the people we represent, and at the same time we're making sure that they share with us what's on their mind, what's important to them and what they have intended for their property," Conley said.

Cantalupo stressed that none of the concepts presented at the open house have been finalized, and they only represent what he called “100,000-foot views” of the plan. As the character plan is further refined, more details will be determined.

Hays County resident Ken Baker said he lives within the project area and would prefer to maintain the road in its current state. He said if the county truly wished to preserve the area's historical significance and natural beauty, maintaining the two-lane alignment would be the way to go.

"I just think the county is going to do what the county is going to do," Baker said. "This is just the beginning of a total northern Hays County expansion that is changing the face of the county."

Cynthia Spanhel, who attended previous FM 150 Character Plan workshops said she voiced opposition to the idea of expanding the portion of the road from RM 3237 to RM 1826, and she is happy the initial concept bears in mind her concern.

“From my point of view it’s the best possible outcome,” Spanhel said. “All this area that we love so much [between RM 3237 and RM 1826] is not going to change very much.”

The exact route of the proposed new, two-lane road from RM 3237 to RM 1826 northeast of FM 150 has not been determined, but it would likely have to go through Rutherford Ranch, Cantalupo said.

“I’m not crazy about having a highway built next to my house, but it’s probably a mile or so [away],” she said. “But for these people living near us, we probably couldn’t ask for anything more. That’s assuming that it’s going to change, and you can’t really stop the change.”