More growth is on the horizon for Dripping Springs, Oak Hill Business and Professional Association luncheon attendees heard April 7 from Patrick Rose, chairman of the city of Dripping Springs Economic Development Committee.

Austin’s neighbor to the west has about 7,000 rooftops that are planned or in progress, according to Rose, who is also president of Dripping Springs-based company Corridor Title.

“The velocity of growth is amazing,” he said, citing more than a dozen residential projects that are in active development and under construction in Dripping Springs. Responding to that growth means being prepared when it comes to roads, water and wastewater management, he said.

“We are very interested in trying to be smart about how we lay [future] infrastructure,” he said.

An increasing number of people who live in Dripping Springs are able to work in the city as well, he said, but many still commute to and through Oak Hill using the intersection of Hwy. 290 and Hwy. 71, known as the Y at Oak Hill. The growing popularity of wedding and event venues such as Camp Lucy, restaurants such as The Salt Lick, and brewers such as Twisted X Brewing Co. will continue to draw visitors to the city, he said, so that traffic will remain an issue.

“The Y at Oak Hill is something that hurts Oak Hill and Dripping Springs,” he said, adding he thinks transportation officials and the community should work together to develop solutions. “… Doing nothing is really not a good idea.”

Next month's OHBPA meeting is slated to include an overview of transportation issues in Oak Hill such as the ongoing Oak Hill Parkway environmental study.