The Williamson County Citizens Bond Committee unanimously voted to recommend a roads and parks bond to the county's Commissioners Court during a June 6 meeting. The CBC approved recommendation of a $573.3 million roads bond and a $67.6 million parks bond. The money will go toward at least 65 projects, including flood mapping, right of way purchases and low-water crossing protection.
"Are we going to be proactive or are we going to react?" committee member John Marler said. "What we see in Travis County is a county that reacted to the growth that is happening, and now they can't do anything; they have built themselves into a box that cannot grow. We have gone out and tried to prevent [Williamson County] from falling into that trap."
The CBC is made up of nine members including Chairman David Hays, Meg Walsh and Mitch Fuller for Precinct 1, Joe Bob Ellison and Matt Powell for Precinct 2, Tim Lear and Marler for Precinct 3, and Ron Randig and Bryon Brochers for Precinct 4. The CBC was tasked with making a recommendation to the Commissioners Court as to whether a roads and parks bond should be called in November and if so, to what scope and which projects should be considered. The commissioners will make a final decision on whether to hold a bond election in November.
"It was really a high-performing, cross-functional team in that we all didn't have an agenda in terms of our area but really looking at the overarching of what can we do for our folks of Williamson County now but also in the future," Walsh said. "[We took] into fact that not only do we take care of people here now but also address the growing community and make sure that people are safe and can get from point A to point B."
The recommended road projects are as follows:
Precinct 1—committee recommended $77.02 million
- Anderson Mill Road extension - $4.2 million
- Forest North drainage improvements - $5.5 million
- Parmer Lane at Hwy. 45 interchange - $7.3 million
- Pond Springs drainage improvements - $4.4 million
- RM 620 extension - $2.2 million
- Sam Bass Road - $27.5 million
- Wyoming Springs extension - $10 million
- Wyoming Springs extension - $10.9 million
- Wyoming Springs intersection improvements - $3 million (safety bucket)
- Round Rock West flood control - $5 million
Precinct 2—committee recommended $103.38 million
- Bagdad Road at CR 279 - $9.5 million
- Bagdad Road at CR 279 - $85,000 (right of way bucket)
- Brushy Creek Road widening - $2.8 million
- US 183 - $5 million (right of way bucket)
- Corridor I - $6.6 million and $2.3 million (right of way bucket)
- CR 214 extension - $2.3 million
- Hero Way - $29.5 million
- Kauffman Loop - $2 million
- Liberty Hill bypass - $11 million and $2.2 million (right of way bucket)
- Ronald Reagan Boulevard widening - $24.7 million
- Toro Grande Boulevard extension - $10.74 million
- Whitestone Boulevard widening - $4.06 million
Precinct 3—committee recommended $105.2 million
- Bud Stockton extension - $6.2 million
- Corridor E4 - $3.1 million and $1.7 million (right of way bucket)
- Corridor E5 - $3 million and $1.6 million (right of way bucket)
- Corridor I - $24 million
- CR 110 North - $2.2 million
- CR 175 - $1.7 million
- CR 239 - $1.9 million
- CR 332 realignment - $1.5 million
- RM 2243 - $4 million and $10 million (right of way bucket)
- S.E. Inner Loop extension - $22.5 million
- Southwest Bypass extension - $4.8 million
- Westinghouse and CR 111 - $20.2 million
- CR 245 - $6.5 million
- Ronald Reagan and Silver Spur Boulevard - $2 million (safety bucket)
- Ronald Reagan at Sun City Boulevard - $1 million (safety bucket)
- Hwy. 195 at Ronald Reagan - $3.6 million
- CR 314 safety improvements - $1.5 million (safety bucket)
- CR 314 widening - $3.7 million (safety bucket)
Precinct 4—committee recommended $206.48 million
- Bartlett Street project - $500,000 (safety bucket)
- Chandler Road - $3.9 million (right of way bucket)
- Corridor E2 - $1 million
- Corridor E3 - $1 million and $700,000 (right of way bucket)
- Cottonwood Creek drainage improvements - $2 million
- CR 112 widening - $17.5 million
- CR 129 - $2.3 million (safety bucket)
- CR 134 and CR 132 extensions - $14 million
- CR 366 - $8.12 million
- Davila Culvert replacement - $258,000 (safety bucket)
- FM 3349 at Hwy. 79 - $42.61 million
- MoKan - $19 million
- Old Settlers Boulevard - $8.5 million
- Ronald Reagan Boulevard extension - $2.8 million (right of way)
- SH 130 northbound - $8 million
- SH 130 southbound - $9 million
- Southeast Corridor - $72.2 million
Countywide projects—committee recommended $81.25 million
- Atlas 14 Federal Emergency Management Agency mapping - $1 million
- Low-water crossing protection - $250,000
- Right of way budget - $35 million
- Operational safety improvements - $15 million
- County road reconstruction - $30 million
"We talk about transportation; we talk about safety for our citizens, [but] we also need to preserve opportunities for recreation," Brochers said. "We preserve opportunities for land we've been placed with to keep it and maintain it in its natural state, ... so I think it's equally important that we make sure we maintain our lifestyle and our heritage."
The recommended park projects are as follows:
Land acquisition for parks and trails
- Countywide land acquisition - $15 million
- Upper Brushy Creek water control improvement - $5 million
Hike and bike trails
- Brushy Creek Regional Trail - $2.5 million
- Regional Park to Lake Georgetown - $6 million
- Bagdad Road trail from Leander to Liberty Hill - $7.5 million
- Regional Park to Brushy Creek Regional Trail - $4.5 million
- Brushy Creek Regional Trail Redbud Lane - $4.13 million
- Trail expansion across CR 152 - $1.5 million
- Trail extension from Lakeline Park to southwestern peninsula - $2 million
- Pedestrian bridge Lakeline Park - $900,000
- Pedestrian bridge at Twin Lakes Park - $1.9 million
- Shared-use path from Loop 332 to CR 281 - $3.5 million
Improvements to existing parklands
- Southwest Williamson County Regional Park - $1.8 million
- Champion Park - $1.46 million
- Berry Springs Park and Preserve - $2.2 million
- River Ranch County Park - $3.3 million
Editor's note: Some of the presented values are rounded up or down for clarity.
