The overview
A City Council meeting was held April 9 to address the need for improvements at the intersection. In recent weeks, residents have reported incidents in which children crossing the intersection to get to school were almost hit by drivers.
“Today, we weren’t at the intersection, but another kid almost got hit. Luckily our neighbor was there to pull the kid out of the way,” West Lake Hills resident Ryan Ramirez said at the April 9 meeting.
Following commencement of construction of the new West Lake Hills municipal complex, parents of Eanes Elementary students who previously parked on the property have begun to park on Westhaven Drive to drop off their children, Ramirez said.
“People now just drive their car to Westhaven [Drive], let their kids out, and then their kids dart across the street. It is exactly at that corner of Camp Craft [Road] and [Bee Caves Road] where there is no visibility for the drivers or the little kids,” Ramirez said.
The response
West Lake Hills City Administrator Trey Fletcher said that the city has acknowledged resident complaints and held meetings with TxDOT, Eanes ISD and the EISD Police Department to address safety concerns at the intersection.
“We are partnering with TxDOT to do some interim improvements—kind of starting small,” Fletcher said.
Interim improvements will include upgrading the current crosswalk, which is composed of two striped parallel lines, into a “piano keys” style crosswalk for increased visibility, Fletcher said. Additionally, stop bars will be pushed back by 10 feet on both sides of the intersection.
These two safety measures will be implemented in late April, coinciding with street improvement work already planned in association with the city’s municipal complex, Fletcher said.
What else?
Fletcher said that construction on the new municipal complex will be completed by the upcoming school year, allowing parents to resume using the lot for student pickup and drop-off.
In the meantime, the city will monitor the intersection following the implementation of new safety measures, and may put forward additional safety measures if needed, according to city documents.
Bee Caves Road is owned and operated by TxDOT, but city staff frequently coordinate with the department through the South Austin Area Office, according to city documents.
