The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Policy Board recently approved $3.87 million in funding for mobility projects designed to increase residents' mobility throughout the county.
CAMPO is the planning organization responsible for coordinating transportation projects in Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties.
The agency awarded Surface Transportation Program Metropolitan Mobility funds Dec. 12, and projects approved for Hays County include sidewalks, bike lanes and construction of a railroad overpass.
The process of selecting those projects began in May, when the CAMPO Board of Directors solicited proposals from the municipalities throughout the county, eventually receiving suggestions for 170 projects.
"The board had quite a process where they had to go through, of those 170 projects, which did they want to allocate those STP MM funds to," CAMPO Director Maureen McCoy said. "It was a very interesting conversation because there are very different viewpoints. There were all different types of [mobility] needs."
McCoy said the agency had about one-tenth of the federal money it would have needed to fund all the projects.
"What the board eventually did was, they suggested what they called 'regional projects.' They allocated the remaining $36 million by proportional population in that county. That was how Hays County got their dollar figure," she said.
Regional programs affecting Hays County are a Freight Rail Bypass Study as part of the Lone Star Rail District project, the Highway Emergency Response Operator program and Texas State University I-35 corridor bus service.
After deciding on the regional projects, the CAMPO board narrowed the list of proposals to the ones that were ultimately approved.
"A lot of the board members felt that they knew their issues well at the regional level, better than the entire board did, so that's why I think they chose to sub-allocate it," McCoy said.
Funding distribution
According to information provided by Michael Aulick, consultant for Hays County and a former CAMPO director, "Of the $62.95 million in STP MM federal funds allocated to CAMPO, $26.55 million was approved for regional projects, CAMPO programs and staff, and Bastrop County for fire recovery. The remaining $36.4 million was allocated to the five CAMPO counties based on 2010 population."
Hays County's portion of the funds came to $3.87 million. Division of funds among the other counties served by CAMPO was: $19.72 million for 10 projects in Travis County, $8.72 million for six projects in Williamson County, $2.36 million for three projects in Bastrop County and nearly $1.7 million for one project in Caldwell County.
Hays County Precinct 3 Commissioner Will Conley, who was elected chairman of the CAMPO board of directors on Jan. 9, cited the impact the federal funds will have.
"Those are very important investments in our community—from major jobs along I-35 to smaller, more rural projects in the western, more suburban areas of the county," Conley said. "Any time we can get some state and federal money to help develop our infrastructure, that's beneficial. We're being asked to do so much locally."
According to the county, the projects require a local or state match equal to at least 25 percent of the federal funds involved to cover cost. Five projects were given the green light in Hays County:
1. Pedestrian improvements to Mercer Street in Dripping Springs,
2. Railroad overpass construction at Loop 82/Aquarena Springs Drive in San Marcos,
3. Addition of shoulders on RR 12 from Oakwood Loop to CR 346,
4. Addition of sidewalks and bike lanes to FM 2770/FM 150 in Kyle, and
5. Intersection improvements at Hwy. 21 and FM 150.
Conley said he anticipates that the design and engineering portion of the projects will begin within the next few months. The county has three years to use the funds.
"We were very pleased with the amount of dollars that we received, and we'll put them to good use in Hays County," he said.
