Council also discusses other traffic calming measures along roadway

West Lake Hills City Council voted unanimously to lower the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph on Redbud Trail between Bee Caves Road and Westlake Drive at its April 10 meeting.

Bob Rogers, West Lake Hills City Inspector, and City Engineer Mike Fisher, agreed that lowering the speed limit to 25 mph would be a safety improvement, said Robert Wood, West Lake Hills city administrator.

Wood said there are about four signs that currently mark the speed limit at 30 mph that would need to be replaced with the updated speed limit.

Wood recommended that in addition to the four signs, an additional four should be added to emphasize the change.

"Eight signs is a lot," West Lake Hills Mayor Dave Claunch said.

Council decided on using all eight signs, which Wood said would take a few weeks to have in place. Wood said that police would not enforce the new speed limit until the signs were in place.

One concern brought to the council by a citizen living on Redbud Trail was that of enforcement—making sure that the new speed limit is being abided by all drivers.

"To be clear, the officers don't have to be parked on the side of the road to use radar," Wood said. "Any time they drive down the road, they have radar on."

The decrease in speed is becoming a trend in the Westlake area, as the speed limit on Westlake Drive was lowered to 25 mph between Redbud Trail and the city limits in March 2012.

In fall 2010, the city approved a lower speed limit of 25 mph from 30 mph on Westlake from Hull Circle to Redbud Trail after getting complaints from homeowners of the dangers on the winding, steep road.

In addition to lowering the speed limit along Redbud Trail, Council discussed a number of ways to increase awareness of the stop signs at the intersection of Yaupon Valley Road and Redbud Trail.

Council discussed adding flashing red or yellow lights to the top of the signs to make them more visible, moving the "Stop Ahead" sign to a better location, painting "Stop Ahead" on the road, trimming away brush to increase visibility and potentially adding rumble strips to get drivers' attention.

Council decided to get more data to analyze the situation before making a decision regarding the intersection.