Design of the contentious SH 45 SW project in southern Travis County and northern Hays County could be underway in 2015 once the project receives environmental clearance.
The board of directors for the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority approved the $7 million contract Oct. 29 with Rodriguez Transportation Group Inc. for professional engineering design services. Funding will come from the Mobility Authority's general fund, and Hays and Travis counties will reimburse the Mobility Authority per the interlocal agreement.
Wes Burford, director of engineering for the Mobility Authority, said a clause in the contract allows the Mobility Authority to terminate the design contract at any time for any reason.
"We can halt production at any time on our call with absolute authority," he said. "We make [RTG responsible] for any work produced prior to that point, and we can go our separate ways. We can also suspend work for a period [of time]."
Approving the contract puts the Mobility Authority in the driver's seat to oversee final design, Burford said.
"Understanding the complexity and the sensitivity of this project, we know that we need absolute control over what goes on as we move in from preliminary to final design and coordinating with the environmental process on this project," he said. "We'll be working with RTG to get them engaged in what is left of the environmental process so that as we move into final design it goes very smoothly and they're educated about all the risks and issues associated with the environmental process."
Burford said final design work cannot begin until a record of decision is made on the project's environmental study, which could occur in early to mid-2015.
The Texas Department of Transportation, which is working with the Mobility Authority on the project, is evaluating more than 800 official public comments from the public hearing process.
"That is a monumental effort to address all those comments and get coordinated on whether those comments should be getting buyoff from the Federal Highway Administration [and] all the concerned parties," Burford said.
He said the project could receive notice to proceed for construction in late 2015, but that date is dependent upon environmental clearance.
For more information visit www.sh45sw.com.
