The Buda City Council unanimously voted Feb. 21 to enter into an interlocal agreement with Hays County for a feasibility assessment of the SH 45 gap road project that has been highly contested in recent months, as previously reported by Community Impact. The gap within SH 45 lies between FM 1626 in Manchaca and I-35 in Buda, parts of which lie in both Hays and Travis counties.

The Hays County Commissioners Court approved a $2.5 million contract with CP&Y Inc. for the preliminary engineering data, travel demand modeling, environmental impacts, alternatives and more.

The county has agreed to fund $2 million, which leaves $500,000 for the city of Buda to shoulder, coming from the 2021 bond.

The city of Austin and Travis County have both spoken in opposition of this project due to potentially harmful environmental ramifications on the Edwards Aquifer.

The study is expected to take around two years to complete.