On Nov. 13, residents of neighboring communities along the western RR 620 corridor—stretching from Anderson Mill Road to Hwy. 71—listened to Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization officials describe the process the government agency follows to fund future transportation projects and provided input on areas on which the group should focus.

CAMPO, a federally mandated organization that governs six Central Texas counties, including Travis County, sets policy and guides the region's transportation planning process, Executive Director Maureen McCoy said. The agency uses long-range planning to develop the type of roads and infrastructure needed to meet the area's future population growth, she said. The CAMPO board is preparing a transportation project plan that will accommodate the region's projected population in 2040, she said.

McCoy said by 2040, CAMPO is projecting that Travis County will grow by 69 percent from its 2010 population and include more than 1.7 million residents. CAMPO's six-county region—Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties—is projected to grow by 134 percent from 2010 counts to 4.1 million residents, she said.

Locally, the 78733 ZIP code in the Westlake area ranks 10th in residential development during the past four years among ZIP codes in the CAMPO region, CAMPO Community Outreach Coordinator Bryce Bencivengo said. This ZIP code experienced 910 percent more residential permits filed in 2012 than in 2011, he said. The Four Points area of Steiner Ranch, the 78732 ZIP code, had 91.5 percent more housing permits filed during the same time period, and the 78738 ZIP code in Bee Cave/Lakeway had 73.3 percent more housing permits filed, he said.

However, federal funding for the 2040 plan is lower than the 2035 plan allotments, McCoy said.

"The whole funding scenario is changing," she said. "We've implemented toll roads where funds were not coming in, but the need [for roadways] is there."

McCoy said federal law mandates that CAMPO can only include projects in its future plans, such as the 2040 plan, when funding is available to meet the cost. She said her agency has had corridor studies performed that lacked funding, but the plans were in place once money was available for the project.

McCoy asked participants to think about their top three trouble areas and identify the problem spots on a large map of the region.

"This is an opportunity to influence the coming plan," McCoy said.

At least two groups drew tollways as an alternate route to RR 620, connecting the SH 45 N. tollway to the SH 45 S.W. tollway—a proposal suggested by city of Lakeway staffers this spring.

Lakeway resident Ken Aldrich was part of a group that identified the alternate tollway as an option to get away from school traffic.

"It's a nightmare [in the] morning and [in the] evening," Aldrich said.

Felix Benavides, a Lakeway resident, also advocated the alternate tollway as a way to bypass Austin's center and said it would provide a quicker route from Lakeway and Bee Cave to I-35.

Four Points resident Brian Pittman said he was concerned about issues surrounding the RR 620 and RR 2222 intersection, including challenges related to Vandegrift High School's lack of access to roadways.

"There's environmental issues anywhere you go but not to the extent of the water features and aquifer recharge zone of West Austin," said Linda Alvarado-Vela, senior communications specialist with Parsons Brinckerhoff, consultants to CAMPO. "It becomes difficult [to do transportation projects] but not impossible."

Once public input is complete, the CAMPO board of directors will develop different options, or scenarios, to achieve the results desired by the community, McCoy said. The 2040 plan must be adopted by the CAMPO board by May 2015 in order for funding to be released for projects, she said.

CAMPO's 2035 plan did not include any projects in western Travis County, Lakeway Deputy City Manager Chessie Zimmerman said.

"If a major road is not on the CAMPO plan, it will not be built," Lakeway City Manager Steve Jones said. "It is imperative that the people who live, work and drive here engage in the process and help CAMPO plan for our transportation needs. That is our obligation."