More than 470 attendees packed the Bowie High School cafeteria at an SH 45 SW open house and public hearing July 29 to provide feedback and learn more about the proposed four-lane, 3.6-mile-long toll road.

Building the road would aim to improve mobility and local travel times in northern Hays and southern Travis counties, according to the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and Texas Department of Transportation, which conducted the public hearing.

In June TxDOT debuted its draft environmental impact statement, or EIS, which provided a model of what could happen if the Mobility Authority builds the road.

At the public hearing, attendees voiced their support and opposition to specific details in the draft EIS, as well as the project overall.

Outside the cafeteria, Buda resident Bozena Barton was part of a group handing out bright green T-shirts with the slogan "Yes to SH 45: green means go" for supporters to wear at the hearing. Barton said she drives from FM 1626 in Buda to Brodie Lane in Austin regularly and thinks the road should be built sooner rather than later.

"There's just no logical way that they can expand Brodie and make it enough for the traffic that goes through there every day. There's so much traffic, and Austin is constantly growing," she said.

Driftwood resident Ann Schlotter said she moved to the Austin area from Fredericksburg, Virginia in February in part because she hoped of getting away from bad traffic, but she's not sure whether SH 45 SW is the answer.

"Most of the time I can avoid [traffic congestion], but still, traffic here is nothing like what it is back there," she said, adding: "I want to get a clear understanding of what [transportation authorities] are planning and a real timeline."

As part of the presentation, TxDOT officials showed slides detailing the 210,000 vehicles per day that use the local street network between Hays and Travis counties, which is expected to increase 50 percent by 2035. Other data included information about threatened and endangered animal species considered in the draft EIS and potential effects on existing neighborhoods.

Brian Smith, of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, said during public comment that more specific data should be included in the draft EIS. He said there is no mention of opportunities for public comment following the release of the final EIS, which will include information from geological assessments that are still underway.

Smith said the draft EIS document states that the effects of construction and operations of the highway would be negligible, but the draft does not include sufficient data to support that.

Austin City Council member Laura Morrison said the EIS is premature without the inclusion of two city of Austin studies that are currently underway, including one survey of karst features.

"It's imperative that the environmental impacts be based on valid scientific and engineering data, and I agree with our city manager who recently wrote a letter to the TxDOT urging TxDOT to withdraw and then reissue [the EIS] based on adequate science," Morrison said.

Residents from Southwest Austin neighborhoods including Circle C and Granada Hills were among the attendees.

Before the meeting, local activist Pamela Baggett, who said she read the lengthy draft EIS, handed out "Keep Brodie Local" decals in support of building SH 45 SW.

"I live along Brodie Lane and we've been promised this road for 30 years," she said. "Why would you want to keep a state highway local as opposed to a neighborhood street? It's pretty simple."

Brodie, a two-lane road south of Slaughter Lane, is lined with karsts yet it has no environmental protections, Baggett said.

Morrison said that for technical and policy reasons, she is urging TxDOT to withdraw the draft EIS and reissue a revised version.

"The draft EIS erroneously states that SH 45 SW is not in conflict with the city of Austin's comprehensive plan," Morrison said. "It is in conflict with it. TxDOT and [the Mobility Authority] have an obligation to disclose that conflict."

TxDOT will accept written comments until Aug. 13, and feedback can be submitted as part of a virtual open house at www.sh45sw.com/environmental/virtualopenhouse.php.