Hays County will host an open house at Thurman's Mansion in Dripping Springs on Oct. 16 to gather feedback on a project that could transform FM 150 between Kyle and Dripping Springs into one of the key transportation corridors in Hays County. Currently the road consists of two lanes with no shoulders, but Precinct 3 Commissioner Will Conley said the county is hoping to transform the county road based on resident feedback. "We want to develop a future roadway that accommodates a multifaceted prospect of transportation from hike-and-bike to pedestrians to obviously vehicular traffic that's safer, faster, but at the same time aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sound," Conley said. Conley said RR 12, the other east-northwest corridor in the county, is carrying heavy traffic, especially during the weekends. Although plans are in place to eventually widen the road to a four-lane divided parkway throughout the county, expanding the road to accommodate many different modes of transportation would be a challenge, he said. "We have basically two major roadways connecting the west and northwest to the I-35 corridor in Hays County," Conley said. "RR 12 is really limited through geography and topography, particularly when you get into the Wimberley Valley." Aside from a few neighborhoods, most of FM 150 between Kyle and Dripping Springs is undeveloped, meaning the road is ripe for improvements, Precinct 4 Commissioner Ray Whisenant said. But according to the Texas Department of Transportation traffic projections, development is coming. According to TxDOT estimates, traffic on some parts of the road could increase by as much as 50 percent between 2010 and 2030. Additionally, Hays County's population is expected to increase from about 157,000 in 2010 to 628,000 by 2040, according to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. "The opportunity is there to meet that challenge with something that is safe, usable and maintains the context of the area," Whisenant said. "There are larger tracts of land [on FM 150 than RR 12], but if we don't do something quickly, that's going to change." The key to the project will be gathering input from residents who live in the area or use the road on a regular basis, Conley said. Instead of building the road in what Conley called a "cookie cut" fashion, the county is hoping to tailor the road to the surrounding environment rather than to existing traffic. "We want to make this a signature project of Hays County," Conley said. "We realize that this is a unique roadway—a special project going through a bunch of special area in our county." Currently no funding has been identified for the project, and the improvements are expected to be phased in over 10 to 20 years, according to a news release accompanying the announcement of the open house. The county is also working on a separate study that will examine the possibility of realigning FM 150 away from downtown Kyle. The realignment would begin as far west as Arroyo Ranch Road and would stretch east to I-35. Currently four courses of action have been proposed for that project. More information on that and the FM 150 Character Study is available at www.improveFM150.com. FM 150 Character Study Open House Oct. 16, 6–7:30 p.m. Thurman's Mansion, 17900 FM 1826, Driftwood