Organizers with the city of Cedar Park will host a public workshop 6:30 p.m. July 15 to showcase a proposed final redevelopment plan for a portion of Bell Boulevard. The workshop will be held at the Cedar Park High School cafeteria on 2150 Cypress Creek Road. Guests will be able to see renderings of a possible redeveloped Bell. The city’s “Destination: Bell Boulevard” study began in January and focuses on the four-lane highway between Park Street and Cypress Creek Road. Assistant City Manager Katherine Caffrey said redevelopment could include relocated roads and intersections, additional green space and wider sidewalks that could promote the area as a downtown destination for Cedar Park. “Over the last few months, we’ve been working with many experts to hammer out the details,” Caffrey said in a statement. “We’ve also been engaging with our community, who has shown tremendous interest in this study. We feel that the concept being presented encompasses the feedback we heard while working within the challenges and opportunities this space provides.” Consultants with the city have recommended three methods to redevelop the portion of Bell:
  1. Relocating all four lanes of Bell east next to the railroad line, adding turn lanes and opening the current highway space for a single district of restaurants and retail.
  2. Rebuilding the current four-lane highway at its present location, adding wider sidewalks and perhaps traffic signals to encourage pedestrian traffic.
  3. Dividing Bell between the current lanes, which would be used by southbound traffic, and new lanes replacing Old Highway 183, which would be used by northbound traffic.
On April 23, Caffrey said the relocation proposal was consultants’ preferred option and the rebuilding option was a second choice. The city has not yet released estimate redevelopment costs. However, Caffrey in May provided the Cedar Park Bond Advisory Task Force with an early estimate of $15.3 million that could be used for an initial phase of Bell redevelopment. Members of the task force were appointed by the city to prioritize bond projects for a potential city bond election. Cedar Park City Council could call for a bond election in November that could include $15.3 million or another total of funding that would be spent toward Bond redevelopment.