The Kyle City Council requested staff reevaluate 12 proposed intersections where roundabouts are recommended on July 7.
During an Aug. 18 meeting, the council approved a $478,638.51 task order to conduct a traffic study at each intersection. The study will analyze operational and safety aspects and provide new design recommendations for each location, according to agenda documents.
The gist
The traffic studies at each intersection will consist of data collection and Intersection Alternative Analysis. The task order will be broken into two phases, according to agenda documents.
Phase 1 will include:
- Data collection
- Operational analysis
- Crash analysis
- Preliminary conceptual exhibits
- General cost impact
- Matrix screening and documentation
“Phase 1 is going to look, from a larger scale, at what is possible,” said Lu Zhang, assistant director of CIP and planning. “[Staff] are going to rank all the recommendations. [There are] more than just signals and roundabouts. There are other possible treatments for the intersections.”
City staff will request feedback and direction from the council based on Phase 1 results before beginning Phase 2. Staff does not expect more than four intersections will need a Phase 2 analysis, according to agenda documents.
The project’s second phase will provide a more detailed cost impact breakdown, including:
- Benefit-cost analysis
- Footprint and constructability check
- A final technical memorandum for each intersection included in the phase
The highest-priority intersections, based on road bond project progression, include Lehman Road at Bunton Creek Road, Center Street at Old Stagecoach Road and Windy Hill at Cherrywood.
The remaining intersections will be prioritized based on road bond project tentative bid and construction schedules.
The discussion
The task order passed with a vote of 4-3 for approval. Council members in favor of the new traffic analysis cited the amount of time that has passed since the original analyses and potential cost savings.
“If we're okay to spend $7 or $8 million, or even $4 million, on a roundabout [multiplied by] 19 that we have proposed for this city, how many millions of dollars is that going to cost us in the long run versus making sure that we have the most accurate information from what we had four years ago?” Mayor Pro Tem Michael Tobias said. “Our population has increased, and the traffic flow has gotten even worse.”
Tobias, along with Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale and Council Members Courtney Goza and Melisa Medina, voted in favor of the task order.
“Generally, roundabouts are safe, and I don't disagree with that, but if you try to stick a round peg in a square hole, it's not going to work,” Flores-Cale said. “Putting them in already developed areas, I think that's what becomes the issue.”
Council members who voted against the analyses cited delays to intersection projects needed to increase road safety and an unnecessary spend of almost $500,000.
“I see this as paralysis by analysis,” Council Member Marc McKinney said. “I feel like all we're doing is putting our residents in danger. I have a hard time justifying any additional delays. You can keep asking for information, and at some point, you actually have to do something with it.”
McKinney, Council Member Claudia Zapata and Council Member Lauralee Harris voted against the project.
“It's a waste of money,” Zapata said. “We're spending half a million dollars on rehashing this out. We're creating delays ... and those delays are going to create additional costs.”
Next steps
Following Phase 2 of the project, city staff will present the council with an overview of impacts regarding right-of-way, adjacent developments and overall cost of each individual intersection recommendation.
Zhang said the first priority set will be brought before the council in late September or early October. The full task order is expected to be complete before the end of the year.
