San Marcos City Council cancels plans for roundabout

Instead of a roundabout, a center turn lane on Hopkins Street will allow southbound drivers to make left turns onto West San Antonio Street. Some residents urged council to build a traffic signal at the intersection, but the project engineer said the traffic on West San Antonio Street did not warrant the expense.

Although they did not take a formal vote on the changed plans, council members Kim Porterfield and John Thomaides opposed the decision.

"[A roundabout] is absolutely the best option," Thomaides said. "It's the safest. It moves traffic best, it costs less than a traffic light in the future, and I think it's a great entryway into a historic district, our first neighborhood."

In addition to removing the roundabout from the project, council also directed staff members to remove plans to extend West San Antonio Street to Belvin Street.

The Texas Department of Transportation plans to widen Hunter Road/Hopkins Street from Wonder World Drive to north of Bishop Street and will construct a new bridge over Purgatory Creek.

The $9 million project is being funded by TxDOT and $4.2 million in savings from a previous project to build Wonder World Drive. TxDOT will begin seeking bids next week, and construction is scheduled to begin in March.