The future of Hwy. 29

The future of Hwy. 29

Written by Beth Wade and Kara Vaught Friday, 15 August 2008

County commissioners study corridor expansion options from Georgetown to Burnet county line

Williamson County commissioners Valerie Covey, precinct three, and Cynthia Long, precinct two, are studying ways to expand Hwy. 29 from D.B. Wood Drive to the Burnet/Williamson county line.

Many residents of neighborhoods adjacent to the road, most wearing red shirts in opposition to an expansion, attended an open house in Liberty Hill Aug. 4. Questions were shouted at the commissioners, including "Will this be a toll road?" The answer was "We don't know."

The road is the northern most east-west corridor in the county. Expected growth in the area has the commissioners concerned the four-lane road might not have capacity for future traffic.

"I moved to Williamson County in 1988," Long said. "They started planning [183A] back then, and it just opened last year."

At the time of the first corridor study meeting in October, approximately 20,000 residences were planned or under construction, which did not account for projected growth, Long said.

“That [20,000 plats] could equate to 60,000 or more people along that corridor,” she said.

With Williamson consistently being one of the fastest growing counties in the state for the last six or seven years, Long said the commissioners were worried they could miss their chance to properly plan the road’s expansion.

The expansion could include 400 feet of right-of-way and up to six lanes of expressway.

Why now?

Although Hwy. 29 is a state road and any construction on the roadway would most likely occur in the distant future — 10 to 20 years from now — the commissioners decided to pursue the corridor study now. This is because of a large number of developments planned and under construction along the highway and the importance of purchasing right-of-way while it is still largely undeveloped, Long said.

“We felt that we really should have done this 10 years ago, but we can’t start it 10 years ago; we can only start it today,” Long said.

“From a purely planning perspective, we are looking at the widest scenario, but that is not to say that is what it will ultimately be in every area,” she said. “Right now it is a planning study. Until you get to the actual design — once we get to a preferred alignment, based on all the input and the constraints — then you do a more detailed schematic. At that point in time, we would know more about what that footprint will look like.”

The commissioners announced a plan to remove 13 possible routes July 17, but do not plan to announce the preferred path until September. Once the route is chosen, the engineers will design a schematic, and the court will begin land purchase options with interested sellers.

Several landowners in Georgetown declined to comment on the corridor study, saying they were concerned it could affect their negotiations with the county.

The court has approved approximately $2.7 million towards the project, but has not designated any specific amount for right-of-way purchases.

Not everyone on the court agrees with the study’s 400-foot path. Commissioner Lisa Birkman, precinct one, said the court has to prove the need for the project to residents.

Birkman did vote for the study, but said she does not believe purchasing right-of-way or any subsequent construction should be the county’s priority.

“The point I made in Commissioners Court is that given the numbers, I’m questioning the need for 400 feet of right-of-way,” Birkman said. “It may be less, but I’m just saying they are going to need to justify it because, obviously, you can build six lanes in 200 feet of right-of-way.”

RM 620

Although Birkman’s precinct does not include any part of the Hwy. 29 study, she has experience with corridor studies. In 2005, the court did a similar study on RM 620 in Round Rock to improve mobility and increase safety.

During that study the court was limited in expanding the road because businesses had built up to the existing road’s right-of-way. Plans for the RM 620 corridor now include a six-lane roadway in 200 feet of right-of-way.

Long hopes to avoid a similar situation along Hwy. 29 by studying the road now instead of 20 years from now.

Right-of-way purchase

The county has a limited budget to buy right-of-way now and will focus its spending on willing sellers, Covey said. At this time, because construction of the project is not intended to begin soon, eminent domain will not be used, Long said.

Others agree that if the county is going to designate the road’s route, now is the time to buy the right-of-way.

“The positive side of buying right-of-way now is it will be way cheaper today than it will be in the future,” state Rep. Dan Gattis said. “The negative side of it is that if you say, ‘This is where our corridor is going,’ and don’t actually purchase that property, then really you’ve harmed those property owners. Then they can’t ever sell their property. You can’t do that to people.”

Texas Department of Transportation

Recent troubles at TxDOT have spurred the county into doing the study, which normally would have been done by the state. However, Long said more and more counties are taking the lead on state projects.

“TxDOT should be out here designating and buying right-of-way and everything else,” Gattis said. “The county shouldn’t have to do it, but the county can’t wait for TxDOT to get its business in order.”

The commissioners agree that TxDOT should be in charge of this project, but even with the cutbacks, this project was not on the agency’s list, Long said.

“This is not one [of the projects] they had planned, but northern Williamson County has been largely underestimated in terms of population growth,” she said. “We live it and see it every day, and that is why we took the lead on this — so that we could do this study and identify where the road alignment needs to be in the future.”

The commissioners voted 5-0 to approve a contract with Chiang, Patel & Yerby, Inc. to complete the corridor study.

“We said in October, when we had our first meeting, that we would try to move forward with this as fast as we could because we realize that people’s lives are interrupted as a result of this study,” Covey said. “We are not trying to drag this out. In fact, we have sped it up, but this is the process we have to go through.”

Illustrated from maps provided by Chiang, Patel & Yerby, Inc. Maps available online at www.wilcogov.org.

Eminent domain

Before a county can seize private property for public use, officials must attempt to contact the landowner and purchase the property. If the landowner refuses to sell or counteroffers with an amount too high, the county can step in and condemn the property.

The process

1. A county court-of-law judge selects three representatives, who typically are familiar with real estate, to serve as special commissioners. (Note: This is not the Commissioners Court.)
2. Both sides present their case at a special commissioners hearing.
3. The commissioners determine the land’s value, and the money is put into the registry of the court. The land is then county property.
4. The property owner has the option of accepting the valuation or appealing to district court with a trial before the court or a jury.
5. If the jury says the property is worth more, the county will pay more. If the jury believes it is worth less, the owner gets less.

Source: Charlie Crossfield, Williamson County right-of-way attorney

The project’s total cost is approximately $22 million, including $15.2 million for construction and $7 million for utility improvements.

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization awarded $8.8 million for the project in June. The city is planning to call a bond election in November that could ask voters to approve $1.7 million for a project that would widen DB Wood Road at its intersection with Williams Drive. Funding for Williams Drive was already approved by the city.

The court has approved contracts with Cobb Fendley Associates for utility relocations, and Kellogg, Brown and Root Services, Inc. for engineering of the road. Construction is expected to begin in the fall and take 18 to 22 months.