Hays County leaders are asking voters to consider Proposition A, a bond focused on building and improving 31 different roads by 2045.
HAYS COUNTY, Texas — A $440 million road project lies in the hands of voters in Hays County.
County leaders are asking for voter approval of Proposition A, a bond aimed at building and improving 31 roads throughout the county, including in cities like San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Wimberley and Dripping Springs.
Brandon Elliot, senior planner at the Hays County Transportation Department, said the price tag reflects the cost of growth in the county.
“We’re one of the top growing counties in the nation and commissioners saw the need for a lot of improvements on the roads,” he said.
The road bond would add a total of 2 cents per $100 valuation to the county tax rate, which is currently set at 35 cents per $100 valuation by the Hays County Commissioners. Elliot said that would be equivalent to an annual increase of about $80 for a $400,000 home – equaling to a $7 monthly increase.
“So a Starbucks coffee a month can help get us some progress on these roads,” he said.
Elliot said many of the projects are a continuation of the 2016 road bond that was included in the transportation budget. He said where road conditions are now is costing people safety and mobility.
Cotton Gin Road, listed in the bond, is only half completed. Elliot said the half they’ve upgraded has extra shoulders on the sides of the road and more visible striping. He said the other half is starkly different, with a much narrower, beat-up road. Elliot said residents have complained about its safety as there’ve been accidents in the area.
“We get a lot of concerns from the city of Luling traveling into Kyle, and the City of Luling itself has expressed that we need to do something about this road,” he said.
Other projects will connect Hays County roads to other cities and ease congestion.
If Proposition A does not pass, Elliot said the projects would have to be funded through the transportation department. He said with its limited budget, the time to complete the same projects slated in the bond would take decades.
He said growth is here now.
“Whether we like it or not, there’s more development here,” he said. “There’s neighborhoods with thousands of homes coming in and these roads can’t take that.”
Opposition to the bond
However, some people think there’s much more at stake.
“There was not a public process in setting up this bond to be on this ballot,” said Dianne Wassenich, part of the Hays Coalition for a Better Bond group.
She said county leaders put the proposition on the ballot with no warning in August. She said her group isn’t against building better roads, but would have liked to have been part of the conversation.
“We are against building on the aquifer and not having a public process,” Wassenich said.
Virginia Parker, part of the coalition and director of the San Marcos River Foundation, said some of the projects will be built across the Edwards Aquifer.
“If we open up the recharge zone to development in a major way, that could negatively impact water quality,” Parker said.
The group said projects like the Dripping Springs SW Connector, the Yarrington Project, the State Highway 45 in Travis County Project, the Darden Hill Extension and the Fitzhugh Road Expansion are concerning.
Parker said they’ll see how voters feel about Prop A but hopes it won’t pass, so there can be more of a discussion on the projects and the cost of growth. She said there should be more of a focus on public transportation instead.
“We have a lot of congestion in Hays County, and putting more cars on the road and more roads is not going to necessarily fix the problem,” Parker said.
KVUE asked the transportation department about concerns over roads being built across the Edwards Aquifer. Officials said with projects like this, the county follows a due diligence process, which does consider the environment. It said it will follow guidelines set by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for projects involving the aquifer.