Wirtz Dam Bridge: CAMPO consults public

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The possibility of a Colorado River bridge below Wirtz Dam clearly is gathering a head of steam and John Q. Citizen is about to weigh in on the project.

In a meeting conducted by the Capitol Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) Friday, Sept. 9, in Marble Falls City Council chambers, Burnet County governmental leaders and first responders were enthusiastic. Now, CAMPO is beginning a campaign to inform the public and gather opinions from residents, owners of property and businesses and from lake users.

A bridge below Wirtz Dam to connect north-south traffic between Ranch to Market Roads (RM) 1431 and 2147 has been a long-held priority of County Judge James Oakley.

“When I was first elected as a county commissioner (Precinct 4) in 1998, this project was brought to me,” said Oakley, who has been outspoken on the project even as a proposed Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) project below Max Starke Dam was being characterized as a “loop” by the Marble Falls business community.

Since that time, the twin US 281 bridge design has alleviated some of the fears about river passage, but traffic snarls persist. A major event on US 281 would leave emergency traffic alternatives the RM Road 2900 bridge, a 29-mile trek to the Mansfield Dam Crossing on RM 620 or the circuitous Texas 29 route between Burnet and Llano to link to Texas 71.

“When I came back as county judge (2014), I said this was going to be bright on my radar. “This is not a bypass; not a loop. It is another passage into Marble Falls.”

Oakley serves on the board of CAMPO, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Burnet, Bastrop, Burnet,Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties. He was gratified last year when his proposal for a study was allocated $75,000 for the public outreach study to gauge local feeling on the project.

“CAMPO has embraced this,” said Oakley. “This is not some crazy idea only I came up with.”

That was clear from the organizations represented at the meeting. They included county commissioners, city mayors and council members, law enforcement and emergency services, Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and Pedernales Electric Cooperative representatives, and few public naysayers among them.

“When we are out of ambulances, the last available is usually Horseshoe Bay,” said Johnny M. Campbell, EMT-P, executive director of Marble Falls Area Emergency Service (EMS). “If we have a call from Granite Shoals or the West part of marble Falls, we have to send to Kingsland for mutual aid. A bridge at Wirtz Dam also would allow us to move Marble Falls or Granite Shoals trucks to Horseshoe Bay more quickly. It would allow us more flexibility, more quickly.”

“It would definitely assist our troops to be able to respond to emergencies and to help other agencies. It would be quicker response to get to the back area of Horseshoe Bay,” Sgt. Joseph Stephens of the Department of Public Safety.

“I can’t say how many times, I have hated to drive all the way around the lake,” said Burnet County Sheriff-elect Calvin Boyd, who spent 22 years with the DPS before serving as a county justice of the peace.

“This crossing would improve our outage time; 35 percent of our guys live west of Marble Falls,” said PEC Marble Falls District Director Nathan Burns.

Current Precinct 4 Commissioner Joe Don Dockery had facts on the project, also. In October 2007, in his first year on the court, he negotiated acquisition from the LCRA of the right-of-way to Wirtz Dam Road (from RM 1431 to the dam) at zero cost to the county.

“Burnet County was able to obtain 80 feet of right of way on the 2.2-mile stretch,” he said. “A 2005 license plate study showed 3,500 cars a day would use this as a route.”

“That study also showed that 93 percent of the traffic (on RM 2147) turned left into Marble Falls,” said Oakley. “This is a viable, inner backroad to Marble Falls, not a loop.”

Wirtz Dam Road connects to a partially submerged construction road that, in turn, connects to Spur 2147 on the south side of the river and once was considered for a low-water bridge. That would not be the plan now under consideration. Both Oakley and Dockery likened the current proposal to the Mansfield Dam crossing on RM Road 620—a “mini-Mansfield Dam bridge,” said Oakley.

Data assembled by CAMPO indicates Burnet County population projected to grow by some 10,000 people per decade from 2010’s 42,739 to around 73,673 in 2040. “But you can’t consider Burnet County population to be a static number,” said Oakley. “On weekends, holidays and in summer, tourists and weekenders mean we have much more...(and) US 281 is already an alternative for I-35. It runs from the Texas Valley to Canada.”

“I have always thought of this as an alternate way to get around for emergency services and bus routes,” said Oakley, who also alluded to traffic problems that have grown out of poor planning in Texas Capital: “If you think we need it today, think 20 years in the future...Look at Austin.”

Questions

Community leaders had questions. “If you change traffic patterns (on roads that connect with the project) they need to be reviewed,” said Highland Haven Mayor Olan Kelley. “They need to keep in mind the new traffic they are putting on roads.”

He was quick after the meeting to bring concerns to Oakley about the need for traffic control on RM 1431 at its intersection with Highland Haven’s County Road 125 and County Road 120.

“We have had several accidents and at least one fatality there,” said Kelley.

Cottonwood Shores Mayor Donald Orr, has been publicly critical of the whole idea since at least until funding for the CAMPO study was announced.

“I may be the only person here willing to tackle some of the negatives,” he said. “Many of us on the south side don’t see the advantage.”

He conceded the project had never come before the city council, but maintained he had heard from local businessmen who think the route could divert traffic and revenue from them. He said also that he didn’t believe the route could shave travel time.

“Synchronizing traffic lights in Marble Falls would solve most of the (transit time) problems at one percent of the cost,” he said.

“We have established a nature preserve with Texas Parks and Wildlife,” said Orr. “We value our tranquility and quiet and we love our nature preserve. Oil and dust mitigation from this project to protect (the preserve) will increase the cost 10-20 percent.”

Granite Shoals City Manager Ken Nickel immediately saw the benefit of such a road as ranch land surrounding his city eventually develops. But he has been fielding community questions concerning a multi-million road project his city hopes to accomplish with a Texas Department of Agriculture grant.

“People will want to know where the money is coming from,” said Nickel.

“Proposition 7 was approved by voters last fall,” said CAMPO executive director Ashby Johnson. “That funding will begin flowing to the Metropolitan Planning Organizations next year. This community outreach program will give the CAMPO board a sense of the community’s needs as the board discusses allocating those Prop 7 funds.”

At this point, the project is not being considered a local-cost project. It would qualify for money coming through the Proposition 7, according to a CAMPO spokesman. Oakley said it would not come at expense of other county projects, either: “We just issued almost $6 million for upgrading roads in our county system.

“The Fairland Road, County Road 120 (that connects with Farm to Market Road 1855, RM 1431 and US 281) is one of those used as a local back road. We need it to accommodate gravel trucks. Drivers are like water, they take the path of least resistance.”

Estimates on how much the project could require are far down the line into planning, if the project is adopted. And, it is safe to say, history puts cost ideas all over the map. During the 2009 revision of the Burnet County Transportation Plan, a bridge below Max Starke Dam was estimated at $50 million. A low-water crossing at Wirtz was estimated at around $2 million at one point and, in 2005, a full-scale bridge project there got one ball-park estimate of $15 million.

The last estimates CAMPO has documented came from the consideration of five different bridge types in 2005--from $6-$8.5 million, said Doise Miers, a CAMPO public information officer.

Nonetheless, Proposition 7, has provided for the statewide collection of money for infrastructure and it will be coming down the pipeline next year.

“We have other road projects we are trying to get TxDOT to pay attention to,” said Llano County Precinct 1 Commissioner Peter Jones. “Is this in competition with some of our projects?”

The answer to that question seemed to be no from a CAMPO representative who said the Wirtz Dam project had to do with mobility and not safety.

“We are not a replacement for TxDOT in this,” explained Johnson. “We are working with TxDOT to help with outreach.”

Friday’s meeting was the first step in a four-month process, explained Arin Gray, a CAMPO concept development and planning staff member.

Community feedback

“We want your feedback on a public survey we will be conducting,” she said. “We will be holding public meetings and we hope to have one soon at Marble Falls High School. But we also want you to tell us about any community events in the county where we can share information.”

Already considered were FiestaJAM and Marble Falls Market Day (Sept. 23-24), the Saturday Highland Lakes Farmers Markets, Burnet Bluegrass Festival (Sept. 17), Fifth Friday Cottonwood Shores Community Potluck Dinners and Marble Falls National Night Out (Oct. 4).

Patti Zinsmeyer, executive director of the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce added the Oct. 1 Citywide Garage Sale in Johnson Park and Meadowlakes Mayor Mary Ann Raesener suggested the Meadowlakes Property Owners Association meeting on Oct. 8.

“We want to hear about what people have to say about existing river crossings, about traffic flow and travel times, and anything else they have to say,” said Gray. “This will continue through November and we hope to come back with a final report in December.”

CAMPO already has established an informational website, http://www.campotexas.org/get-involved/wirtzdamroad/, and the completed survey soon will be available through a link there for online or email response. The survey also will be found at public meetings and informational booths at events.

For those looking for a reminder of the details of new state highway funding approved by voters last year, TxDOT has prepared a simplified explanation. Search for "Proposition 7 – Constitutional Amendment for Transportation Funding" at www.txdot.gov.