Safety turnouts for RM 1431 on schedule

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Ask anywhere in the state of Texas where the next road project needs to be and drivers will tell you it needs to be on the road they travel.

Regular travelers on Ranch to Market Road 1431 should be pleased to learn one of their “most needed” projects is moving to the front of the line—slow moving traffic turnouts.

Check the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Project Tracker and you now will find them scheduled between Lago Vista and Marble Falls as Tier 2 Projects.

The safety measure as been for more than seven years a campaign of Al Schwerman of Lago Vista, a resident who travels frequently between Lago Vista and Marble Falls.

“People are always asking me about it because they know I've been interested, so I was pleased when I called TxDOT recently and they said it was on track for July 2019 and maybe sooner,” said Schwerman.

The work would come in two parts. The construction estimate from the eastern Burnet County Line to Ranch to Market Road 1174 is $441,308. Work from the county line eastward into Travis County to Bar K Ranch Road is expected to cost $1.1 million.

“Along the entire 16-mile stretch there are only two legal passing areas, each about two tenths of a mile-long and of course only usable if oncoming traffic 'permits,' said Schwerman in one of his first letters to the editor of The Highlander in 2014. “This situation becomes even more acute in bluebonnet season when many non-locals take to this scenic route for a leisurely ride. The heavy deer population is a year-round threat because even if the lead vehicle avoids a collision, the accordion effect takes over.”

Even at its safest, with the most patient and courteous drivers on the road, long lines of cars can stack up waiting to pass.

“This is great news,” said Donnie Norman, chief of the Travis County Emergency Service District 1. His district begins at Cedar Park and extends all the way to the Burnet County Line on RM 1431–178 square miles and 42 miles of Lake Travis.

“Obviously 1431 is a very dangerous road,” he said. “There is no shoulder, especially from Lago Vista to Marble Falls.

“We are a for all our motorcycle riders who have a large number of accidents that probably would not happen if we had turnouts and there wasn't the crowding that causing them to slip off the road. There is no room for error on that road. People trying to squeeze over to avoid 18-wheelers slip off and turn over.”

Norman said it is a danger for first responders as well.

“We have to close down the whole road or have them at risk,” he said. “Al Schwerman has really taken the lead on this and I'm am so glad it is about to happen.”

Schwerman says more credit goes to conscientious TxDOT personnel.

“Thanks goes first to TxDOT's former area engineer Mark Jones, for seeing the value in the project, and to current engineer Bobby Ramthun and his crew for carrying it forward,” said Schwerman. “Credit also goes to Bob Moore in Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty's office for his assistance.”

Schwerman said project # 137801041 to construct the slow vehicle turnout lanes on RM 1431 west of Lago Vista appears to include three to five turnouts in each direction in Travis County and probably a couple in Burnet County.

“It looks like the trip to Marble Falls will soon be much less stressful and much safer, as well as reducing response times for emergency vehicles,” said Schwerman.

“We are working as fast as we can to complete the design engineering and assign available funding so we can begin the construction of projects,” said Diann Hodges, manager of the Southwest Public Information Branch of TxDOT. “The good news is, we have identified funding for these projects and they are moving forward.

“We live in a growing area with a lot of needs, but our staff remains dedicated to getting the job done for all Texans.”