December
3,
2007
For
us, this story
began in October,
when we first spied surveyors on the Hammett's Crossing
bridge. Soon, a neighborhood meeting was held at Westcave
Preserve. There, most of us heard for the first time
that, in addition to a new, high bridge, the growth-boosters
have an even scarier plan for the destruction of our area.
It turns out CAMPO's dream for 2030 includes converting our
sleepy little Hamilton Pool Road into a 4-lane divided
highway,
all the
way from Hwy 71 to the Blanco County line. Read Hugh Winkler's
report on the October 23rd meeting in his
blog.
The comments and suggestions
made at that meeting have since been distributed.
Hugh has the attendees' comments posted here.
Since
that meeting, neighbor Pam Reese has met with Travis County
Commissioner Gerald Daugherty and reported on that meeting
in an email. Read her report and Hugh's comments on it
on
this
page of Hugh's blog.
Now,
Annie and I agree with Hugh that we do not need to roll
over and accept the (compromise???) premise of a 30 foot
high new bridge, attached to a severely widened, three
or four-lane highway to nowhere. So we are asking everyone
to print
out this
petition
about the road and this petition
about the bridge. If
you'd like to print a copy of the road petition with accompanying
supporting
documents, click
here. For your convenience, we now also have an on-line
petition concerning the road.
JUST
CLICK THIS
LINK AND SIGN
THE PETITION.
After
you've signed on-line or downloaded the materials, please
get everyone you know to
sign (Please
return signed pages to: Annie
Borden, 24815 Hamilton Pool Road, Round
Mountain, TX 78663). In case you would like to read
it, here's the original, official 2005 Travis County
bond election
document.
Now
here's why we are circulating the road petition: |
|
| We,
the following petitioners, insist that CAMPO’s
MAD 4 designation for HPR from RR 12 west to the county
line be changed back to the
original “improved 2 lane with shoulders” road
improvements for the following reasons:
1.
THE VOTERS WERE MISLED
— The
2005 citizen bond committee, after much study, recommended
funding the design of road improvements
for Hamilton Pool Road from RR12 to the Blanco
county line. Those improvements were to be a 2 lane
road
with shoulders, NOT 4 LANES, NOT 3 LANES, just
2 lanes with shoulders.
— Committee members, with that understanding, campaigned
for passage of the bonds.
— Now
Travis county officials have taken it upon themselves
to expand the scope of what the
voters approved in 2005 and they plan to design for a MAD 4 (4-lane, divided
highway) for Hamilton Pool Road from RR12 to the
Blanco county line (see map below).
— The
voters did not approve design of a MAD 4 or of a
3-lane road with wide shoulders and "buffer".
|
|
|
2.
IT IS UNNECESSARY
— There
are a maximum of 18 Travis County homes served by Hamilton
Pool Road west of the Pedernales River. At a generously-estimated
2.5 persons per household (the approximate county average)
that's 45 people (.0005% of the Travis County population
of 921,000).
— Economic trends show that TxDOT travel models, forecasting
suburban sprawl, ignore changing demographic patterns.
Because of traffic congestion and the rapidly increasing costs of
driving, home buyers prefer to live closer to the cores
of cities.
— Hamilton Pool Road, west of the Pedernales River, might
be called a “road to nowhere” |
|
|
|
— Cypress
Mill, a ghost town in Blanco County, lies approximately
8 miles from the river. The town once thrived with an active
mill and many family farms. |
|
All
that's left are a few big ranches, a church and a defunct
post office/general store. |
|
|
The
general store even sold gasoline. Imagine that! |
|
| Too
bad about the post office closing. Now our mail has to
come all the way from Round Mountain. |
|
|
|
Of
course, Cypress Mill is known all 'round these parts
for its promiscuous livestock. |
|
Beyond
Cypress Mill another 7 miles, lies Round Mountain,
a small truck stop and cattle auction barn
(oh yeah, and a post office) on Hwy.
281.
Round Mountain is 6.5 miles from the
intersection of Hwy 71 and Hwy. 281. In other words, this
section of 281
is easily served by the existing 4 lane highway 71. |
|
|
 |
Here's
the town of Round Mountain. Don't blink as you speed
by or you might miss the town's restaurant, a great cajun
food place run by a group of displaced New Orleans survivors. |
|
| Oh
yeah, this town needs a fast, four-lane highway leading
to it (that would be one lane per 28 residents). |
|
|
|
— The
majority of the residents along this stretch of Hamilton
Pool Rd/962 chose this area in
which to reside for its peaceful country nature and beautiful,
winding 2 lane country road.
— Tourists
come here for the scenic country roads including the
hills and curves. They drive for pleasure, not speed,
nor to go to any destination.
|
|
3.
IT WOULD BE DESTRUCTIVE OF THE FRAGILE AND UNIQUE BEAUTY
OF THE RIVER VALLEY
— The
road cut on the west side of the river on Hamilton
pool road provides a good exposure of the Sycamore
Formation.
|
|
|
|
Here,
local university geology classes come to study, as does
the Austin Geological Society on its field trips. |
|
— Even
small construction projects, no matter how well planned,
often have a deleterious
effect
on the
environment. Consider the recent damage to Hamilton Pool
by private road construction. Even a little damage
to our precious
Pedernales River (image on the right) or its valley would
be too much.
In
sum, it is unconscionable to take on thirty years of
new debt for an unnecessary, unwanted, destructive, major
construction project. MAD 4 is not appropriate for Hamilton
Pool Road west of RR 12. MAD 4 designation from the Pedernales
River to the Travis/Blanco county line is ridiculous. Return
the plan to the 2-lane road with shoulders (not MAD 2,
not
"Hill Country Arterial") which the 2005 bond
committee recommended, supported and
promoted
to the
voters.
PLEASE
SIGN THE ON-LINE PETITION |
 |
|
|
Zip
to the top |
