Key, Loop 257 work delayed
TxDOT officials cite inflation, funding recisions
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Mayor Judy Hetherly, left, chats with Lynn Passmore, Texas Department of Transportation Brownwood district engineer, before a road projects forum Thursday at the Hostess House.

Inflation, federal funding recisions and the high priority on highway projects elsewhere in the state likely will delay several Lampasas County road projects, Texas Department of Transportation officials said at a public forum Thursday.

TxDOT's nine-county Brownwood district -- which includes Lampasas County -- will have to postpone planned improvements to Key Avenue and Loop 257 east from Key Avenue to Sulphur Creek, said Lampasas Area Engineer Tom Dahl.

From 2009 to 2019 TxDOT can allocate about $2.5 billion a year -- the same amount the department spent in the late 1990s -- for road work across the state, Brownwood District Engineer Lynn Passmore said.

The highway industry has experienced 100 percent inflation in the last decade, though, Passmore said, which means $2.5 billion now pays for only half the highway construc- tion that sum did in 1998.

PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Mel Ferguson, left, district office coordinator for State Senator Troy Fraser's Marble Falls office, talks with Lynn Passmore, TxDOT's Brownwood district engineer, before a public forum Thursday at the Hostess House.

About 1,500 people move to Texas each day, Passmore added, increasing the need for highway miles. At the same time, the federal government has taken back about $900 million in road funds from Texas, with another $5 million to $6 million in recisions expected during the next two to three years.

"We're telling local governments 'no' now on projects a lot more than we used to," Passmore said.

Lampasas resident Jeff Jackson said the town for years has needed drainage improvements on Key Avenue and Loop 257, and he suggested TxDOT work on the two roads in phases to allow the projects to begin sooner.

While the projects have not been eliminated, they will have to wait until TxDOT can complete them concurrently, Passmore said.

"We're trying to keep them together, because that seems to work better for the city for a variety of reasons," he said.

Work on U.S. Highway 281 from the Lampasas County-Burnet County line to the highway's intersection with U.S. 183 is planned to start in TxDOT's fiscal year 2009, which begins August 2008. The $1.2 million project, scheduled to let in September, includes traffic lights at the intersection of E.E. Jr. Ohnmeiss Drive and U.S. 281.

In addition, an $8.5 million project to widen Farm-to-Market Road 2657 from U.S. 190 to a tenth of a mile south of County Road 4744 is set to begin in fiscal year 2010. When TxDOT finishes the work, the road will have a 16-foot- wide two-way turn lane, four 12- foot travel lanes and 10-foot shoulders on both sides.

Although the Brownwood district has not committed to work on Key Avenue and Loop 257, the roads are part of TxDOT's "backlog." Officials are developing detailed plans and hope to let the projects in fiscal year 2009 or 2010 if funds become available, Dahl said.

Funding depends in part on how the Texas Legislature decides to allocate the $5 billion in Proposition 12 bonds for highway construction voters approved in November. Gov. Rick Perry has recommended the legislature dedicate $1.5 billion to highway "rehabilitation" work, which includes projects on TxDOT's backlog, Passmore said.

The Key Avenue improvements, estimated to cost $6.7 million, will run from Avenue E to Sulphur Creek. The highway will feature four 12-foot-wide travel lanes, a 14-foot-wide two-way turn lane, illumination and sidewalks built to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

TxDOT estimates the cost of grading, pavement, curb, gutter and storm drain work on Loop 257 at $2.2 million, plus an additional $1.3 million -- 90 percent funded by TxDOT -- for utility construction. Work will span from Key Avenue to Sulphur Creek. The loop will have two 12-foot traffic lanes and 10-foot shoulders on both sides of the road.

Jackson said he is concerned about drainage problems on the downtown square.

"This community has a huge problem downtown," he said.

If it obtains the funding for Loop 257, TxDOT will install a five-year storm sewer instead of the usual two-year type, Passmore said.

"We're doing more than I've ever done," he said.

The city of Lampasas considered a storm sewer capable of handling 25-year storm levels, but the cost would be astronomical, he added.

Two projects are nearing completion. FM 1715 work, which will connect FM 580 East with U.S. 190, should conclude by late fall or early in 2009, Dahl said. In addition, TxDOT has constructed a bridge for vehicle traffic over the Lampasas River on CR 2925. The original truss bridge, eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, remains open to pedestrian traffic only.

James Briggs, president of the Lampasas Independent School District Board of Trustees, asked if TxDOT will install traffic lights at U.S. 190 and Big Divide Road, near the new Taylor Creek Elementary.

The department does not have funding for lights, Passmore said, but he hopes to find a way for the Brownwood district to pay for signals.

"I'm going to have to figure out where the money comes from, because that's a big problem," the engineer said. "There will be a traffic light out there. It's just a question of when."

County resident Lynn Wernette told Passmore truck traffic has increased significantly on FM 580 West and asked if TxDOT plans to widen the road.

The department has widened some culverts along the road, Maintenance Engineer Howard Holland said, and Dahl added TxDOT might be able to create an area for law enforcement officers to pull over speeding drivers.

"As far as any widening, I cannot even see that in the future," Passmore said.

As TxDOT delays some projects, it is cutting operating costs to maximize the money spent on roads, Passmore said. Each of the state's districts has decreased operating costs 10 percent -- a $1.5 million annual cut in the Brownwood district.

A fifth of that cut has come from salaries, as the district has trimmed 16 of its 247 jobs. TxDOT also is mowing less -- both along roads and at the department's various offices -- and spending less on litter pickup and other aesthetic improvements.

"We probably get more complaints about mowing than any other item, but we have to save money," Passmore said.