SH 45 project in need of supporters

By VERONICA GORDON

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) is holding a public hearing Monday night to discuss the future of the proposed SH 45 SW project into Hays County.

Hays County Pct. 2 Commissioner Mark Jones is trying to rally support from residents for the project.

In June, the Austin City Council deleted the proposed 3.5-mile SH 45 Southwest Regional Connector roadway project, between Loop 1 (MoPac) in Travis County and FM 1626 in Hays County, from its Comprehensive Plan. The council also directed city staff to request deletion of the proposed roadway from the CAMPO 2035 Regional Transportation Plan.

Jones said it is very important for residents to do everything they can to keep SH 45 in the CAMPO plan and the best way to do that is to have a large turn out in support of it.

“SH 45, which has been planned since the 1980s, is necessary to help traffic flow between Hays and Travis Counties and to relieve congestion on local roads through neighborhoods that were not designed to carry such large amounts of traffic,” Jones said at a commissioners court meeting in June. “The population has grown dramatically since SH 45 was first deemed necessary.”

CAMPO has scheduled the public hearing to begin at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Sept. 10, at UT Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium, 2313 Red River Street in Austin.

Jones plans to introduce supporters who attend the hearing during his public comment period.

“We really need as many people as possible at the CAMPO meeting Monday,” Jones said in an email. “The opponents will be there in full force.”

Jones believes that opponents of the project think the result of the Pct. 3 Commissioner election will turn out in favor of building SW 45 and this is there chance to kill the road before that election.

“From conversations I have had with Travis County Commissioners I feel strongly that if Gerald Daugherty wins we can build SW 45 as a two- to three-lane county road,” Jones said. “We are as close as we have ever been to getting this done.”

A community meeting will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Elm Grove Elementary School Cafeteria, 801 FM 1626, in Buda, Sept. 18.