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City hosts public meeting for Williams Drive draft final plan May 30
Georgetown residents, business owners and civic leaders are invited to join the Williams Drive Study project team Tuesday, May 30, for an open house meeting to review the draft final plan for the corridor.
Public participation in previous meetings, from the studying and analysis phases to the development of conceptual plans, has helped develop the draft final plan.
The meeting will be 4-7 p.m. in the Georgetown Health Foundation Community Rooms in the Lake Aire Center at 2423 Williams Drive, Ste. 101.
The focus of the Williams Drive Study is to create safe and efficient transportation options while integrating smart land use, community needs, and the future economic growth of the corridor. The Study is a partnership between the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and the City of Georgetown.
For more information about the study and to sign up for email newsletters, visit transportation.georgetown.org/williams-drive.
Austin Avenue Bridges: Public Comment on Options by May 26
The City of Georgetown is seeking public input on options for repairing or replacing the Austin Avenue Bridges that span the north and south forks of the San Gabriel River. Public comments should be submitted on or before Friday, May 26 in order to be included in the official public record for the public open house held on May 11.
Deficiencies in the bridges that were built in 1940 were noted in Texas Department of Transportation inspection reports in 2013 and 2015. Since then, a project team has been studying the bridges and gathering public input on options to address the deficiencies. The project team includes City staff as well as firms with expertise in bridge engineering, historic resources, environmental impacts, landscape architecture, and community involvement.
The goals of the bridge project are to address the structural deficiencies of the bridges, improve safety and mobility, provide safe turning movements for traffic, and provide crossings that are safe for pedestrians, bicycles, and other non-vehicular traffic.
The Austin Avenue Bridges project team developed a list of 12 preliminary alternatives for the bridges representing a range of reasonable concepts. Based on feasibility and impacts to ecological, community, and historic resources, the project team refined the list to five primary alternatives for the bridges, which are listed as below.
During the construction phase in all of the options, one lane of traffic in each direction would be maintained. Options including bearing replacement would include nightly closures of the bridges.
1. No build: This option includes some maintenance work, but does not include replacement of the bearings or the concrete deck on the bridges. This option does not meet the goals of the project, but is required by the federal environmental review process. Cost estimate: $400,000.
2A. Pair of one-way bridges: This option would rehabilitate the existing bridges for two southbound traffic lanes and a turn lane and construct new 40-foot wide bridges for northbound traffic to the east of the existing bridges. The new bridges would include two vehicular traffic lanes and a 10-foot-wide pedestrian and bicycle lane. The bearings and the concrete bridge deck would be replaced on the existing bridges. This option meets most of the goals of the project. The construction duration estimate is 18 to 22 months. Cost estimate: $13.1 million. The estimated service life of this option is 30 to 50 years.
6A. Rehabilitation with pedestrian bridges: This option would replace the bearings and concrete bridge deck on the existing bridges and construct new 10-foot wide pedestrian bridges to the east of the existing bridges. This option meets most of the goals of the project except for turning or mobility improvements for vehicles. The construction duration estimate is 16 to 18 months. Cost estimate: $7 million. The estimated service life of this option is 20 to 40 years.
7A. Rehabilitation and widen bridges: This option would replace the bearings and concrete deck on the existing bridges and add new 33.5-foot wide bridge sections to the east of the existing bridges. The new sections would include a 10-foot wide pedestrian and bicycle lane. A vehicular turn lane would be added on the existing bridges. This option meets all the goals of the project. The construction duration estimate is 16 to 18 months. Cost estimate: $12.7 million. The estimated service life of this option is 30 to 50 years.
8. Full replacement: This option would demolish the existing bridges and construct new bridges with a vehicular turn lane and a 10-foot wide lane for pedestrians and bicycles. This option meets the goals of the project, but does not preserve historic features of the existing bridges. The construction duration estimate is 18 to 22 months. Cost estimate: $15.7 million. The estimated service life of this option is 75 years.
Maps showing schematic design concepts for the five primary alternatives as well as display boards and other information on the project are available on the project website at on the Transportation website.
Public comment on these five alternatives can be sent to the Austin Avenue Bridges project team at austinave@georgetown.org.
Feasibility, engineering, historic, environmental, and community factors as well as input from the public, state agencies, and the Georgetown City Council will lead to further narrowing of alternatives for the project. Additional analysis will lead to a preferred alternative that will be presented at a fourth public meeting for the project expected in late 2017 or early 2018.
City to begin sidewalk, street projects in May
Updated May 9, 2017, at 11:20 a.m.
The scope of the Seventh Street project has been expanded to include additional gutter improvements. The additional work could extend the project’s expected completion to mid-June. Myrtle Street between Seventh and Eighth streets is expected to be closed until Friday, May 12. The additional work will then close Myrtle Street between Sixth and Seventh streets for approximately five days starting Monday, May 15.
Posted April 27, 2017, at 3:09 p.m.
Construction on several sidewalk improvement projects throughout the city will kick off May 1.
This is the first round of sidewalk improvement projects identified in the adopted Sidewalk Master Plan and funded in part by the road bond approved by voters in May 2015. Projects include American’s With Disabilities Act compliance and accessibility improvements throughout downtown and citywide.
Construction will be completed in phases, and the entire project is expected to be completed in late November.
Sidewalk improvements include:
- Del Webb Boulevard and Whispering Wind Drive
- Williams Drive and Woodlake Drive
- Williams Drive and Wildwood Drive
- Williams Drive and Shell Road
- Williams Drive and Lakeway Drive
- Williams Drive and River Bend Drive
- Austin Avenue and Morrow Street
- Austin Avenue from Morrow Street to Williams Drive
- Eighth and Rock streets
- Eighth Street from Church to Myrtle streets
- Sidewalks in Founders’ Park
Seventh Street reconstruction between Church and Myrtle streets is also set to begin May 1. Work will include a new asphalt roadway with curbs, drainage inlets, and storm drains. Construction is expected to take 30 days weather permitting. Seventh Street will be closed intermittently for construction.
Smith Contracting Co. of Austin will complete both projects.
The City will also begin construction May 1 on the sidewalk along the southbound Interstate 35 frontage road from Leander Road to Hwy. 29. Patin Construction will complete the project, which is expected to be completed Nov. 1. The project was a council priority and is being funded through certificate of obligation bonds.
See a map of the construction projects with expected start and completion dates here:
[google_maps]UDC Amendments take effect April 1
Changes to the Unified Development Code that were approved by City Council on February 28, 2017, will take effect on April 1, 2017. After numerous public meetings over the past year, Council approved several amendments to the code. Most of these changes were based on previous updates to the City’s Comprehensive (2030) Plan and Elements in prior years.
The newly amended code is now published and available for download. The Development Manual will be updated to reflect those changes. The red-lined chapters, as part of the Ordinance, will remain on the website so the changes can be seen. The primary changes made to the Unified Development Code from the existing regulations include:
- Chapter 3 – Development Applications
- Development Application Order
- Plat Extensions
- Establishing a Subdivision Variance process
- Chapters 6 and 7 – Development Standards
- Clarified setback requirements
- Applicability of Chapters
- Chapter 12 – Pedestrian and Vehicle Circulation
- Pedestrian and Bicycle mobility
- Streets
- Driveways and Easement
- Road Adequacy Standards
- Established a formula for existing and future connectivity
- Intersection spacing
- Cul-de-sac- protection
- Chapter 13 – Public Improvements
- Codification of current practice for requesting voluntary annexation
- Chapter 16 – Definitions
- Modified definitions for transportation related items
Click here to view the new UDC in its entirety.
Questions can be directed to planning@georgetown.org.
Trucks with bridge beams affect traffic March 20-24
Next week on Monday through Friday, concrete bridge beams will be delivered at the Southwest Bypass bridge site in southwest Georgetown. Delivery of 120 precast bridge beams in convoys of six trucks at a time will lead to brief road closures on SH 29/University Avenue and on Leander Road at their intersections with I-35. Traffic on the main lanes of I-35 should not be affected. The beam delivery schedule is weather-dependent.
On March 20-22 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, there will be closures of approximately five minutes in duration on University Avenue at the I-35 intersection. During each closure, Georgetown police will stop traffic on University Avenue to allow for the passage of six trucks carrying 120-foot-long bridge beams. After clearing the intersection, trucks will travel west on University Avenue and then turn south on D.B. Wood Road to reach the bridge site.
On March 23-24 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day, police will close Leander Road at the intersection with I-35 for brief periods to allow groups of six trucks with beams to pass through the intersection. These trucks will travel west on Leander Road and turn north at the Southwest Bypass right-of-way, which is about 600 feet west of Riverview Drive.
Once at the bridge site, each beam will be lifted from the transport truck with two cranes and lowered into place on bridge supports. The steel-reinforced concrete beams are for bridges over the South San Gabriel River and an unnamed tributary that are part of the Southwest Bypass project.
Due to the intermittent closures on SH 29 and Leander Road, drivers should expect traffic delays. Prior to moving through the SH 29 and Leander Road intersections, the trucks will be staging along the I-35 northbound frontage roads in Georgetown.
Southwest Bypass is a new north-south arterial that will connect with D.B Wood Road and Leander Road. The construction contract for the Southwest Bypass has a completion date in late 2018, however the contractor is ahead of schedule.
[google_maps]Fixed-route bus system open house planned for March 21
The City of Georgetown is hosting an open house meeting to share with the public progress on delivering the City’s new fixed-route bus system.
The meeting will be held 4-7 p.m. on March 21 at the Georgetown Public Library, 402 W. Eighth St.
At the open house meeting, attendees will be able to learn about the Transit Development Plan that was adopted by City Council in September 2016 and the process to develop the fixed-route bus system. City staff will be on hand to discuss the process as well as various aspects of the TDP, including policies that will guide bus fares, discounted fares, service hours and ridership as well as answer attendees’ questions.
Bus service is scheduled to begin in August. City staff has been working with their partners at Capital Metro, Capital Area Rural Transportation System, the Georgetown Health Foundation, The Caring Place and Faith in Action Georgetown to refine service planning recommendations to present to City Council. The council is expected to consider adoption of the policies during its regularly scheduled March 28 meeting.
For more information about the TDP, visit transit.georgetown.org.
Williams Drive Study open house on March 9
Georgetown residents, business owners and civic leaders will join the Williams Drive project team on Thursday, March, 9 for an open house showing the conceptual designs for Williams Drive.
Feedback from previous meetings and design events has been conceptualized into a vision for Williams Drive. The recommended approaches will be presented and participants will have an opportunity to provide further input.
The meeting will be 4-7 p.m. in the Georgetown Health Foundation Community Rooms in the Lake Aire Center at 2423 Williams Drive, Ste. 101.
The focus of the Williams Drive Study is to create safe and efficient transportation options while integrating smart land use, community needs, and the future economic growth of the corridor. The Study is a partnership between the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and the City of Georgetown.
For more information about the study and to sign up for email newsletters, visit transportation.georgetown.org/williams-drive.
Faith in Action Georgetown expands office hours with grant
Georgetown nonprofit Faith in Action Georgetown will begin offering full-day office hours March 15.
The extended hours will allow the nonprofit, which provides transportation services for seniors in Georgetown, to better serve its more than 500 clients, FIAG Executive Director Vickie Orcutt said.
“This grant is about mobility management and coordination,” Orcutt said. “We’ve always scheduled rides all day, but now we will have the administrative support to have full-day office hours, and our clients will benefit from our expanded hours.”
The expanded hours were made possible by a $120,000 Federal Transportation Administration grant awarded through the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. The City supported the grant, which will allow the nonprofit to work alongside the City’s fixed-route bus system that is expected to launch in August.
The grant will be administered over a two-year period to pay for salaries and program expenses related to the expanded hours.
Orcutt said the grant will allow FIAG to work with the City’s Transit Working Group, which also includes officials from the Georgetown Health Foundation, Capital Metro and the City working together to provide technical and strategic support for the bus system.
Previously, FIAG’s office was open 9 a.m.-noon for client scheduling and coordination; however, the grant will allow the office to open 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
“Not having a car any longer, Faith in Action Georgetown is my only mode of transportation,” said Linda Deal, an FIAG client. “My doctors don’t give me much time in advance, so having those extra hours to call will take the pressure off.”
On Feb. 14, Mayor Dale Ross read a proclamation at Georgetown City Council about Faith in Action Georgetown and their services for area seniors.
FIAG provides transportation for clients age 65 and older who live in Georgetown or the extraterritorial jurisdiction and are able to get in and out of a vehicle without assistance. In 2016, the nonprofit provided more than 6,000 rides to its clients with the help of 215 volunteers. More than 75 percent of rides are for health-related appointments or access to food, Orcutt said.
For more information about volunteering with Faith in Action Georgetown and its services, call (512) 868-9544 or visit www.faithinactiongt.org.
Unified Development Code Amendments Office Hours
The City of Georgetown Planning Department will be hosting office visiting hours for anybody interested in learning more about the amendments, running through specific development examples, and addressing any questions you may have. Dedicated office hours will be held Wednesday, January 4 from 4 to 6 p.m.
To sign up for a specific appointment please email planning@georgetown.org. If a different time or day works better for you please do not hesitate to email us so we can arrange a separate time. UDC proposed changes can be found at udc.georgetown.org/udc-amendments.
Unified Development Code Amendments Proposed
The Unified Development Code (UDC) Advisory Committee will hold a public hearing and consider proposed amendments to the UDC on Wednesday, October 12th at 3:00. The proposed amendments primarily pertain to the transportation, utility, and subdivision provisions of the code. The UDC Advisory Committee and City staff have worked throughout the year discussing and refining draft language with the intent to improve City street and sidewalk design and ensure adequate public improvements through development. The draft proposals are now ready for further public discussion and input. The meeting on October 12th will be held at the Historic Light and Water Works Building at 406 W. 8th Street and will be followed by additional public meetings at dates to be determined. The proposed amendments can be found here.
