TRAFFIC PROJECTIONS
These are the estimated daily tra c counts each project’s tra c mitigation studies predict for developments underway in the Lake Travis area.
3,286
15,732
16,302
Kwik Chek gas station
The Village at Spanish Oaks phase 1
The Backyard
1,403
780
2,710
The Village at Spanish Oaks phase 2
Rapid Express Car Wash
Summer Moon Co ee drive-thru
SOURCE: THE CITIES OF BEE CAVE AND LAKEWAY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Maintaining tra c ow The two larger developments, The Backyard and the Village at Spanish Oaks have performed a tra c impact analysis and have a list of improve- ments they must make as part of their agreements with the city of Bee Cave. The tra c analyses revealed that The Backyard would generate about 13,381 daily trips upon completion with most of the tra c distributed east along Hwy. 71, north along RM 620 and north along RM 2244 with each route accounting for 20% of traf- c generated by The Backyard. The remaining 40% of tra c would be distributed among smaller thor- oughfares, such as Hamilton Pool road, West Hwy. 71, Willie Way and West Falcon Head Boulevard. To deal with expected tra c around The Backyard and The Village at Span- ish Oaks sites, the developers must account for improvements to area roadways that were already planned for or that they will need to provide as part of the build-out as part of requirements by local governments. For instance, plans are already in the works for the Texas Department of Transportation to optimize signal timing at several locations along Hwy. 71 and to widen RM 620 to a six-lane divided roadway, construct turn lanes and eliminate other turn lanes. At The Backyard, a concept plan submitted to Bee Cave shows three access points with one leading across Bee Cave Parkway onto Willie Way, a road that will be constructed to con- nect from The Backyard to Ladera Boulevard. The second driveway will lead directly onto Bee Cave Parkway and the third will be o Hwy. 71. The tra c impact analysis
recommends a tra c signal at the intersection of Bee Cave Parkway and Willie Way, where there also will be two lanes leading in and two lanes leading out of the site. Christie Van Rite, co-manager of JPD Backyard Finance LLC, said this connectivity between The Backyard and The Village at Spanish Oaks will be a game changer, allowing for resi- dents in Spanish Oaks to cross Hwy. 71 and drive as far as to the Home Depot or Target on RM 620 without getting on a major thoroughfare. Van Rite said other considerations the developers have made when designing The Backyard include being heavy proponents of rideshare. At a recent transportation town hall, Lakeway Assistant City Manager Joseph Molis elded questions about the tra c plan surrounding the pro- posed H E B at Serene Hills Drive. The city’s plan is to widen the road from one lane in each direction to two lanes from Hwy. 71 to Flint Rock Road and add sidewalks to the entire route on the west side of the road. ”It may actually help with tra c, because all the people in Spicewood aren’t going to cut through Lakeway to go to the Lakeway H E B,” Molis said. “Whether we do something or not people are using [these roads], so we need to be aggressive in planning. I want to drive the train on develop- ment; I don’t want the train to run us over. Right now the train is running us over, and so that is why we have to look at the potential for widening this road.”
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
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LAKE TRAVIS WESTLAKE EDITION • MAY 2022
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