Safety trumps development in county vote

January 22, 2013, 9:00 pm by james Walker

Precinct 1 Commissioner Bill Neve’s safety-over-economic development argument won out Tuesday as county commissioners prioritized their list of future transportation projects.

Howard Lyons, the Texas Department of Transportation’s Burnet area engineer, asked the commissioners to rank their top three regional or more expensive projects and their top three local projects.

None of the projects have been funded and it is uncertain when any of them might get the go ahead from TxDOT, but it always is prudent to have them prioritized, Lyons said.

Neve took issue when Lyons suggested that a project that would install curbs and gutters on a stretch of US 281 between Nature Heights and Second Street in Marble Falls should be the third priority on the local projects list.

Lyons said the project is safety-related because the installation of curbs and gutters would help in controlling random access and parking along US 281.

He also mentioned that it would be good for the economic development in the bustling business area.

Neve wanted a higher priority placed on a project in his precinct that would add a center left-turn lane and shoulders on TX 29 from three-tenths of a mile west of FM 690 to a tenth of a mile east of the 690 intersection.

As a safety issue, the need for a left-turn lane at the increasingly dangerous intersection trumps the need for the curbs and gutters on US 281 in Marble Falls, Neve said.

For the full story, see Wednesday's Burnet Bulletin or Friday's Highlander.