Dripping Springs neighbors weigh in on changes to US 290

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN) — The Texas Department of Transportation hosted an informal community meeting Saturday, getting input from residents about proposals it said would make U.S. Highway 290 more safe and help accommodate the growing population.

According to TxDOT's information page on this project, the agency wants to make changes along 13 miles of US 290 from Ranch-to-Market Road 1825 to Rob Shelton Boulevard.

Some of those changes include adding several lanes and frontage roads to the major roadway. The page said these changes could also eliminate the need for traffic lights at some intersections which would speed up traffic as well.

“This last design that we had presented, there were roughly 80 properties that would be impacted But if people do want a slimmed down version of it, then we're gonna see that number decrease," Antonio Lujan, TxDOT public information officer said.

Lujan said this project is currently in its Environmental Study phase which is very early on in the designing and planning process.

He said the goal of Saturday's meeting was to gather input from residents and adjust plans as necessary.

“The engineers go back and start drafting new designs, they can take into consideration everything that the community is saying," Lujan said.

John Sanchez has lived in Dripping Springs for 20 years and attended the weekend meeting.

He said his main concern is the future development that could follow the project once it's complete.

Several businesses moved into his neighborhood recently, and he said he's worried that more could pop up in the next decade.

"There's a lot of runoff we get from that, there's some light pollution that comes out of that, a lot more noise," Sanchez said.

Overall, Sanchez said he's pleased to see TxDOT hosting meetings like this. He said he's hopeful that his concerns will be kept in mind as the mission to make US 290 more safe continues.

"I think that's a good thing that we can work together with them to come up with a good solution. I understand growth needs to happen, but I think we just need to need to pay attention to what the community says," Sanchez said.

Lujan said the comment portion of the study has been extended through June 22. Visit this link to fill out the survey for this project's Environmental Study.