traffic Bulverde Road/Evans? (Canyon, Blanco: school, utilities, subdivision)

[RGJ]

Bulverde Village at Classen/Bulverde Rd south of 1604 is starting the groundwork. HEB and Target(I think it's Target) are planned for the northwest and northeast corners of Bulverde and 1604. Hopefully, the streets will be finished by the time these stores open..

[TXEX06]

Originally Posted by RGJ

Bulverde Village at Classen/Bulverde Rd south of 1604 is starting the groundwork. HEB and Target(I think it's Target) are planned for the northwest and northeast corners of Bulverde and 1604. Hopefully, the streets will be finished by the time these stores open..

That HEB sounds great, real close to my house. It just sucks seeing more land cleared.

[dendox]

Originally Posted by imaterry78259

I heard that they found caves under the Bulverde/ Evan Rds area and that will halt any constructions for two years until the scientist can investigate it

please please please tell me that this isn't true.

[RGJ]

Survey crew was at the intersection of Bulverde and 1604 this morning, so something must be fixing to happen. I would guess that it won't be long before Bulverde Rd north of 1604 will have an explosion of growth in a very short period of tiime.

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by mindystevens

With how much property taxes we are paying living off these streets, these roads should have been paved in Gold 10 years ago. Maybe we should give some kids some crayons and draw up better plans! Again, ten years ago these roads needed to be wider. Lets build 10 more subdivisions and two more schools so it can take us an hour to drive 3 miles! Toll roads are not the answer we will suffer greatly for this mistake. It's sad to see that our public servants hoard lobby money for the toll roads and screw the tax payers who don't want them! I'm voting out people in the coming election!

Here we go with the demagoguery again. Just because you pay property taxes doesn't mean there's enough money to fix everything. That's like saying that just because you get a salary of $40K a year you should be able to buy everything you want. Despite what you think, tax revenue is a finite resource, and the list of needs in this city (and most, for that matter) is long and expensive, so projects are prioritized. And I'm not sure what you're referring to about "better plans"-- most of what's out there now on Bulverde is the original road that was there when it was way out in the country, and it was more than adequate.

As for toll roads, that's been discussed ad naseum here by myself and others. But here's a quick recap-- gas taxes are not sufficient to build the big expensive projects like 281 any more because the state's gas tax has not been increased since 1991 (federal not since 1993-- same problem). That means that inflation and better MPG of vehicles has decreased its value to the point that it's about 11 cents behind where it should be based on inflation (the state's tax itself is 20 cents). Meanwhile, 25% of the gas-tax automatically goes to public education per the state's constitution, and the Legislature diverts 10% or more each year to DPS and other non-transportation expenditures. Because the Leg has refused to fix that, local entities have used the only tool left in their toolbox to try and get some of these projects done, and that tool is tolling.

Originally Posted by imaterry78259

I heard that they found caves under the Bulverde/ Evan Rds area and that will halt any constructions for two years until the scientist can investigate it

I had not heard that, but I wouldn't be surprised. There are lots of karst features in that area, and if they happened to find one while surveying, federal and state environmental laws require them to fully document it and then determine what mitigation needs to take place before the road can be built-- that's a non-trivial process. I don't actually have a contact for that project, but I'll see if I can get confirmation on that report.

[imaterry78259]

Originally Posted by TexHwyMan

Here we go with the demagoguery again. Just because you pay property taxes doesn't mean there's enough money to fix everything. That's like saying that just because you get a salary of $40K a year you should be able to buy everything you want. Despite what you think, tax revenue is a finite resource, and the list of needs in this city (and most, for that matter) is long and expensive, so projects are prioritized. And I'm not sure what you're referring to about "better plans"-- most of what's out there now on Bulverde is the original road that was there when it was way out in the country, and it was more than adequate.

As for toll roads, that's been discussed ad naseum here by myself and others. But here's a quick recap-- gas taxes are not sufficient to build the big expensive projects like 281 any more because the state's gas tax has not been increased since 1991 (federal not since 1993-- same problem). That means that inflation and better MPG of vehicles has decreased its value to the point that it's about 11 cents behind where it should be based on inflation (the state's tax itself is 20 cents). Meanwhile, 25% of the gas-tax automatically goes to public education per the state's constitution, and the Legislature diverts 10% or more each year to DPS and other non-transportation expenditures. Because the Leg has refused to fix that, local entities have used the only tool left in their toolbox to try and get some of these projects done, and that tool is tolling.



I had not heard that, but I wouldn't be surprised. There are lots of karst features in that area, and if they happened to find one while surveying, federal and state environmental laws require them to fully document it and then determine what mitigation needs to take place before the road can be built-- that's a non-trivial process. I don't actually have a contact for that project, but I'll see if I can get confirmation on that report.

Thanks for looking into it. When I first move into the area, I could almost take a nap on Bulverde Rd north of 1604, now I am crawling at 3 miles per hour just to get home

[traficdogn]

Originally Posted by mindystevens

With how much property taxes we are paying living off these streets, these roads should have been paved in Gold 10 years ago. Maybe we should give some kids some crayons and draw up better plans! Again, ten years ago these roads needed to be wider. Lets build 10 more subdivisions and two more schools so it can take us an hour to drive 3 miles! Toll roads are not the answer we will suffer greatly for this mistake. It's sad to see that our public servants hoard lobby money for the toll roads and screw the tax payers who don't want them! I'm voting out people in the coming election!

who are you voting in?

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by imaterry78259

I heard that they found caves under the Bulverde/ Evan Rds area and that will halt any constructions for two years until the scientist can investigate it

Sorry it took so long, but I did finally get a response on this.

Yes, there is a cave in the right-of-way, but it is not expected to delay the project. The city is working with US Fish & Wildlife to determine what actions they need to take during construction to protect it.

Utility work is expected to start next month and the entire project is scheduled to be completed in early 2013. They will be expanding the road to six lanes plus a center turn lane at intersections.

[bjornb17]

Have you guys noticed how the bulverde/evans intersection is bascially falling apart? They keep patching it up but with every rain the potholes get bigger and deeper. I can't even avoid them anymore!

[RGJ]

Bulverde Rd sure is nice around the Johnson High school area, though. Maybe they are just patching it knowing it's going to be totally reworked....