We don't want your stinking bridge!

Now and then the Power makes a show of "listening to the people". Tonight, the people of Hamilton Pool Road spoke overwhelmingly against any new bridge! It was exhilarating. But from personal experience: Temper that exhilaration with the recognition that (near) unanimity and solidarity alone is not enough; we have to keep fighting because the Power is inexorable and will have its way if we let our guard down. .

Mighty few people from the west side of the Pedernales River seemed to be in favor of a new bridge. Sure, guardrails if you must. But nobody wanted anything that would increase traffic or decrease peacefulness.

There was a palpable turning point when the Travis County roads guy impressed on everyone that Hamilton Pool Road west of RR12 is scheduled to be a four lane highway by 2030. You could hear little gasps. Nobody out here wants that.Nobody.

So here's the deal: there's federal money TxDot can spend to improve bridge safety. They have $1.3M budgeted for this project. They are surveying the area so they can assess the needs of this old crossing. The crossing is currently "safe" and rates 64 out of 100 on some scale they have. It's not about to slide away, and the county guy (Steve Manilla, Director of Engineering) even mentioned that it can take a full 36 ton load. Still, it's an old bridge, and the guardrails are low, and it's narrow, so it's on the list for possible improvements.

That's TxDot's perspective. The county has a different agenda: Precinct 3 Commissioner Gerald Daugherty's plan to put a dense subdivision on every square inch of western Travis County. That's why the real estate development corporations put him there. County staff now has a mandate from the Commissioner's Court, CAMPO, and The Gerald, to plan for a four lane arterial where Hamilton Pool Road used to be. So the bridge they want is going to be substantially bigger than the one TxDot can build with its $1.3M and the federal limitation that the funds be spent to improve safety.

So TxDot and the county will collaborate to plan a bridge that satisfies the mandate to improve safety, and will also satisfy the CAMPO four lane mandate. The county, though, will have to come up with the extra money for the non-safety, CAMPO-compliant "improvements". That means a bond election.

The TxDot engineers at the meeting didn't say this, but it's obvious. A bridge that meets the requirements of an eventual four lane highway has to stretch high over the canyon. No more cute little winding switchbacks down to the river. That's for pedestrians, cyclists and other non-productive communities . That's not for the gravel trucks and schoolbuses full of cul-de-sac kids. They'll fly over the river and never know it's there. Same as zooming west on 71, you never see the river. It's just a little green road sign.

A guy named Bob Ashcroft chaired the meeting. He was facilitator, or moderator, and did a great job. He lives "three counties and ninety miles away" so he's disinterested in the outcome.

The meeting was very orderly with one brief outburst by a troublemaker. Me. The Gerald was the first speaker, and he began in the manner of a loquacious politician, broadly embracing his audience, gathering us into his fold: Western Travis County residents are a diverse bunch, ha ha. But you know, there are some things that unite us all, out here. Just to show you how crazy some people are, let me tell you a little story. The other day I met with some people from the Texas Bicycle Coalition. I asked them for just some simple common sense cooperation Can you just, please, explain to your people that cycling on Hamilton Pool Road is dangerous? But practically before I could finish, these fellows were leaning over the desk, pointing out specific lines in the Texas Transportation Code that said they have as much right as any vehicle to ride on this road! [Shrug] What can you do?

Loud voice from the back: Make the road safe, and let's talk about the bridge! (That's me)

Gerald: Huh?

Me: Talk about the bridge!

A lot of people don't know this about me, but I am all about safe cycling on Hamilton Pool Road. To come out here and trump up a common enemy Gerald thinks we can all unite around -- cyclists -- is pathetic. He imagined there would not be one cyclist in the audience? There were several.

And then: He never says one word about the bridge. He wraps it up in a hurry, stays through some of the engineers' discussion, and leaves before the citizen comments.

Our Commish.

Let me say one word for Gerald, in all sincerity. Despite my profound differences with him, I respect that he showed up tonight at all. Being County Commissioner is hard thankless work, and I wish someone else were doing it for us; but I think you're probably not all bad if you will do it, and participate at some level in all kinds of events at all hours with a bunch of pissed off citizens. It wasn't fun for him.

We can put him out of his misery real soon now, you know.

Video: We are all expecting Ric Sternberg to post the video any minute now at Neighbors in Paradise. He taped the whole meeting. Not to mention: he sort of energized this whole thing by noticing the survey crew and asking all the right questions. Thanks Ric.

Public Comments: The organizers captured all citizen comments on paper tablets. Click "read more" to see photos of all the comments.