City of Wimberley considers new transportation plan

The city of Wimberley has proposed a new transportation plan — its first in over a decade.

The last transportation plan was adopted by the city in 2010. Earlier this year, Wimberley city officials and staff engaged transportation consultants with CP&Y Inc. to study roadway safety, traffic flow, roads and pedestrian issues throughout the city limits. The engineering, architectural and field services consulting firm provided recommendations, many of which are included on the city’s proposed plan.

“The Transportation Plan is a major component of the City’s Comprehensive Plan,” City Administrator Mike Boese said in March. “Council budgeted for this piece first because of the pressing needs created by our ongoing upward trend in visitor traffic.”

Mayor Pro Tem Rebecca Minnick explained that, while Wimberley itself has not grown significantly since 2010, the city experiences significant traffic from the swiftly growing San Marcos and Dripping Springs areas.

The true purpose of this transportation, Minnick said, is twofold. For one, the city needs an accurate transportation plan to fulfill its laws of governance as part of its larger comprehensive plan. For two, the city wants to look at alternative routes to Ranch Road 12.

“Really, the only way to get from San Marcos to Dripping Springs is on Ranch Road 12,” she said. “Even to get through Wimberley, there’s only one way in and out: Ranch Road 12. So that’s a lot of what we’ve been looking at with this plan.”

Even Winters Mill Parkway, a road intended to relieve traffic on RR12, can only be accessed by RR12 at certain points.

Although alternatives are being proposed in this new transportation plan, the proposed routes may or may not come to fruition.

“Some of this may not be doable,” Minnick admitted. “The city doesn’t have jurisdiction on a lot of these, and there’s still discussion to be had. When action is going to be taken, that’s when you start to dig into each of the individual spots. That’s when money is budgeted for traffic studies.”

As for an estimation of when action will be taken, Minnick said that depends more on conditions than any timeline the city would or could put together.

“This isn’t even a game plan; it’s a set of alternatives to address current issues,” she said. “When is not a date; when is when conditions dictate. You have to look at triggers.”

“How long are you willing to wait in traffic on Ranch Road 12?” she asked. “All the way to Woodcreek? When does traffic get ‘too bad’?”

Many residents have expressed concerns about the plan, worried that it might cause additional issues or infringe on their private property.

“People who have lived in this area want it to stay the way it used to be, but change is going to come, whether you want it to or not,” Minnick said. “You want to be ready when things start to change. This is a longterm planning exercise; it does not mean steps are going to be taken — it just means that we’re trying to responsibly address traffic issues.”

Some of the routes included on the transportation plan, even some that have recently become contentious, were already included on the 2010 plan. Two of these, labeled as 19 and 20 on the city’s plan, propose new collector roadways — from Cypress Creek Lane to Winters Mill and from Flite Acres Road to Ranch to Market 3237, respectively.

Others, such as 14, are new. This route would extend River Road from Wayside Drive to Ranch Road 2325 and would “help address an undeveloped area,” according to Minnick.

“The plan hasn’t changed very much,” Minnick said. “From my perspective, we want to check the box for the comprehensive plan, have some thoughtful discussion and keep an eye on traffic.”

Opportunity for thoughtful discussion and public comment will be available at the Wimberley City Council meeting on Thursday, Nov. 17, beginning at 6 p.m.

A separate meeting will be held on Thursday, Dec. 1 to vote on the proposed plan. This meeting will also include a time for public comment.

Additional information on Wimberley’s proposed transportation plan is available at the city’s website: cityofwimberley. com.