TV series to disrupt traffic

The rumors around town are that either the TV series “Fear the Walking Dead,” or another installment of the program “Scorpion” are the reason for traffic delays near the Junction. Either way, traffic is being intermittently stopped on Ranch Road 12 whenever film crews need access.

“This will be going for a while... It all depends on how much filming they can get done,” Constable Ray Helm said. “They’ll be filming all over Central Texas, but a lot more here (in Wimberley).”

“When the delays happen they are about three times an hour and usually last about three minutes,” Darrell Ayres, the former Constable pressed into service for the shutdowns, said.

The Constable’s office usually gets a couple weeks notice but with this filming, it was only nine days. But while you are sitting in traffic muttering under your breath about the wait time, there is one big benefit to the community. Money.

“The town depends on sales tax to run the city and the filmmakers spend a lot in town for food and other things to keep the production going,” Helm said. Essentially, this could be an economic boom for a small town like Wimberley.

The filming in the area will continue for a couple of months, with intermittent traffic stops, but the when and where are only known to the production people and TxDot and the Constable’s office.

Keeping the facts concerning the production low key and out of the media is hard considering the far reach of social media. The film production does not need diehard fans hanging around the specially constructed movie sets holding up production and costing more in time wasted.

So the next time there’s a stoppage for filmmaking, remember they are helping to fill the city’s coffers to benefit us locals.