Thank you to everyone who came out to the CAMPO public hearing or signed the letters of support for our projects up for grant funding. It was exciting to present the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Board of Directors with 703 signatures of support and have thirty-three Hutto supporters in the audience stand up during Monday’s public hearing. The other communities with applications before CAMPO started using Hutto as their benchmark for their presentations, with statements such as “We believe that we are the next Hutto.” In the words of one of my fellow council members, the support shown was “Awesome!”
The next major step for our applications will be consideration by the CAMPO Board in mid-October for which projects will be funded. The main emphasis on our grant applications is FM 685 expansion and bridge improvement project. This $13 million project will provide a safer roadway for our residents and improve the mobility for traffic between Williamson County and Travis County. In addition, it will provide sidewalks along FM 685 to allow for pedestrian traffic between the neighborhoods and schools in the area.
With the growth we’ve seen in Hutto during the past decade, we have recognized that FM 685 was no longer able to accommodate the traffic being placed on it every day. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), which has authority and ownership of the roadway, also has recognized this and even designed the needed improvements before their funding evaporated a few years ago. The improvement project was shelved by TxDOT and we realized that we could not afford to pay for the needed improvements by ourselves. By seeking grant funds through other governmental partners, we now have a real shot at fixing a problem for our community and future growth.
The support shown by the community for this project and others, such as the Temple College/TSTC campus, makes me proud to live in Hutto. Our neighbors and friends work together to find solutions!
