Bee Cave City Council on Oct. 14 heard a presentation and held an extended discussion of draft updates to the city's thoroughfare plan focused on connections near U.S. 71, Hamilton Pool Road and the area in front of the Galleria. The Friese Nichols consultant team presented three alignment options designed to shift traffic off the over-capacity 71/Hamilton Pool Road intersection and to provide alternate east'west connections.

The presentation described constraints that include an extensive floodplain and water-quality buffers near Hamilton Pool Road, private parcels and county-owned property. Mallory, a consultant with Friese Nichols, said the materials shown were "very preliminary" and that the team still needs to coordinate with TxDOT and other stakeholders and continue public outreach. She added the city could amend the thoroughfare plan later as conditions change.

Why this matters: Traffic volumes at the 71/Hamilton Pool corridor have continued to rise, the consultants said, and the existing thoroughfare alignment could leave the intersection saturated as regional growth continues. Any new alignment will have environmental and permitting implications if it crosses the floodplain; consultants warned that floodplain crossings trigger additional environmental review, federal permitting issues and, potentially, FEMA map-change processes.

What the options would do

- Option 1 places the new intersection on Hamilton Pool Road farther west from the current 71/Hamilton Pool/Bee Cave Parkway intersection and crosses the floodplain at a relatively narrow point. The consultant noted this alignment would not directly address peak-hour congestion at Bee Cave Elementary because it sits farther from the campus.

- Option 2 (presented as A and B) shifts the crossing east of the Travis County buildings and comes closer to the elementary school. In one Variant the alignment crosses the floodplain at a wider point and would cross the creek twice for the westward connector.

- Option 3 most closely follows the existing thoroughfare-plan alignment on the east side of Hamilton Pool Road, and — according to the consultants' traffic modeling — produced the best level-of-service figures by splitting traffic across two intersections rather than concentrating it at one. The tradeoffs: Option 3 would require more private-property acquisition and additional bridge structures where the corridor crosses creeks and the floodplain.

Consultants and council members emphasized the tradeoffs. "Option 3 did show the best level of service in terms of the delay," Mallory said, noting the improvement came because traffic was split across two intersections rather than concentrated at a single point. But Councilmembers raised concerns that Option 3 effectively increases the amount of traffic routed onto Hamilton Pool Road and could duplicate traffic flows there.

Permitting, cost and the floodplain

Friese Nichols warned that crossing floodplains increases permit complexity and cost. The consultants did not provide a firm construction estimate, saying structure length and design would determine price and that long spans to avoid permits increase bridge costs. "If you encroach into the floodplain, then you go into a whole FEMA process on certified letters of map revision," the presenter said.

Councilmembers asked for ballpark cost guidance for floodplain crossings and for comparative estimates between options; the consultant said she would provide modeled movement counts used in the traffic evaluation and follow up with additional numbers.

School circulation and safety

Councilmembers and several speakers from the public emphasized school safety at Bee Cave Elementary. The consultant said one mitigation considered in modeling would be to realign the school driveway to become a controlled fourth leg of a signalized intersection, which could regulate egress and reduce random driveway movements during peak drop-off and pick-up times.

Resident Ryan Herholzer, who gave his address for the record, told the council he believes the area at the elementary school is dangerous and urged the city to prioritize child safety. "Please get some safety for our children," Herholzer said, recounting a recent crash at the school entrance and saying traffic there reaches 55 mph in places.

Public feedback, next steps and timeline

Councilmembers and staff said the thoroughfare-plan update is a planning tool and can be amended later. City staff described the plan as a "living document" used for short-term (roughly 10-year) planning and as guidance for developers; construction would depend on funding and permitting timelines. Staff and consultants asked for additional feedback from the public and landowners, and they said the next steps include further coordination with TxDOT, more outreach and provision of the modeling numbers and cost ballparks requested by council.

No formal action. The council did not adopt any change to the thoroughfare plan during the meeting; the presentation was for discussion and feedback only. Staff said they will continue to refine alternatives, gather public input and return with updated analysis.

Ending: The council encouraged written comments and staff said it will bring additional information, including the traffic counts and permit-cost considerations, to a future meeting for further direction.