BK Planning and Zoning Commission recommends Option 3 for 71/Hamilton Pool thoroughfare update

The BK Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that city council approve a revised thoroughfare map for the 71/Hamilton Pool Road area, favoring “Option 3,” which calls for two new signalized intersections designed to reduce parcel and environmental impacts while providing alternate routes off 71.

City staff invited consultant Mallory Skates of Friese Nichols to present the update, which focuses on the corridor near the Galleria, the BK Parkway–Hamilton Pool Road intersection and adjacent neighborhoods. Skates said the plan is a long‑range tool to guide roadway classification, alignment and rights‑of‑way as development occurs, and that modeling shows traffic volumes on several segments could roughly double over 20 years.

Skates described three main alternatives: Option 1, which would add a single new signal and would limit impacts to the elementary school but increase private‑parcel impacts; Options 2a and 2b, which the team removed from consideration after models showed they performed poorly and would increase impacts in the floodplain and water‑quality buffers; and Option 3, which separates traffic across two new intersections to avoid sensitive areas. “It’s our bowl of spaghetti,” Skates said of the existing alignment near Hamilton Pool Road, describing overlapping streams, floodplain and planned roadwork in the same location. She recommended staff move forward with the revised Option 3 to minimize environmental concerns and property takings, and to align one intersection with the BK Elementary driveway to improve school circulation and safety.

Commissioners asked for additional cost information and coordination details. One commissioner asked whether staff had run cost estimates to compare Option 1 and Option 3, particularly for crossing the floodplain; Skates said those cost estimates had not yet been run but that the team can provide them and that council had previously asked for a break‑out of floodplain crossing costs. Commissioners also pressed staff to coordinate with the school district and Travis County when alignments contact property owned by those entities; staff said those discussions remain to be scheduled.

Staff noted other map edits included realigning a connector at the Field Of Dreams complex to match the developer’s site plan, removing Shoppes Parkway as a primary collector since it is private, and adding two neighborhood collectors north of 71 south of BK Parkway, including the Skaggs Drive extension. Skates said TxDOT had reviewed the options and would defer to the city on selection; staff said they will continue coordination with TxDOT and affected property owners as development proceeds.

The Chair opened the public hearing; no members of the public spoke. After discussion, Commissioner Davis moved to recommend council approve the update to the BK 2037 comprehensive plan with Option 3; Commissioner Tedder seconded. The commission voted Aye and the motion passed unanimously.

The commission also discussed agenda planning: staff said a site‑plan application with an associated waiver is expected in April, staff will bring a city‑initiated rezoning for the proposed public safety building parcel, and fee‑schedule changes will be before the body in April. The meeting adjourned at 6:36 p.m.