Help save the South San Gabriel River Valley from Highway 29 Expansion
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Liberty Hill's history dates from the opening of its post office in 1853. The city was incorporated in 1999.
Just south of Liberty Hill runs the South Fork of the San Gabriel River.
The land on either side of the South San Gabriel is mostly green space
comprised of cattle ranches, woodlands
and managed wildlife areas.
Currently the river area is threatened by the Williamson County Highway 29 Expansion Plan (Texas 29 or Texas SH 29). The highway can't go through
Liberty Hill, so it either has to go north or south. To avoid historical and municipal property in town, the southern route
under consideration crosses the river twice.
OPPONENTS MOBILIZE AGAINST SH 29 BYPASS
Updated August 6: you can see a slide show of photos from the Hwy 29 Expansion open house
Open House, Closed Ears
Updated August 8: the Austin Chronicle has picked up on Liberty Hill's opposition to The Highway to Nowhere
The Austin Chronicle > HOME: AUGUST 8, 2008 > NEWS
On Aug. 4, Williamson County's steamroller streak took a hit, as hundreds of citizens seeing red over
the planned expansion of State Highway 29 wore red to a raucous "open house" hosted by county
commissioners Cynthia Long and Valerie Covey. At issue is a multilane SH 29 bypass, proposed
by the Commissioners Court, that would be constructed either to the north or south of Liberty
Hill. Two groups opposing the road plan - Keep 29 Local
and LibertyHillRiver.org, which advocates keeping
the San Gabriel River countryside unspoiled by asphalt - pronounced the Wear Red campaign a
success. According to one report from the event, when the audience was asked how many were
opposed to both of the proposed routes, the entire crowd stood up. The mounting flap over the
dubbed "Highway to Nowhere" could signal a shift in the political winds, too, as some WilCo GOP
incumbents face Democratic opponents in November.
- Patricia J. Ruland
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The Wear Red campaign was a huge success in one respect: there is no doubt that County Commissioners Cynthia Long and Valerie Covey saw the number of people wearing red and vocally opposing both remaining Highway 29 bypass options. Hundreds of people showed up at the meeting to hear county's consultants and engineers answer questions sent in advance. But when Linda Rife tried to adjourn the meeting, JT Cox stood up and asked politely but firmly how many people in the audience opposed both options. The huge crowd of Liberty Hill citizens stood as one and applauded.
The citizens of a united Libery Hill made it clear they don't want an Interstate 29.
Unfortunately the county wanted to make tonight a multiple choice quiz:
The county is happy to listen to us and wants our input, but the only question left is to choose the Northern Route or the Southern Route.
To be fair, the county commissioners make a pretty clear cut case:
How can you reconcile the will of the people with the harsh realities of demographics?
I have one idea to propose, but it will probably take a change to Texas law to implement, and it won't make everyone happy.
After a corridor study by Chiang, Patel and Yerby, Inc., three primary routes with sixteen possible options have been reduced to just two options: a northern bypass that goes about 2.5 miles north of the current highway 29, and a southern bypass about 1 mile south of the current highway.
At this point the county is not planning to condemn any land; they can't start taking property by eminent domain without doing a lot more studies. But, once the county has chosen a route and started buying land, a 10 to 20 year clock will have started that will inevitably lead to condemnation and then construction of a 10 lane roadway 400' wide.
The plans don't yet seem to indicate the locations of overpasses, but they show one-way frontage roads, so wherever the road goes there will be a lot of U-turns and driving to get past the new road.
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Yes, and the southern route crosses the river not once but twice. The county maps show the 100 year floodplain, but last year's rain bomb sent the South San Gabriel far beyond the
100 year borders shown on these maps.
These photos show the flooding at County Road 279 near the Martha Chapman Dam. The water completely closed not only this county road, but highway 183 just north of the new toll road. The best way to deal with a flood prone river is just not to build near it. |
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The folks at Keep29Local.COM ask that you wear red to show your opposition to expanding highway 29 into an interstate.
Talk to the people involved (politely and calmly). A majority of Williamson County voted to build new roads; our elected officials are just trying to do the right thing. You can help by pointing out historical, environmental and practical issues with each of the two routes and traffic growth in Western Williamson County.
Perhaps it's not too late to convince them that "less is more" and we can add road capacity to the existing Highway 29 without paving over twelve hundred acres of farm and ranchland.
Sign up to receive email notices from the county.
Tell your neighbors about the road project and this web site.
Send photos of the river valley, stories about your land's history, wildlife and unique features to info@LibertyHillRiver.ORG