TRAVIS COUNTY BOND VOTE SET FOR NOVEMBER

Travis County commissioners voted Tuesday to put a $185 million bond package on the Nov. 7 ballot, despite concern that a large proposed Austin schools bond package on the same ballot could turn off voters to more spending.

The vote was unanimous, with Commissioner Gerald Daugherty absent.

Commissioners on Aug. 8 voted on the final list of parks, roads and drainage projects to be included in the bond propositions, which are mainly in the eastern and southeastern portions of the county.

Among the package’s big-ticket roads items are $10.7 million to build a two-lane road from Harold Green/Texas 130 to Austin’s Colony Boulevard; $8.6 million to build a four-lane divided road to eventually connect an extended South Pleasant Valley Road from FM 1327 to Bradshaw Road, 1,000 feet south of River Plantation Drive; and $6.1 million to widen Thaxton Road to a four-lane road from McKinney Falls Parkway to Sassman Road. All would include bike lanes and sidewalks.

The largest parks and open spaces projects include $21.2 million to build a Bee Creek Sports Complex; $10 million and $15 million respectively for parkland acquisitions and conservation easements; $9.5 million to build a trailhead park and infrastructure at the Onion Creek Greenway; and $7.5 million to convert the Northeast Metro Park soccer fields to artificial turf and add lights, fencing, bleachers and other infrastructure.

The last time the county tried to pass a bond election for a new,