Traffic cop to work Westlake, Redbud afternoon rush hour

Council approves four-week experiment at intersection; residents’ feedback urged.

Will a traffic cop ease congestion at Westlake Drive and Redbud Trail? You be the judge.

Over four weeks this fall, beginning next week, an officer will direct traffic from about 4:30 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, a move council members requested at their Aug. 26 meeting. The tentative plan is to have the officer there Tuesday to Oct. 15.

City officials said they will hire a traffic engineering Ph.D. student to measure congestion during afternoon rush hour and compare cars stuck in traffic with and without the officer’s direction. Council members and the mayor said they’ll want to hear feedback from residents, as well.

Council members did not decide how they would gauge public opinion of the experiment’s effectiveness, though Mayor Dave Claunch said the easiest way might be to create an online survey.

At the urging of a group of residents, the council decided to see whether placing a traffic cop at that intersection could alleviate some of the congestion that occurs during afternoon rush hour. Whether it does or not will help them decide whether to seek permanent proposed solutions, such as adding lanes to parts of the intersection or turning it into a roundabout, council members have said.

The traffic cop vote passed 4-1, with Council Member Stan Graham opposing it. Graham had said at a previous meeting that the idea seemed unsafe to him. He also said he wasn’t interested in changing anything about that intersection, at least not immediately.

Road projects aren’t the only improvements on the minds of West Lake Hills officials.

Flooding in the past couple years has brought drainage issues to their attention, and the City Council has expressed interest in making fixes recommended in a drainage study.

That will be pricey, however, and it’s possible that the city would ask voters’ permission to sell bonds to pay for drainage improvements. Claunch and other council members have supported that idea.

“We’re fairly certain we’re going to be looking at $1 (million) to $2 million in drainage improvements — possibly more,” Claunch told the Westlake Picayune. “One option would be to issue debt in the form of a bond.”

In other action, the council voted to make left turns onto several streets illegal during morning Bee Cave Road construction.

Beginning Feb. 1, eastbound drivers on Bee Cave Road will not be allowed to turn left from 7 to 9 a.m. onto Buckeye Trail, McConnell Drive or Westhaven Drive.

Police will give violators a warning instead of a ticket for the first 30 days after the ordinance takes effect, city officials said.