Hays working to replace two bridges lost to floods
Time restraints thwart use of temporary structures.
Six months after two bridges were demolished in the Memorial Day weekend floods, Hays County commissioners are searching for solutions to improve commutes that previously relied on the structures.
After the Fischer Store Road bridge was destroyed, Commissioner Will Conley said he began looking at solutions, including the possibility of building a temporary bridge.
However, on Oct. 6, Conley said he was no longer pursuing the construction of a temporary bridge. Such a structure would have to be built partly on private land.
Construction on the permanent Fischer Store Road bridge is moving ahead of schedule, meaning it is no longer economically justifiable to create a temporary structure for the shortened amount of time left before the permanent one is completed, Conley said.
“We missed the window of opportunity,” he said. “It’s a good and bad thing.”
Conley’s original goal was to have the bridge reconstructed by the oneyear anniversary of the Memorial Day weekend flood.
However, he said the project is moving quickly and may be completed before then.
He said he worked with private landowners for months to come up with a plan for a temporary bridge that would suit all parties involved, but was unable to find one.
“We would get consensus from one landowner, then when we crossed the river we would run into another problem,” Conley said. “Now, we are out of time.”
Conley said he was in favor of creating a temporary bridge because the public deserved an easy route during the construction process of the permanent structure.
“All of those problems and different issues are private to the owner and their lives,” Conley said. “Those people have been through a lot.”
Gary Tucker, a San Marcos resident, said the loss of the bridge makes his daily commute longer, but he feels Conley and other county officials have been proactive about the situation.
“I lost my home and two cars in the flood,” Tucker said. “It was hard on the county to lose a bridge like that, but we are all doing the best we can with what happened.”
Tucker said getting to Wimberley has become particularly difficult.
“It makes a huge impact on quality of life and convenience,” Conley said. “Not having the bridge makes it harder to get to work, the doctor’s or even just into town.”
The Post Road bridge was lost in Commissioner Ray Whisenant’s jurisdiction. Whisenant said he is still pursuing the possibility of building a temporary bridge.
He said he is waiting for Hays County officials to calculate the total cost of a temporary bridge. After that, he will present the plan in Commissioners Court.
The Precinct 4 commissioner said his goal is to have a temporary bridge built by Jan. 1.
If it cannot be built by then, he said, it will become illogical to construct the bridge because it would not be in place long before needing to be removed.
If built, the temporary bridge will be in place until the state finalizes plans for a permanent bridge, then it would be removed so the permanent structure could be built.
Whisenant said some residents in the area have told him the absence of a bridge adds 25 minutes to their commute to work.
State officials have told Whisenant that plans for the bridge will be completed by May 16. Construction on the permanent Post Road bridge will begin in June or July and be completed by the end of the year.