Hey Georgetown,
On June 27th, the Georgetown City Council will hold a workshop on the Austin Avenue bridges. This project will have a significant impact on our historic downtown and its businesses.
This is the fourth and final blog post in our Facts Series. Today, we’ll bring it all together to explain why Option 6A is the BEST choice for Georgetown.
At the Alliance, our primary concerns are public safety and the protection of our historic downtown, along with the businesses that are located there.
And, saving taxpayers big money also ranks at the top of our list!
We’ve has studied all five of the options that have been shortlisted by the City. Two of the options being considered (Option 7A and Option 8) will require extensive construction and will result in significant disruption to downtown.
Construction impacts have recently decimated the historic district of our neighbor, Salado. During the project, more than half of their businesses closed! We can’t allow that to happen to Georgetown!
Because of the potential for disruption and negative economic consequences, we recently sent a letter to the City Council, urging them to carefully consider each option’s impact scenarios. (See the letter here.)
At the Alliance, we’re backing Option 6A, Rehabilitation of the Bridges with a separate pedestrian bridge. Here’s why:
- It meets our needs for traffic and pedestrian safety – With proper investments in maintenance and upgrades, the existing bridges are completely safe and strong. The bridges’ true 68,000-pound load rating meets ALL requirements.
- The pedestrian bridge will connect our historic downtown with the San Gabriel Trail and Rivery Park – A walk/bike bridge will provide safe, ADA-compliant access to downtown AND the San Gabriel Trail. No other option offers this feature. Linking the downtown district with the rapidly growing Rivery Park area via the trail system will open new development and entertainment opportunities.
- It costs at least $5 million dollars less than the construction options – We could spend more…a lot more! But, why should we? Option 6A meets our needs for safety and access while costing millions less.
- It will result in the least disruption to historic downtown Georgetown – Georgetown boasts having “The Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas.” This didn’t happen by accident. It took nearly two decades of insightful planning and hard work by a coalition of smart citizens, business owners and city leaders. To protect this great asset of ours, we need to be careful in choosing the right bridge option to ensure that we don’t end up with unintended consequences. Like Salado.
Will you join us?
Please contact your City Council Member and tell them that you support Option 6A, and they should, too.
For help in contacting your Council Member, click here.