The Austin Avenue Bridges Project

In early 2016, the City of Georgetown launched a study of the Austin Avenue traffic corridor, which includes the two historic Austin Avenue bridges crossing the San Gabriel River. The bridges were built in 1939-40. The bridges are considered historic and are therefore subject to a number of federal historic preservation and environmental protection regulations. The bridges are owned by the City of Georgetown, and the City is responsible for the maintenance of upkeep of the bridges. Safety inspections of the bridges are conducted every two years by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) using guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Transportation. [See also our Bridges FAQ page]

The Options

The City of Georgetown planning staff is currently evaluating five options regarding the Austin Avenue bridges. These options are described in a handout provided by the City at a public meeting held on May 11, 2017. The options are shown below:

Our Recommendation

The Alliance supports Option 6A – Rehabilitation with Pedestrian Bridge. Option 6A represents the best combination of safety, preservation of our historical assets and cost effectiveness. It is also the least disruptive solution, which is an important consideration for our historic downtown business district, which the City markets as the Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas!

Option 6A also provides a real game-changing feature, which is a new pedestrian bridge. This new pedestrian bridge will open many new possibilities by linking the downtown area to our outstanding San Gabriel trail system and the new Convention Center at the Rivery. No other option offers this potential.

The City states that Option 6A offers “no mobility improvements.”  However, we believe that this relates to two specific features that are high on the City’s priority list. Those features are wider lanes on the bridges and a dedicated turning lane at San Gabriel Village Boulevard.  The City considers both of these features as mobility improvements.

The lane width on the bridges is currently 11 feet. The City states that these lanes should be 12 feet wide. However, traffic flow will ultimately be limited by the lane width through the center of our historically protected town square. Those lanes, also 11 feet wide, are not likely to change. So, expanding the bridge lanes will do little to expand traffic flow, but will cost Georgetown taxpayers millions of dollars for new construction.

The dedicated turn lane at San Gabriel Boulevard will require that the existing bridge decks be replaced with new, wider decks. This is a major construction process that will result in significant disruptions to traffic flow into and out of the downtown business district for at least two years, and perhaps longer. A similar construction project in Salado resulted in massive disruption and business closures.

The Alliance believes that a dedicated turn signal at San Gabriel Boulevard would be a less costly, less disruptive solution. It would improve traffic safety on Austin Avenue and protect The Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas! Best of all, the turn signal can be implemented NOW without construction!

For all of these reasons, Option 6A is the best way to go.