Esperanza’s representatives have made certain claims regarding roads. In hearings in Austin, they testified that roads were already a problem in Boerne and that they were offering alternatives to help alleviate this problem. They also stated that the City had already identified these roads as a goal to ‘open up development’ and that they will contribute the necessary funds to construct and finance other routes.
What congestion problems will Esperanza help alleviate?
The desired maximum capacity level for a roadway is 60%. According to the Kendall County Transportation Planning Citizens Committee (TPCC) Report, SH 46E, where Esperanza would be located, is currently only at 32% capacity. Herff Road is at 40% capacity and Old San Antonio Road is 24%. The only road segment above 60% at present is Main Street between River Road and Bandera Road.
The developer’s claims of pre-existing congestion, misrepresents most current conditions and therefore minimizes Esperanza’s true potential costs and impacts on existing roads.
In fact, the TPCC Report recommended several multi-million dollar road projects to address the congestion that would be created by Esperanza’s population. (Link TPCC Report Excerpts)
The TPCC Report states: “Projected construction of almost 2,500 residential units and approximately 30 acres of commercial land use will require mobility “relief” along SH46 East, Amman Road, and down-road arterials and collectors.”
In the TPCC study, the number of households in Esperanza accounted for more than all other combined anticipated households east on SH 46. The traffic impact study supposes a number of commuters from these subdivisions will utilize FM 3351 and Amman Road, as opposed to Esperanza commuters. The 2,488 homes in Esperanza would average 24,488 daily car trips. The City of Boerne does have a conceptual Thoroughfare Plan that includes possible new routes, however, the TPCC Report shows that even after implementing all of their proposed multi-million dollar road projects, SH 46 E. between Amman and Herff Roads would remain congested at 82% capacity, Herff Road at 69% and Bandera Road would be at 59% capacity.
Only careful land use and density planning will address these long-term mobility issues, as will be shown later.
What about costs?
Esperanza has made promises to contribute to road costs. Is this an open ended offer? There’s no ROW acquisition, condemnation settlement, engineering, construction or road maintenance cost estimates. The impacts from this additional traffic will be felt on every roadway and in every sector of the City, and cost in dollars will be hard to quantify.
TPCC proposals to deal with Esperanza’s anticipated traffic include, but are not limited to, the following:
Additional lanes and ROW
- SH 46
- Herff Rd.
- Old San Antonio Rd.
- Amman Rd.
- Reconstruct bridge and intersection of Herff Rd. and SH 46 E
A generic state cost model shows the following average costs:
Adding 2 lanes to an existing rural arterial road: $2.7 million per mile.
Adding 2 lanes to an urban arterial: $4.8 million per mile.
These costs are for construction only and do not include right of way costs.
New Construction:
- Southeast 2 lane Connector
A 4 lane, undivided, rural road: $3.78 million per mile.
A 2 lane, undivided, urban arterial: $5.6 million per mile.
A 4 lane, divided urban arterial: $8 million per mile.
A local freeway can run from $4- $12 million per 2 lane mile.
These are for new construction only, and do not include right of way costs.
Bridges, intersections, environmental impact mitigation or other complex engineering planning can add several million dollars more to a project.
A similar cost estimate closer to home can be found in the 2004 South Central Texas County Mobility Alliance/TxDOT Report. County officials worked with TxDOT to estimate potential bypasses around Boerne. This analysis yielded the following total project costs based on inflation with an opening year of 2013:
2.8-mile southeast bypass: $29.69 million
7-mile northeast bypass: $68.87 million
Total: $98.56 million
This averages$10 million per mile, including some ROW costs.
The Kendall County TPCC Report states: “As of 2005, there are approximately 25,000 taxable parcels in Kendall county with an average valuation of $89,000; at the current $0.37 per $100 county tax rate, the average parcel levy is $329 per year yielding a total county parcel revenue of $8.2 million. At this valuation using a 20 year bond payoff at 4.5%, a good rule-of-thumb for funding projects is $0.025 per $100 valuation for every $10 million needed.”
Applying this ‘rule of thumb’ to the $98.56 million bypass projects alone would mean a tax rate of $0.246 per $100 valuation, or an additional $218.94 a year for an $89,000 home. Possible Funding Mechanisms
Some members of the TPCC have detailed in a ‘Minority Opinion Report’ the questionable contribution of a Northeast Connector, due to the logical traffic patterns of Esperanza’s commuters and shoppers traveling into San Antonio, schools and central Boerne. Excerpts from the TPCC Minority Report
However willing Esperanza might be to contribute needed ROW, construction costs, condemnation proceedings costs and maintenance expenses for all of the currently proposed lane miles needed to accommodate 7,000 additional people, it still presents unsolved congestion problems that will impact taxpayers and drivers. the worst stretch of road in the County!
Of course, the impacts of proposed roads on private property, historical homesteads, watersheds, community and natural resources are costs that the community will be asked to bear as well.
What about Boerne’s Master Plan and Mobility?
Boerne’s Master Plan is based on a growth model that encourages efficient use of resources such as road infrastructure. A balanced mix in density of homes and commercial and other needed services is meant to reduce the need for driving and minimize additional strain on roads. This requires comprehensive and thorough planning.
Effective mobility planning includes an understanding of demographics, traffic patterns and good land use planning. In 2005, the average income for jobs located within Kendall County was $31,000. The average pay for the estimated 126 jobs created within Esperanza would be $22,222. Since the average home cost within Esperanza will be $312,500, it would appear that the majority of residents living in Esperanza would commute to higher paying jobs outside of Kendall County. Census data shows that 40% of Kendall County residents already commute to jobs outside of the county. Building ‘bedroom’ communities for San Antonio creates mobility problems for Kendall County. Current roads that facilitate traffic traveling south to San Antonio will be overwhelmed, even after extensive widening of existing roads and additional new roads.
Located with limited access to an adequate road grid and with a population equal to that of a small town, Esperanza requires careful land use planning. If a sizable grocery store is not guaranteed, the traffic pattern will continue to congest existing roads. None of the proposed new roads will serve this traffic traveling to HEB. The same could be said for banks, filling stations, restaurants, post office and other key services located in central Boerne. Either an adequate balance of local jobs and needed services or fewer homes and drivers will be necessary to prevent overwhelming Boerne’s road infrastructure.
Additional Resources
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