Improvements coming to Ed Schmidt Blvd.
HUTTO — Longawaited improvements are in the works for Ed Schmidt Blvd., one of Hutto’s busiest thoroughfares. City Engineer Matt Rector presented city council with a list of improvements recommended by engineering company Garver in a recent safety study.
“This is what changes people’s life in our city. This is what makes people grateful to live here in Hutto, is to see us caring about how long it takes them to pick up their kids and shorten their commute,” said Council Member Brian Thompson.
Rector’s presentation at the Sept. 28 meeting included improvements on Ed Schmidt from US 79 up through Limmer Loop.
On Ed Schmidt at Limmer Loop, recommendations included adding more left turn, right turn and through lanes and improving the signal intersection.
“It was a foregone conclusion that would be part of the answer here because we all know that intersection is probably undersized for the amount of traffic it sees today,” Rector said of the Limmer Loop intersection expansion.
For Ed Schmidt at the Emory Farms/Live Oak Street intersection the engineering firm recommended adding lanes on Ed Schmidt, adding lanes on Emory Farms, adding a traffic signal and extending the roadway to the east in order to connect Emory Farms to Live Oak.
Rector said this improvement follows the traffic masterplan which includes Schneider Boulevard/ Emory Farms/Live Oak as a cross city connector.
For the area incorporating Ed Schmidt at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store location, the study recommends changing the two-way stop sign to a signal intersection and adding a right turn lane onto Ed Schmidt from the roadway across from Lowe’s.
“I think that intersection by Lowe’s, there’s a lot of questionable decisions that get made there on a daily basis, with people trying to shoot across or make left turns. It’s difficult to get across there safely,” said council member Dan Thornton.
On Ed Schmidt south of Lowe’s Home Improvement, Garver recommends adding a raised median on Ed Schmidt as it heads into Hwy 79 instead of the reflectors that are currently designating the median.
The study also suggests filling in sidewalk gaps between Hwy 79 and the nearby restaurants (where Dairy Queen is) due to pedestrian traffic from students.
“When they were out doing their studies they noticed, especially in the afternoon, a lot of the high school kids walking across 79 and then walking on Ed Schmidt or trying to walk in the ditches to try to get up to the restaurants. The kids are trying to get up there on their lunch time to eat and then get back to school and it’s not safe,” Rector said.
Council member Dana Wilcott added her plea for the sidewalks to take priority.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’m driving down there and those babies are getting hit or falling in the ditch and they have their headphones on and they can’t hear the cars. It’s a mess,” she said.
Ultimately, council requested city staff get feedback on the changes from emergency services and bring back a prioritized list of the recommended changes to a future meeting so council can vote to approve the order of the changes.
“You can’t fix Ed Schmidt by fixing a single intersection,” Thornton said. “You’ve gotta fix them all. These are all important.”
