A strategically-placed bridge will give Taylor and Hutto the opportunity to let drivers know when they are leaving and entering the city limits. Both cities accepted an offer from Williamson County to pay for graphics to be installed on two north/south Farm to Market 3349 bridges that will span U.S. Highway 79.
“The county asked if the cities, both Taylor and Hutto, were interested in having any kind of verbiage. It’s unique in that bridge is right on the city limit side of both cities. So, that’s what this project is asking council to consider,” Jacob Walker, city engineer, explained to the Taylor City Council at a Feb. 8 meeting.
The two parallel bridges will sport successive messages. East-bound drivers will see Hutto logos and the words “Thank you for visiting Hutto” on the first bridge, followed by Taylor logos and the words “Welcome to Taylor” on the second bridge. The message reverses for west-bound drivers.
Council member Robert Garcia asked if it is possible to have the Taylor logo lit on the bridge. Walker said he did not know, but it could be an additional cost if possible.
“Maybe we could get solar power,” Garcia said. “We’re 24 hours going in and out, so it would be good to have our side lit up.”
The total cost for the aesthetics project is $68,062.83. Taylor and Hutto have each agreed to pay half, $34,031,42. Including a 20% contingency fee, both cities approved a $41,000 budget amendment.
Hutto City Council approved their part of the expense at their Feb. 1 meeting after hearing from staff that the project could be funded through additional revenue created by investment earnings being higher than budgeted.
A key factor in the Hutto Council members supporting the investment was the results of a just-released 2024 City Services and Culture community survey, a city spokesperson noted. A surprising 64% of survey respondents said it was important to them that Hutto become more attractive and visibly welcoming at entry points and along major corridors.
“They have said they want improvements, they want to see some of this that gives Hutto pride and for me, $41,000 is a small price compared to the $90 million bridge that we’re building on our own. This is a small price on someone else’s bridge,” Mayor Mike Snyder said in casting his vote to approve the budget amendment.
Hutto Council members also recalled that when the county first discussed the ability to tag the bridges, it was a much different offer.
“The initial cost for this was $260,000 that was in the proposed budget,” Council member Amberley Kolar reminded her council contemporaries “We probably didn’t like what we did at the time, but I’m glad that we actually did that because we saved a lot of money.”
