Brazos County citizens voiced their concerns over Mobility 2050, the long-term plan being considered by the Bryan-College Station Metropolitan Planning Organization (BCSMPO), during a public event Tuesday night at the Brazos Center in Bryan.
Some attendees thought the meeting was going to be about proposed loops in the county such as the Inner East Loop. Some even turned around and walked out when they found out the Inner East Loop was not being discussed at this meeting.
"People are coming in and as soon as they find out it's not part of that they turn around and leave," Brazos County resident Mike Ivey said. "These people here (from BCSMPO) are just giving their presentation that they have to do every five years but the presentation they have in there -- what we're here about -- isn't even on it."
The meeting was an opportunity for the BCSMPO to get public input on projects that have either received funding or are projected to receive funding in the next 20-25 years. It did not include any of the proposed loops or other major roads suggested in the BCSMPO county proposals map on its website.
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"This is more information; it helps the more you know," Brazos County resident Joe Hegwood said. "This is all pretty soft right now. It's not in writing until it's in writing. I'm glad they're doing this. It's a process."
The Mobility 2050 concept map was approved by the BCSMPO at a meeting in June 2017. The map provided local governments a visual to see what major roads were considered the best options for expansion or widening. The BCSMPO is a planning group that gathers public input and creates plans for future road development that may or may not ever come to fruition.
"When we as an MPO put together a metropolitan transportation plan we start out by having a series of public meetings to talk about what are the existing conditions. What would a full blown road network look like," BCSMPO Executive Director Dan Rudge said. "Now we are in the homestretch where we are saying 'OK, we are limited in how much funding we're going to get so that big pie-in-the-sky dream that we had we can't afford all that.' So these are the projects that we can afford."
On Tuesday night, citizens viewed a map containing 18 projects that ranged from sidewalk construction on 29th street in Bryan to widening of highways. Seven of the projects the BCSMPO believes can be completed between 2025-35 and 11 of the projects are believed to be able to be completed between 2035-49.
"A lot of this is [Texas Department of Transportation] funds, funded by the motor fuel tax and the vehicle registration fees," Tim Lomax of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute said when asked by a citizen where the money for the projects comes from. "This is an ongoing process."
Other projects such as the proposed Inner East Loop might not be constructed until later this century. For now some of those projects will remain dreams on the map.
The mobility plan involves all levels of roadway from freeways to streets and includes public transit, bicycles and pedestrians in its scope.
Major freeways the BCSMPO has suggested include a freeway that would loop from the Brazos River in the southern part of the county and go around the Bryan-College Station area before crossing Old San Antonio Road (OSR) on the northern county line before turning back into the county and crossing Texas 21 near the Texas A&M RELLIS campus before ending at the Brazos River west of the RELLIS campus. Part of that loop would be designated as Loop 214 and be part of a proposed route for Interstate 14.
That loop is still just an idea and no funding has been procured for it.
Another proposed highway improvement, according to the BCSMPO website, includes the widening of OSR along its entire route through Brazos County and making it a major arterial highway east of the proposed freeway loop to the eastern county line.
The BCSMPO will take public comment on the projects selected as well as any other concerns dealing with the plan until noon Dec. 3. Comment forms can be found on the BCSMPO website. Comments can also be sent by email to [email protected] or by mail to the Bryan/College Station MPO at 309 North Washington Ave. Suite 14, Bryan, Texas 77803.
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