oakhillgazette.com
August 7, 2014 Volume 19, No. 16 Southwest Austin’s Community Newspaper Since 1995
Landon’s amazing day
TxDOT presents preferred alternative for SH-45 SW by Bobbie Jean Sawyer
OAK HILL - TxDOT has unveiled the preferred alternative for State Highway 45 Southwest, a proposed 3.6-mile roadway stretching from Mopac to FM 1626. If approved, the chosen alternative would consist of four 12-foot travel lanes, a 10-foot wide outside shoulder, a four-foot inside shoulder and a 10-foot
shared-use path for bicyclists and pedestrians. Supporters and opponents of State Highway 45 Southwest shared thoughts on the roadway and the draft Environmental Impact Statement during an open house hosted by TxDOT and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority on July 29th.
Mark Jones, Hays County Commissioner for Precinct 2, said he’s eager to see the long awaited road constructed and he’s confident that the road will be built in accordance with Austin’s environmental standards. “I think it’s a shame that it takes 26 years to build a road that the See TXDOT on page 26
Gazette: Will Atkins
Photo: Laurie Johnson
Young Landon Johnson-Toles takes a supervised turn at the wheel of a fire engine after the recent fire on Cana Cove (story p. 3). by Ann Fowler In the midst of tragedy, someone had ‘an amazing day’. Young Landon Johnson-Toles will turn two in September. While firefighters fought a raging fire next door, his mother, Laurie Johnson, says he was exited to see the fire trucks and firefighters that seemed to stretch the length of the street.
Johnson made the youngster stay inside with a neighbor until the smoke cleared, then they walked across the street to check on their home. An Oak Hill firefighter gave Landon a red plastic fire helmet to be “part of the team.” An Austin firefighter asked the youngster if he had ever been in a real fire truck. When he said See LANDON on page 3
Supporters and opponents of State Highway 45 Southwest shared thoughts on the roadway and the draft Environmental Impact Statement during an open house hosted by TxDOT and the CTRMA.
Injury crashes spark petition drive by Bobbie Jean Sawyer OAK HILL - When Brian Hoyt witnessed a crash at the intersection of SH 45 and Escarpment he knew something had to change. “Somebody was trying to cross the highway and got T-boned. There were probably three cars—maybe four cars—involved in the acci-
dent. Unfortunately, I saw bodies laying on the road being worked on by EMS,” Hoyt said. “I did what the police told me and turned up Escarpment and drove on to work that day. I thought, this is awful and maybe something’s got to be done about this.” Less than a week later there was
another crash at the same intersection. Hoyt decided to take action. He started a petition on change.org calling for “sensible traffic planning” on SH 45. The petition has since garnered over 600 signatures, which is over 10 percent of the household population in Circle C. See INJURY on back page