oakhillgazette.com
June 11, 2015 Volume 20, No. 12 Southwest Austin’s Community Newspaper Since 1995
A historic gristmill becomes an amazing Science Mill
Road-building is topic of the day Commissioner Daugherty offers updates at OHBPA meeting by Penny Levers “There are no silver bullets for this god-awful traffic,” Precinct 3 County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty began his recent transportation update. He told a capacity crowd at the June 4 Oak Hill Business and Professional Association (OHBPA) monthly luncheon: “There are not enough people who will do anything other than drive their single-occupancy vehicles for any mass transit solutions to make a bit of difference on our overcrowded roads,” he said, while pointing out that by increasing the capacity of our roads, it also helps Cap Metro’s bus system move people around the city faster. Daugherty then laid out the current
Student visitors race self-made cars around a race-track.
status and projected timelines of road projects affecting Southwest Austin including SH 45SW, Hwy 290/71 and MoPac South. SH 45SW SH 45SW, which has had a long and contentious history dating back to its original conception in 1985 by the Texas Transportation Commission, is planned as a 3.6 mile four-lane toll road that would extend SH45 from MoPac to FM 1626. Voters approved the project in a 1997 bond election. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced back in March that it is moving forward with construction of State Highway 45 Southwest (SH45 SW) now that See ROAD-BUILDING on p. 14
- Photo by Kevin Tully/A Smith Gallery
New Hill Country Science Mill by Laurel Robertson
JOHNSON CITY - It’s been a home to innovation since the 1880s—first as an Industrial Era steam gristmill and cotton gin. A century later, it catered to tourists on the blossoming Texas Wine Trail. But innovations there now—glow-
Part one in a new Gazette Summer Discovery series
ing silicone fractals, video games replicating molecule creation and a hands-on biology lab growing bacteria that powers batteries—mark a new high for the old gristmill in
Johnson City. This past February, it began a new life as the home of the Hill Country Science Mill. Bob Elde and Bonnie Baskin saw something in the rusting old silos and milling room that reminded them of a science experiment. ReSee NEW on p. 12
Commissioner Gerald Daugherty said he is confident that SH45SW will be built soon—possibly with groundbreaking this time next year.