oakhillgazette.com
November 15, 2012 Volume 17, No. 48 Southwest Austin’s Community Newspaper Since 1995
Bowie Band ends on a high note - page 3
Oak Hill group still believes in Parkway by Bobbie Jean Sawyer
OAK HILL - With the launch of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority-directed Oak Hill Parkway Environmental Impact Study last month, one local group feels it has a new opportunity to have its voices heard. The original Oak Hill Parkway people—the members of Fix 290, a grassroots community organization dedicated to developing an environmentally friendly, non-tolled parkway in Oak Hill—have waited over two decades for traffic relief at the ‘Y’, and they’re willing to wait a little longer for what they hope is a job done right. The group was formed in 2005 in response to TxDOT’s original plan for a 50-foot elevated, 12-lane toll road at the ‘Y’.
“We’re not just naysayers who say ‘don’t build the road’”, said Carol Cespedes, a founding member of Fix 290. “We just want to do it better.” Steve Beers, also a founding member of Fix 290 and member of the Save Barton Creek Association, said he believes TxDOT’s original plan would have had a negative impact on Oak Hill’s unique environmental characteristics as well as the local economy and way of life. “I think once a person has paid a toll, is on a road, and is elevated above everything, they’ll just keep driving. They won’t exit and patronize businesses at the Y,” Beers said. “So I think there’s this angst, like, yeah, we want a bigger road but at this price? A lot of people are sort of riding the fence. We thought instead See PARKWAY on page 26
Election highlights by Ann Fowler OAK HILL - About 67 percent of Oak Hill registered voters cast ballots in last week’s election. Thirteen of the 18 Oak Hill area precincts chose Barack Obama over Mitt Romney, giving the president 53 percent of the vote. Huber/Daugherty – SH 45 SW The election was less clear-cut in the Travis County Precinct 3 Commissioner race. Some in the area, and many in Shady Hollow, blamed Commissioner Karen Huber for delaying construction of State Highway 45 Southwest (SH 45 SW), a 3-mile connector between Mopac and FM 1626, which would theoreti-
Members of the James Bowie Outdoor Performing Ensemble perform at the AISD State of the District Gazette: Ingrid Morton Showcase held Tuesday at Burger Stadium.
cally allow Hays County commuters a faster commute downtown by bypassing (and thus unclogging) Brodie Lane. Eleven Oak Hill precincts and 47 percent of voters gave the nod to Huber, with another 43 percent backing Daugherty. In Shady Hollow, 57 percent of Shady Hollow voters chose the Republican Daugherty, even though that same group gave a slight edge to Obama (49 percent over Romney’s 47 percent). South Windmill Run resident Tom Thayer said, “I don’t necessarily agree that Daugherty was elected on traffic concerns (unless someone See ELECTION on page 22
Oak Hill Gazette’s 2012 HOliday Gift Guide inside