General Info:
A proposal is being considered to make Wirtz Dam Road
into a thoroughfare connecting Highway 1431 and RR 2147. This would provide an
alternative to Highway 281 for people in Granite Shoals, Kingsland and Marble Falls
traveling to the Horseshoe Bay area and vice-versa. Any such relief to the traffic
on Highway 281 would be a good thing for the region and could provide a short-term
solution before the proposed loop on the east side of Marble Falls can be accomplished.
Wirtz Dam Road, on both sides of the Colorado River
(Lake Marble Falls), belongs to LCRA. It is a "heavy haul" road, meaning
it will handle loads up to 1 million pounds. There is a low-water crossing underneath the
river. The purpose of the road is to enable LCRA to bring components to the Ferguson Power
Plant, which are too heavy to bring across the Highway 281 bridge. When it becomes
necessary to do that, as was the case in 1999, LCRA must lower Lake Marble Falls to expose
the low-water crossing (it's about 3' - 5' below the surface).
The LCRA has offered to donate the road to Burnet
County. They have also performed a preliminary review of the proposed crossing.
The idea of raising the low-water crossing, enough to bring it above the surface of
the lake, was explored. It was determined that virtually nothing of that sort would
withstand the force of a flood event which requires opening all the gates at Wirtz Dam,
such as during the flood in April 1998.
In 2005 the Texas Department of
Transportation hired Turner, Collie & Braden to conduct a feasibility study of the
proposed Wirtz Dam Road Bridge. The results of that study indicated that the cost
benefit to taxpayers was insufficient for TxDOT to construct this new thoroughfare.
Alternative funding will need to be arranged by Burnet County if this much needed
alternative for regional mobility is going to be achieved. It may be possible to
form a Regional Mobility Authority amoung multiple jurisdictions who would benefit from
this improvement to make it feasible.
TURNER, COLLIE &
BRADEN FEASIBILITY STUDY REPORT
(All chapters are in Adobe PDF format)
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