AUSTIN (KXAN)– As Central Texas continues to grow, one little Hill Nation town is getting together to guarantee it can keep its history alive and undamaged.
There are plans to expand U.S.Highway 281 in the Blanco County location. Numerous in the City of Blanco are concerned about what the job might suggest for the downtown location.
Authorities with the Texas Department of Transport stated they are in the early phases of working on a plan that would create a four-lane divided road along U.S. 281 in between the Comal County line and U.S. 290.
A historical prescription
Numerous in the city stress this plan consists of an growth through Blanco’s downtown, where there are numerous historical structures, consisting of a drug store going back to the early 1900s.
Siobhan Atchley, Blanco Drug Store & & Health ‘owner, is one of the a number of company owner who are worried about TxDOT’s plans, stating, “everyone’s open to having it walk around other than perhaps the people whose residential or commercial property it’s going to go through, and so I feel delicate to that, however perhaps in some way they can discover people that want to permit that to occur, so we can protect our downtown.”
The owner included, “We all enjoy the locations that we have down here that have actually been here for a long period of time and we do not desire that to be destroyed by another Interstate 35.”
Atchley is the 4th owner given that the drug store opened at the turn of the century.
” I have actually been here for 11 years. We have actually owned it for 10 family- owned, independent service, single place,” she stated. “Technically, the earliest drug store in Texas that’s been in the very same place.”
Blanco Drug Store & & Health is able to substance medicine such as creams, tablets, pills and suppositories. The drug store likewise provides prescriptions throughout the county and service centers such as assisted living home, assisted living centers and drug and alcohol rehab centers.
” It’s truly unique,” she stated about the drug store. “It’s truly it’s the very best location I have actually ever worked and I enjoy it.”
Community route?
In an e-mail, a TxDOT main composed, “the job does not consist of any modifications through downtown Blanco.”
While some Blanco neighbors stated that might hold true, for now, they do not anticipate that to hold true long term, and that’s why Mike Arnold with the board of directors for the Blanco Chamber of Commerce stated he is working with TxDOT and the community to show up with a practical route that would take traffic around town versus through downtown.
Monday, the Blanco Chamber of Commerce will host a conference inside the Old Blanco County Court House on the square starting at 6:30 p.m. Arnold stated the objective behind the conference is to provide the community with information and ultimately, show up with a route together.
” We’re getting the community together, asking everyone to draw your line,” Arnold stated. “Let’s get together and see how those overlay, and let’s go from there.”
” There are a lot of folks out there stating ‘Compose a petition and picket and demonstrations.’ There’s a time and a location for that, however that’s not now,” Arnold stated. “If you’re a Blanco stakeholder, you have concepts, you have competence on the location, go out a map of the location, appearance at how U.S. 281 goes now and where they’re attempting to link it, which is simply south of town, simply north of town, and begin drawing lines, see what makes good sense to you. It’s not as simple as you believe.”
Arnold stated the community has resources readily available that will help them achieve this objective.
” There are some fantastic people in the higher community that truly enjoy Blanco that are truly heavy players in the location of surveying highway building, ecological effect research studies, engineering, all of that, that are weighing in and stating, ‘Look, I desire to volunteer, I enjoyBlanco I simply desire to belong. Let’s get this done.’ When we get some lines on the map, we can truly veterinarian them quite completely prior to we even drift them up to TxDOT to sign off on,” he described.
Future relief route?
A lot of people KXAN spoke to stated development is coming, and they desire to be prepared.
Numerous of the neighbors stated they comprehended a lot of 18-wheelers and huge trucks depend on U.S. 281 as an option route to I-35.
” I believe the confusion is that people are comprehending that 281 in town is likewise broadening and that is not real,” Blanco Mayor Rachel Lumpee stated.
In May, Lumpee stated TxDOT approached the city to notify them about their U.S. 281 job. The mayor then stated she asked for TxDOT check out a relief route– different from the U.S. 281 job.
” One of the important things about the relief route is getting all the land and that’s why we’re motivating our people and myself, to talk with our state and federal leaders to see if they have any help that they can provide to us to obtain the land for the relief route.”
She stated she’ll be at Monday’s conference signing up with the chamber.
” The objective of the relief route research study is to see if it’s possible to ease some of the traffic and the trucks on 281, presently, to walk around town, so we do not have the traffic that is developing,” she stated.
TxDOT anticipates to total the ecological research studies by early 2024 on the U.S. 281 job. Building will depend on financing, which at this time the firm does not have. At the end of next month, TxDOT will hold a public conference in individual and essentially to collect community feedback.