Westlake Picayune

By Will Pafford, Staff Writer

A recently installed traffic signal for a medical plaza on Bee Cave Road has surrounding neighbors upset, but the Texas Department of Transportation says it meets the legal requirements. 

The traffic signal is at 6836 Bee Cave Road, for The Overlook at Rob Roy business park, which contains multiple medical offices.

Sheila Cooper, who is on the newsletter committee for the Barton Creek West Homeowners Association, said the new light unfairly increases traffic congestion during rush hour.

“Everybody is very irate,” she said.

Cooper said it is unfair for TxDOT to put a stoplight at the business location because there is no cross street, and the light only benefits people leaving The Overlook. 

“We don’t think there should be a light there,” she said. “We don’t think it’s right.”

Scott Cunningham, traffic engineer for the Austin district at TxDOT, said The Overlook is one of the few places they can legally install a light to break up the traffic so area residents who have to make a left turn can enter Bee Cave Road during rush hour. 

Cunningham said TxDOT has been trying to install a traffic signal in this area of Bee Cave Road for two to three years to help residents safely turn left onto Bee Cave Road. 

The Overlook is the first development to meet traffic-volume standards, as well as the various requirements for light spacing on this winding and hilly section of Bee Cave Road. 

This medical plaza generates at least 100 cars per hour for five hours every day, Cunningham said. 

“It may not be the best solution, but we really can’t wait,” he said. “We really have to act to prevent crashes from occurring.” 

This light creates gaps in traffic so residents can turn left onto Bee Cave Road in the morning more safely. 

Cunningham said the signal is indicative of the growth in the area, with an increasing amount of residents who have to commute east every morning to go to work at the same time.

“Signals like this are symptoms of this type of growth,” he said. “There is one main road, and everybody uses it.”

The developer of The Overlook was also willing to pay for the signal’s design and installation, about $200,000, so the installation process was shorter than it is for most traffic signals, Cunningham said.

He said TxDOT may change the location of the light in the future when neighborhoods meet the traffic-volume requirements. 

“The signal could move,” he said. “We’re certainly willing to adjust it as need be.” 

Mary Lane, a Barton Creek West resident, said she finds it difficult to believe The Overlook generates enough traffic for a stoplight.

“That one just does not seem to have the volume,” she said.

Lane said she worries the light may increase collisions in the area, and the light artificially slows traffic in the area when drivers see the light has been green for a while and expect it to turn red soon. 

Lane would rather see a subdivision served by a light instead of a business park, she said.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” she said.