Burnet County funds arterial road analysis
Burnet County is assessing its busiest roads to help determine a grander strategy for improving and maintaining its transportation infrastructure. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
Burnet County officials recently funded an analysis of the busiest county roads in all four precincts, hoping to harvest data that can be used for the ongoing development of the 20-year Burnet County Transportation Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan and Program.
The Burnet County Commissioners Court approved on Tuesday, July 28, a bid from geo-data firm Fugro to analyze about 120 miles of county roads, split evenly among each precinct. The firm will use special instruments attached to a vehicle traveling at highway speeds to collect information on road conditions, cracking, potholes, weathering, corrugation, bleeding, slippage, swelling, and more.
“(The analysis) is going to assess the road in a lot of different ways, beyond what the eye sees,” Precinct 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle told DailyTrib. “We thought we’d spend a little bit of money to get some data on our roads.”
This is the first time the county has used an outside firm for such an analysis according to the court, and this initial project will only be about $34,601.
Well-traveled roads in each precinct were intentionally chosen, like San Saba Road in Precinct 1, Shady Grove Road in Precinct 2, Mormon Mill Road in Precinct 3, and Flat Rock Road in Precinct 4.
The county is not responsible for primary highways, like U.S. 281, Texas 71, and Texas 29, which are maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation.
Burnet County Judge Bryan Wilson explained that this analysis was part of the large effort to modernize how the county plans out its infrastructure and maintenance for the future.
“This is a continuation of the 20-year transportation plan,” he said. “We started with traffic counts last September. We’re working on our planning process.”