Burleson Road captures attention of City Council

Nothing much of widespread interest transpired during tonight’s Kyle City Council meeting, unless, that is, you live on or relatively near Burleson road or you often find yourself at the intersection of Burleson and Center Street.

Second things first. The city actually had one or more people stand at the corner of Burleson and Center for a couple of days recently. They were there from approximately 7 to 9 a.m. and then again from around 5 to 7 p.m. to count the number of cars heading south on Burleson that did one of three things when they arrived at Center: whether they turned right, left or went straight ahead. Now you may think this is a terrible waste of time and taxpayers’ money, but stay with me here. What they discovered was that the overwhelming majority of the drivers of those cars – 80 percent of them in the morning and 77 percent of them in the evening – turned left. Based on that information the council unanimously decided (the vote was 6-0 because council member Becky Selbera was an excused absentee from tonight’s session) that constructing a designated right-hand turn lane on Burleson at Center would be a real waste of time and taxpayers’ money.

The council did, however, approve the idea of having Freese and Nichols, Inc., a widely respected Austin-based engineering firm, "perform an additional drainage study for areas contributing runoff to North Burleson road and the City’s open channel in the vicinity of St. Anthony’s Street."

I repeat: I’m new in town. But the way I figure this is the homes in that area between Burleson and the railroad tracks, say between Rodriguez and Moreno streets, are subject to widespread flooding during periods of intense rainfall, most likely due to the runoff from the comparatively newer housing subdivision located just northeast of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church.

Now this action by the council doesn’t mean the flooding will come to an end. But it should result in a list of projects, should the city decide to fund them, that will end the water lapping at the front doors of the homes on and between these aforementioned streets. In other words, the end is not yet in sight, but the council has okayed the idea of someone preparing a map to get to that end.

Oh, and the council approved a resolution adopting the city’s updated investment policy although Mayor Todd Webster lamented the fact that the city’s $34 million investment only yielded a return this year of $100,000. It also authorized a contract be sent for city manager designate Scott Sellers to sign and return. If it is, Webster said Sellers will officially assume the office Jan. 1 Other details will become available when and if Sellers signs the deal, which he is expected to do, if not tonight, then sometime early tomorrow.