After considering a traffic engineering study, the West Lake Hills transportation commission plans to recommend a dedicated left-turn signal onto Red Bud Trail from Bee Cave Road.

“We reviewed the report from HNTB and based upon that study, we did not believe that the amount of cut-through traffic represented a significant enough issue to warrant the city taking action to attempt to reduce that traffic,” said WLH Transportation commission chairman Gary Wachs.

The origin-destination study tracked how many cars turned left off of Bee Cave Road on to Red Bud Trail between 6:45 a.m. and 9 a.m. It determined that out of the 3,719 vehicles traveling eastbound on Bee Cave Road, only 97, or 2.6 percent, used Red Bud Trail as a cut through. It further determined that 363 cars made the left turn each morning, meaning that 266 cars took the turn with the intent of going somewhere in the neighborhood.

“Based on this information, it can be concluded that the volume of cut-through traffic along the three studied routes is statistically insignificant and does not indicate a traffic problem,” the HNTB opinion portion of the report reads.

Wachs said members of the transportation commission believe that the current configuration of the intersection presented a safety hazard and recommend installing a dedicated left turn signal without any restrictions on the hours that a left turn can be made.

The commission further decided that the city should not take any more action on any issues of cut-through traffic until the Texas Department of Transportation project to construct a center turn lane along Bee Cave Road is complete, because that in itself will mitigate the cut through problem.

“We’ve all seen reports that traffic projects have been taken at a 30 percent less than estimated,” Wachs said. “We believe that if TxDOT would take those funds, they might be able to complete the entire road.”

Mayor Dave Claunch feels similarly, hoping that TxDOT will expedite the project and begin construction soon. However, he said that TxDOT representatives have not set a timeline to begin the project.

The project was originally awarded to HNTB, the city’s usual contracted engineering firm, but TxDOT later took over the project.

Wachs will present the findings of the commission to the West Lake Hills City Council at their regular meeting Jan. 16.