Although a column on this page by Mayor Dave Claunch offers hope that the Bee Cave Road improvements through West Lake Hills will be under way at some time in the not too distant future, no reasonable person should count on it.

It’s been almost 14 years since the Westlake Chamber of Commerce spearheaded an effort that succeeded in getting approval of a center turn lane along a 3.5-mile segment of Bee Cave Road between MoPac and Loop 360, and less than a mile has been completed.

The wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly when it comes to the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT’s main problem with implementing projects after funding has been approved stems from the fact that it demands that cities benefiting from the its funding finance and acquire the necessary right of way, which has been the stumbling block for this particular project. Therefore, past leaders in Rollingwood and West Lake Hills should accept part of the blame for the ongoing problem plaguing this critically important project.

West Lake Hills and Rollingwood residents and officials have in the past expressed concerns about being saddled with paying for the expansion project that essentially benefits motorists passing through their cities. The residents themselves have found other alternatives to using Bee Cave Road during rush hours.

Another inherent problem with the process stems from the fact that the $15 million approved for the project 14 years ago wouldn’t go as far today, even if any still remained. As the column points out, TxDOT simply has none of that funding remaining – thanks to some mysterious accounting issue.

Rollingwood and West Lake Hills should have acquired the necessary right of way long ago. Consequently, to say that there is reason to be dubious about completion of a center turn lane along the remaining three miles remaining would be an understatement.