Is Hwy 281 bridge on the back burner?

BURNET COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - Burnet County took a major blow when locals learned there would not be a penny of the stimulus money spent on the $30 million Highway 281 bridge project. The Texas Department of Transportation received $1.2 billion to fund projects in an 11 county area.

"The needs outweigh the funding that was available," said John Hurt with TxDOT. "No matter how big the stimulus package was going to be, it couldn't have covered everything."

The 70-year-old Highway 281 bridge has been deemed "functionally obsolete" for the amount of traffic it currently carries. At last check in 2006, TxDOT counted an average of 22,000 cars passing over it each day. TxDOT has been working on the plans to build a new, safer bridge to carry cars over the Colorado River. The bridge will have two separate sides, with two lanes in each direction. If one side has to be shut down, cars will still be able to pass through on the other side.

The 281 bridge is the only river crossing in a 40-mile radius, and a major route for the military driving from Ft. Hood to San Antonio. The 281 corridor is also a hurricane evacuation route.

TxDOT said even though stimulus money will not be put toward the project, other funding is available and are hopeful a contract will be secured to get the project going by August 2010. Locals thought the Transportation Commission was going to secure a contract by August of this year.

"It's really caught the city and the county by surprise," said John Kemper, owner of the Blue Bonnet Cafe. "Why is this just all of the sudden happening?"

Kemper said it seems a project that was once top priority for TxDOT is now being pushed aside. He is not convinced the project will happen over the next year.