JARRELL, Texas (KXAN) – Ashley Kneer doesn’t know exactly how deep it is, but she believes the pothole on the road leading into her subdivision in Jarrell is dangerous, especially when it’s full of water. And, she said, it’s been full of water since she moved into the Sonterra Subdivision in 2019.
“I honestly would almost refer to it as a sinkhole than a pothole,” Kneer said.
Sonterra Boulevard, right off Interstate 35, also takes on tons of traffic from those turning in for fast food restaurants and gas stations.
“There have been cars that scrape up, get their axles damaged,” Kneer said.
Michael Wells also lives in the subdivision.
“It’s big enough to jostle your brain when you hit it,” he said, referring to driving over the pothole.
It can also strand an SUV, he said. He even got a picture of it.
“I told my wife, ‘Look, somebody actually got stuck this time,’” Wells said.
Water collects in pothole and low point on Sonterra Boulevard in Jarrell, TX. (KXAN Photo/Richie Bowes) 
Picture appearing to show SUV stuck in pothole leading into the Sonterra Subdivision. (Courtesy Michael Wells) 
Close up of SUV appearing to be stuck in pothole leading into Sonterra Subdivision in Jarrell, TX. (Courtesy Michael Wells) 
Melissa Wong looks at the Facebook page she created for “Lake Sonterra.” (KXAN Photo/Richie Bowes) 
Ripples forming in the water inside the large pothole leading to the Sonterra Subdivision in Jarrell, Texas. (KXAN Photo/Richie Bowes) 
Car splashes through the water collected in a pothole outside the Sonterra Subdivision. (KXAN Photo/Richie Bowes) 
The Sonterra Subdivision on Sonterra Boulevard in Jarrell, Texas. (KXAN Photo/ Richie Bowes) 
Large pothole with water gathering at entrance to Sonterra Subdivision in Jarrell, Texas. (KXAN Photo/Richie Bowes) 
Cones sitting in water collecting in a pothole outside the Sonterra Subdivision. (Courtesy Melissa Wong)
The pothole has been here so long, neighbors even gave it a name.
“Yes, we call it ‘Lake Sonterra’,” said Melissa Wong, who even created a Facebook page dedicated to documenting the pothole.
“This one’s my favorite,” she said as she looked at the page. “This is the first photo I took actually,” she said, referring to the pothole with traffic markers inside. The caption read, “Post your favorite photo of ‘Lake Sonterra’. This is ours. It’s so beautiful in the fall.”
Jokes aside, neighbors said they really would like to see an end to “Lake Sonterra,” but those who’ve tried said they’ve had a bumpy ride trying to figure out who’s responsible.
“I know that some people have reached out to the city, the city says, ‘Oh, it’s the county’s issue’,” Kneer said. “The county says, ‘No, this is a city issue’.”
“Everyone just pawns it off on the other entity,” Wong said.
So KXAN Investigator Mike Rush reached out to Williamson County and the city of Jarrell, whose mayor pro-tem is Rusty Bryson.
“I think some of the confusion is that they probably were given misinformation,” Bryson said.
Bryson shared although the road is in the county, the city of Jarrell maintains this part of it due to a mutual agreement made many years ago.
“I, myself, did not know and when I found out, that’s whenever I took ownership of it and said ‘It’s something we need to fix,’” Bryson said. “If it’s the city’s, we need to fix it.”
Bryson said she started working with Sonterra Subdivision’s developer last year. While the city will pay for construction, she said the developer is having his engineer come up with a permanent solution that will take away the slope and add drainage so water from rain and landscaping irrigation won’t gather there.
She said the city also wants the new road to be fortified to handle the heavy 18-wheeler traffic.
“We’re a small town, bedroom community,” Bryson said. “We love our residents and we address our problems. And that’s a problem.”
It’s good news for neighbors, even if it means an eventual end to some social media snark on the “Lake Sonterra” Facebook page.
The mayor pro-tem said construction could begin in the spring.
