Candidate Project Evaluation and Prioritization

The list of candidate projects submitted by the sponsoring municipalities, school districts and precincts includes safety and mobility projects at various locations in Hays County. The majority of the projects are small scale safety improvements to eliminate turning conflicts and other dangerous conditions at high traffic intersections and other locations. Others were designed to improve traffic conditions and reduce congestion. Each project was carefully reviewed and evaluated by the committee.

BAC deliberations on the candidate projects started with the public input rankings based on weighted averages of the various criteria discussed in the public involvement meetings. The BAC followed a deliberation process in which they:

1. Reviewed public input rankings on a county wide basis to provide a starting point for project evaluation and prioritization.
2. Reviewed public input rankings by precinct to determine if there were variations between precinct and county priorities.
3. Compared the public input priority list of projects to project purpose and need as defined by sponsors responding to the call for projects. This comparison provided insight into the match between project objectives and community need.
4. Compared the list of priorities to objective data such as accident data supplied by TxDOT and the county, traffic data from the CAMPO travel demand model, data on county population and employment growth patterns, as well as information from various available planning and engineering studies.
5. Took additional input from the public at each of the BAC meetings including a public input opportunity immediately prior to the final deliberation process on August 7, 2008.
6. Reviewed cost implications of the list of priority projects resulting from the above process
7. Made additional adjustments to the priority project list based on the extensive discussions that occurred during the deliberation process.

The result of this carefully considered deliberation process was the set of twenty-three (23) priority projects being proposed by the 2008 Transportation Bond Advisory Committee for consideration by the Commissioners’ Court for inclusion, along with the Pass Through Finance Projects, in the bond package proposed for the November 2008 election. Consistent with the input from the public and the objectives of the call for projects, the BAC placed a heavy emphasis on projects that met the safety and mobility goals of the county.

The list of recommended projects along with a description of the Bond Advisory Committee Process is provided in the accompanying executive summary of the BAC Project Evaluation and Prioritization Report.