The city of Cedar Park, Texas faced issues with a low water crossing at Brushy Creek. Krienke Ranch Road had been closed for several years due to repeated washouts that damaged the roadway and made it unsafe for travel. When in service, the roadway provided an important alternate traffic route, as well as a critical roadway for emergency vehicles. The city desired to reopen the roadway to traffic without impacting drainage, particularly the upstream floodplain.
WSB was hired by Cedar Park to design a new, cost-effective roadway, understanding that there were numerous challenges to consider including frequent overtopping, limited space, erosion control, constrained right of way, driver safety, and no-rise requirements upstream from the project. In particular, landowners upstream of the project were concerned that the new structure would result in impacts to their properties and would not fit in aesthetically with the community. To respond to those concerns, a series of options were developed by WSB so that the city could evaluate the cost-benefit of the various solutions, as well as feel confident there would be no upstream floodplain impact. Visual renderings of the proposed structure also painted a clear picture for residents of how the project would fit into the creek and surrounding property.
The final design included conveyance of the two-year storm event, with allowance for overtopping in larger storm events. It also included advance warning systems and gates to the roadway can be closed if flooded.
The new Krienke Ranch Road provides meaningful value for the community and will improve city connectivity, protect property owners from upstream flooding, and ensure driver safety.
