Williamson County Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey was joined by Williamson County Precinct 1 Commissioner Terry Cook and members of the public to celebrate the completion of the Great Oaks Drive Bridge at Brushy Creek.
The project included removing the old bridge at the intersection of Great Oaks Drive and Brushy Creek Road/Hairy Man Road and replacing it with a new four-lane bridge. The new bridge includes dedicated left-turn lanes in all directions, dedicated right-turn lanes for traffic moving northbound to eastbound and eastbound to southbound, as well as shared through lanes for traffic moving westbound to northbound and southbound to westbound.
The new bridge was raised above Brushy Creek’s 100-year floodplain to alleviate past flooding issues. The project also includes 46 additional parking spots under the new bridge for access to the Brushy Creek Regional Trail and Shirley McDonald Park. The project included modifying the trail route, providing a safe passageway under the road.
“In 2010, Tropical Storm Hermine caused a lot of flooding throughout Williamson County. In fact, the bridge that was here flooded and so did a lot of homes. Hairy Man Road was severely damaged. In fact, pieces of the road were in residents’ yards. That disaster was the catalyst for making this area a safer place, so we took this project on,” said Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey.
The project was designed by Hardesty Hanover/PESC, and the contractor was DeNucci Constructors. The project cost was approximately $10.5 million and was funded through 2006 and 2013 voter-approved road bonds.