By LESLEE BASSMAN, Four Points News
Five years ago, Loren Lawson moved to River Ridge, the small lakeside community at the end of the Steiner Ranch neighborhood. She said she was attracted to its “country feel” and “slow pace”.
“The people down here are just family and very loving,” Lawson said. “It’s a very tight-knit community.”
However, for Lawson, that idyllic setting was rocked shortly after shelter-in-place orders came down from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, closing the boat ramps in western Travis County.
“As soon as the other docks closed, everybody who would have been launching from Lake Travis, any public ramp, they’ve been coming down here,” she said of the neighborhood’s Lake Austin boat ramp adjacent to the Steiner Ranch Lake Club located at 12300 River Bend.
The River Ridge resident said she’s recently witnessed an influx of vehicles speeding through the neighborhood to use the boat ramp located at the end of her street. As the only ramp open for miles, Lawson said people also illegally climb the fence to the private dock, don’t practice social distancing, and drive recklessly in the streets and within a muddy, empty lot.
And, the logistics of the area — that isn’t located within a municipality — makes the issue of law enforcement harder.
According to Lawson, the road leading to the dock as well as the ramp are public, but the fenced-in dock is private, with signage at the site stating, “Private Lake Club, Public Boat Ramp.” She said the road leading to the dock is managed by Travis County, with the Austin Police Department responsible for law enforcement at the waterside.
As a result, Austin officials are now researching the area’s jurisdictional boundaries “to determine what is in the city of Austin enforcement areas and what is not,” said Daniel Armstrong, division manager with the City of Austin Code Enforcement, in a May 12 email to the Four Points News and Grand Manors, the management company for the subdivision.
Once that research is complete, he said city staffers will respond with what regulations the department has authority to enforce along with recommended referrals to other city or county agencies which can enforce regulations in the areas that lie outside of Austin’s jurisdiction.
Armstrong stated his department will be partnering with the Austin Police Department and its Lake Patrol Division as well as other city entities to address residents’ concerns.
“Getting somebody to help us down here is an absolute fiasco,” Lawson said. “Nobody wants to take responsibility for closing that ramp.”
Greater law enforcement and implementation of safety measures can’t come soon enough for Sydney Campbell, the mother of two young children. Campbell, who lives in the neighborhood, said she experienced a near-miss accident last month while walking to the dock.
The then-pregnant Campbell was pushing a stroller along with her husband when the family encountered cars driven by teenagers rallying in the muddy lot. When they approached the area, Campbell said the teens may have thought the couple was prepared to reprimand them and retaliated by swerving toward her before barreling down River Bend to exit the community.
The family has lived in their Merlene Drive home for about five years and Campbell said she’s noticed more vehicles over that time. However, with the boat ramps closed due to coronavirus restrictions, she said the problem has exacerbated.
“It makes me second guess how long we might be able to stay in this neighborhood,” Campbell said. “Part of what we want to be able to do with our kiddos is be outside a lot and we can’t really do that freely.”
Kristen Dark, spokesperson for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed that some of the roads leading to the boat ramp are maintained by the county. She said the agency’s West Command unit has deployed personnel, radar trailers and sign boards to the streets as traffic enforcement measures.
“We can’t do anything about the boat ramp and the area leading directly down to the water entrance,” Dark said. “All of that area (belongs to the) city of Austin.”
County officials lowered the speed limit from 35 to 25 miles per hour some time ago and Lawson is now advocating speed bumps be placed on the local streets — River Bend and Terjo Lane — to slow traffic even further.
As additional safety measures, she pushed for more police patrols of the area and suggested the private boat ramp should be either closed while all of the surrounding ramps are closed or left open if the other ramps become available for use.
As of press time, all nearby boat ramps in Travis County remained closed, including Bob Wentz Park, Loop 360, Mansfield Dam Park, Mary Quinlan Park and Pace Bend Park.
Photos by residents of the River Ridge community.
