Texas flooding: Detour now in place for RM 1431 bridge at Cow Creek

Cow Creek bridge detour near Lago Vista

A detour is now in place for the RM 1431 bridge at Cow Creek between Lago Vista and Marble Falls.

LAGO VISTA, Texas - A detour is now in place for the RM 1431 bridge at Cow Creek between Lago Vista and Marble Falls.

What we know:

The detour was announced by TxDOT on Tuesday, July 15.

The RM 1431 bridge at Cow Creek remains closed following the deadly and devastating flooding in Central Texas over the July 4th weekend. 

Crews have been removing debris from the creek bed to prepare for the reconstruction of the bridge. Officials have not yet released a timeline of when the bridge will be fixed.

So instead, drivers looking to go from Lago Vista to Marble Falls will have to:

• Travel east along RM 1431 through Jonestown
• Go north on US 183 north of Ceder Park to SH 29
• Take SH 29 west to RM 1869
• Take RM 1869 to RM 1174, which meets up with RM 1431 into Marble Falls

A TxDOT representative said with school coming up, some children live on the east side and go to Marble Falls schools, so they are working with the district to make accommodations.

Residents react

Local perspective:

"Now we don’t know what to do," Marble Falls resident Ed Dib said.

Ed Dib usually takes 1431 to get from Lago Vista to his home in Marble Falls. It is the only direct route. 

"I drove this road before and here you could not even see the river. There were a lot of trees, it was kind of narrow and a lot of greenery, but now it’s kind of more open," Dib said.

Texas floods: Damage in Lago Vista

Another community impacted by the July 4th weekend flooding was Lago Vista. FOX 7 Austin's Jessica Rivera has the latest.

"Water pushed everything out?" FOX 7 reporter Meredith Aldis asked.

"Yes, it pushed everything out," Dib responded.

Dib is anxiously waiting for a new bridge.

"I was talking with these guys, and they said it’s going to take 4 or 5 months to build the bridge. I don’t know if they’re going to do anything temporary to just go back and forth, but I think it’s going to be hard," Dib said.

Texas flooding: Damage in Marble Falls

Jillian Hartmann with our sister station in Houston has a look the damage in Burnet County.

Dib said the detour takes a while.

"It takes half a day, you know, it’s inconvenient," Dib said.

He said at the end of the day, it is just an inconvenience.

"This is not a big concern, it’s all these families and kids lost, and that’s sad," Dib said.

The area is where the body of a 17-year-old girl washed up last week. The bridge collapsed as her family was driving over it. Everyone made it out except for her.