Williamson County cuts back on number of trees needing to be removed along Hairy Man Road

After push back from the community and an online petition, the fight to save trees along Hairy Man Road west of Round Rock is beginning to see progress.

From a couple hundred trees needing to be cut, the number is now down to less than a hundred. While those who signed the petition to save the trees say this is a good direction, the fight isn't over yet.

“Just an archway of trees across the roadway, it's like a tunnel of trees, it's just beautiful,” said Jon Koonce who lives near Hairy Man Road.

The nature view along Hairy Man Road near Koonce's home in Round Rock might be gone next year as the fate of dozens of trees along the road are on the line for a road improvement project.

“Obviously there's a need for safety and a safer road, I get that. Hopefully there's a way we can preserve the natural beauty that's here,” said Koonce.

RELATED: Growing concern over fate of more than 100 trees in Williamson County

Following a fatal crash in 2012 on Hairy Man Road, the county set out to make changes to the area. In 2013 a road bond including improvements to the road was passed.

The goal is to widen it in order to make it safer so the road will have shoulders on each side with rumble strips as well as rumble strips in the middle. To do this, they will have to cut down trees along the road.

Originally more than 200 trees were needed to be cut down. This caused backlash from people like Koonce who live in nearby that want to keep the nature view the area has.

“It would totally just devastate the landscape, change it all,” said Koonce.

Now the county is backing down on the total number of trees needing to go. In early December the number dropped to a little more than 100. This sparked an online petition to save the trees which as of Dec. 31 had more than 16,700 signatures, Koonce being one of them.

Since then the county has reduced the number of trees needing to be cut once again, this time to 67.

“I hope that they continue to talk and meet with the citizens and the county continues to listen to people who live here who appreciate the natural beauty,” said Koonce.

While Commissioner Terry Cook said this project is to make the road safer, Sheriff Robert Chody on Twitter said other methods could be tried first and removal of the trees should be a last resort.

Chody recently conducted a study on the road and reported that in six days more than 28,000 vehicles traveled on it and 57 percent were going above the speed limit. Right now, it's not certain if these findings will have an impact on the upcoming project.

The county is set to have another meeting with those in the area next month which could potentially reduce the number of trees even more. The project is set to begin in the spring.