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Concrete islands in Cedar Park road cause headache and confusion for drivers

Those concrete islands are causing major damage for some who aren't paying enough attention.

Austin — Nearly a dozen concrete islands on a road in Cedar Park created headaches and confusion for many drivers.

Some voiced their frustration on the social media site, Reddit. Posters complained about not seeing the concrete islands in time and running over them, damaging their cars.

KVUE'S Jenni Lee visited Juliette Way, the road where she found 11 of these raised parking islands, or traffic diverting devices. For answers, she contacted the City of Cedar Park communications manager, Jennie Huerta.

Huerta said those islands were built by a private developer as part of a mixed-used development; that the developer is responsible for all signage and traffic control and contractors had coned off the areas around the new raised parking islands, but believes construction crews may have moved the cones to park their cars and didn't move them back.

Currently, two retirement communities are being built are either side of Juliette Way. The Maple Ridge Gracious Retirement Living development isn't finished. On the other side, the Solea Active Adult Living Retirement development is partially finished.

Marilyn Gabreath moved in the latter at the end of January. Already, she has noticed something.

"They drive like bats out of hell ... they don't watch where they're going," Gabreath said of the drivers in front of her apartments.

She said the drivers tend to speed. They are not going 30 miles an hour, the posted speed limit. So it didn't surprise her when some of those drivers had trouble with the raised parking islands.

"They hit them, and they tear up their tires or they tear up their frame of their car and they come to a screeching halt,"Gabreath said.

The most recent happened last week.

"He hit and tore up two of his tires on his right hand side of his car, had to have his car towed," Gabreath said.

Jenni: "So, do you feel sorry for the drivers then?"

Marilyn: "No. No, you can clearly see them!"

According to Huerta, the 11 raised parking islands are part of a private developer's project to turn the lanes into parking, which reduces the four lanes on Juilette Way to two.

But a city spokesperson said they are now requiring the developer to re-stripe the road to add a solid reflective white line with reflective buttons in the coming weeks.

"It is the developer's responsibility to cone and mark area appropriately to guide drivers in the correct direction," said Huerta.

Huerta also said city crews are checking every day to make sure the cones stay near the islands.

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