The Texas Historian, Volume 33, Number 4, March 1973 Page: 16
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the Circle, knowing that he could drive into
the flat area if danger threatened. The High-
way Department also installed safety lighting,
and laned the traffic. None of these provi-
sions stopped the speeding motorist.
The highway engineers solved the problem
eventually by reducing the motorist's visibility
to only what he had to see. In January, 1935,
a contract for beautification was enacted. The
contract stated that a mound of dirt six feet
high would be placed within the Circle. Al-
though the dirt mound was a part of the beau-
tification project, it helped to reduce the mo-
torist's sight range. The amount of dirt used
to create the mound was 44,000 cubic yards.
The beautification project also stated that
grass and shrubbery were to be planted within
the Circle in the shape of a star. These im-
provements restricted the motorist's vision to
an attractive dirt mound and to the signs which
directed him to the lane he wanted to take.
Although the Circle was built in 1933, the
funds for its construction began in 1914. At
that time the Young Men's Business League of
Waco planned a $1,075,000 bond issue for
precincts two and three to provide for a pro-
gram of road improvement in all the counties
north of a line extending east and west from
Austin Avenue. So well did YMBL President
W. V. Crawford and his associates operate
the campaign that for the first time in McLen-
nan County voters approved a major good
roads expenditure. Subsequent county and
city paving bond issues, however, were re-
jected by the voters several times during the
following decade.
With the automobile age well underway in
1928, Waco businessmen and other county
towns instigated a major attack on the county
highway problems. The Waco Chamber of
Commerce with V. W. Cox as president and
Crawford as one of his righthand men, led the
drive. Money needed for the program was
$4,791,000, allocated as follows: for county
crossroads, $2,250,000; refunding bonds,
$1,016,000. By an overwhelming majority the
voters approved the improvement project. Outof this bond grew the Loop and the Circle.
Ten sets of work plans for McLennan
County Highways were taken to Austin,
Wednesday, June 7, 1933, by E. C. Wood-
ward, division engineer, and F. B. Mason,
construction office chief for McLennan Coun-
ty Highways. Considerable work was in view
of this county because of the $25 million fed-
eral aid appropriation that Texas expected to
receive. Plans taken to the capital would total
about a million dollars worth of work in Mc-
Lennan County, which included the Circle
and Loop Drive as well as other highways. The
Bell Project also included paving work. To
further plans for McLennan County Highway
program, in anticipation of the $25 million of
federal aid that was expected in Texas, a
group met at the Chamber of Commerce
Wednesday, June 28, 1933, to complete what
was considered as a model highway arrange-
ment in Texas. On June 29, 1933, work on the
destination for Highway 153 from Belton
through McGregor to Valley Mills contin-
ued. H. R. Pipkins was the surveyor. This
survey may have been completed in time for
the road to be included in new highway proj-
ects that would be completed with federal
aid in this area. At the site of the new highway
over the Brazos on the Loop and Circle around
Waco, six bents for the roadway were com-
pleted.
An extensive drainage system for the Waco
Circle and Loop was planned in 1967. A year
later Waco citizens compared their city to Las
Vegas because the people thought they had
something in common-gambling. Gambling
is legal in Las Vegas and Waco residents got
a similar impression because of the Circle.
Since there were no signal lights on the Circle,
it was thought to be a gamble or risk. When
a motorist entered it, every man was for him-
self. Waco still considers the Circle to be a
hazard and engineers are considering replac-
ing it with a safer intersection.-[Bibliography:
Interview, Jack Odel to Terrace Stewart, No-
vember 15, 1971; Texas Parade '(October,
1936); Waco Times-Herald and Waco News
Tribune, June, 1933.]16
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Texas State Historical Association. The Texas Historian, Volume 33, Number 4, March 1973, periodical, March 1973; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391379/m1/18/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.