Cedar Park and Williamson County officials celebrated the opening with a ribbon-cutting on the morning of Nov. 20. The project aims to improve mobility and safety in the area, and it will open opportunities for future development, according to a Cedar Park release.
The big picture
The new portion of New Hope Drive will connect the east and west sides of Cedar Park, City Council member Heather Jefts told Community Impact.
Jefts said the previous main east/west thoroughfare was Whitestone Boulevard/RM 1431.
“That was about the only straight shot east/west across Cedar Park, and so this opens up another avenue and hopefully relieves some traffic on 1431,” Jefts said.
How we got here
Design for the project began in 2017, and construction began in November 2022, Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin said. The project is now substantially complete, and crews were working Nov. 20 to get the needed traffic signals up and running in time for the road’s opening in the afternoon.
The 1.8-mile four-lane divided arterial features raised medians, traffic signals, sidewalks, shared-use paths, dedicated bike lanes and LED streetlights. It also has the needed water infrastructure for incoming developments.
The project cost a total of $29.5 million, Penniman-Morin said. A Williamson County road bond from 2019 provided $7.75 million in funding for the project, and $12.4 million came from the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, allocating federal funds for the project. Cedar Park’s portion of the funding came from a voter-approved 2022 bond program.
What they’re saying
Williamson County Commissioner Valerie Covey said the project is an example of the city and county working toward improvements voters have repeatedly made clear they want: mobility and safety.
“We have designed this area to have some really interesting and cool projects going on, and we needed a road to be able to access the property,” Jefts said.
She said one of the incoming developments is Perfect Game, which will host youth softball and baseball tournaments, close to the corner of East New Hope Drive and Ronald Reagan Boulevard.
The development is expected to have 19 fields, and there will be restaurants and hotels at the site, which are expected to bring in tax revenue from sports tourism, Jefts said.
