Newly configured southbound lanes on FM 1460 opened Thursday between Quail Valley Drive in Georgetown and University Boulevard in Round Rock, marking the near completion of a more than two-year-long project to widen and realign the roadway.

Southbound traffic on FM 1460 can now travel on the newly paved lanes, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Northbound traffic on FM 1460 is reduced to one lane while work crews continue paving inside lanes and turn lanes. TxDot officials said the work should be done within the new few weeks.

TxDOT has overseen final stages of the $34.7 million project, the cost and scope of which is handled through a partnership between the state agency, the cities of Georgetown and Round Rock, and Williamson County.

The project is converting about 3.5 miles of FM 1460 from a two-lane roadway to a five-lane roadway between Quail Valley Drive and S.E. Inner Loop in Georgetown. Work is also widening FM 1460 into a four-lane divided highway from S.E. Inner Loop to just north of University Boulevard in Round Rock.

The project also included a realignment of FM 1460 between Quail Valley Drive and S.E. Inner Loop that moved a stretch of the roadway northeast of its original configuration.