The Texas Department of Transportation has major plans to widen RM 620 from Hwy. 71 to Hudson Bend Road. While the project is not expected to start until 2028, Lakeway staff said the city is working to mitigate the project's impact on local businesses.
The rundown
To address mobility and safety concerns along RM 620, Senior Planner Charlie Sullivan said the improvements will include:
- Widening the existing four-lane road to six lanes
- Replacing center turn lanes with raised medians
- Adding a shared-use bike and pedestrian path along the corridor
Sullivan said the project may cause commercial driveways and parking lots to become blocked off. To mitigate closures along the corridor, the city began conducting impact reports in 2022 to identify businesses that will need to be "grandfathered" into code compliance.
"We want to encourage redevelopment to the highest and best use, but we don't want to do that at the expense of forcing people to go under," Sullivan said.
The reasons
Sullivan said excess congestion leads to improper use of the center turn lane, which the creation of a median would eliminate.
Additionally, the addition of shared-use paths would provide much-needed connectivity along the north-south corridor of the city.
"A real issue with Lakeway is we were developed back in the '60s, and all of our roads have narrow right of ways, narrow lanes and no shoulders, so there's really limited opportunity for bike lanes or golf carts," Sullivan said. "[RM] 620 is really the spine of Lakeway, so this is a great opportunity."
What's next?
Sullivan said the construction will likely begin in Bee Cave and work its way north to Lakeway.
While he anticipates the city will complete impact reports this year, the hold up is mostly attributable to TXDOT funding, which is being dedicated to larger projects, such as I-35's expansion.
Another update about the city's progress will be given at an August City Council meeting, Sullivan said.
