By December four lanes of Little Elm Trail could open between Lakeline Boulevard and US 183.

Work began in December 2015, and new lanes could open for use late this year before a final paving, Project Manager Randall Lueders said. By spring 2017 the city will finish the project. The city of Cedar Park budgeted $7.06 million for the project.

The work will provide drivers a new route between two of the city’s busiest roads, Lueders said.

“Any time you provide an alternate route, you ease traffic demand on other roads, just because people have more options for how to get where they want to go,” Lueders said. “So we’re hoping it eases some demand on the Cypress [Creek Road] and Lakeline intersection, and then Cypress and 183. … Both of those are pretty busy intersections, especially during peak hours.”

A new entrance will allow drivers to take left or right turns from Little Elm to the Randalls-anchored shopping center and Gold’s Gym as well as new shops and restaurants.

“That will be one of the biggest benefits to this whole development—having this ability to come out here and turn left and then go south [on Lakeline],” Lueders said. “It will increase the mobility for everybody, especially in the shopping centers.”

The project includes new utility lines and sidewalks, including a 10-foot-wide sidewalk south and east of Little Elm. Crews are also laying a 16-inch water line between Lakeline and the existing four-lane segment of Little Elm located west of Cypress Creek Townhomes.[polldaddy poll=9347754]

“All the utilities were stubbed here. … So it’s just another gap closure,” he said.

The new line and roadway could also boost construction of new restaurants, shops and senior retirement centers on Little Elm and nearby Cypress Creek Road.

Jennie Braasch, Pohl Partners Real Estate Group agent, said she expects the road expansion to allow residents easier access to the Randalls-anchored shopping center as well as nearby businesses that Pohl Partners is developing.

“People who have been over in the Red Oaks subdivision perhaps are going down into Austin to the H-E-B” located southwest of Lakeline and Toll 183A, Braasch said. “This [road] is going to be so convenient for them. It’s also going to be a boon for [new] retail.”

Bill Pohl, Pohl Partners owner and president, said two buildings could break ground by spring at the northwest corner of Lakeline and Little Elm and open later this year.

A new shopping center, Cedar Rock Plaza, will include Rock & Rolls Sushi Lounge and three other suites. A new freestanding emergency clinic, Lakeline Emergency Center, will also open. The business is owned by Dr. Henry Higgins, owner of Cedar Park Emergency Center on Whitestone Boulevard.

“We actually started this project almost a year ago,” Higgins said. “We’re hopeful to be open this year, probably late fall.”