Drivers passing through the Parmer Lane/Ronald Reagan Boulevard and East Whitestone Boulevard intersection during weekday mornings have seen their travel times decrease by about 50 percent since August, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT engineer Bobby Ramthum presented traffic volume numbers at a ribbon cutting of the RM 1431 pass-through project Wednesday morning. The city of Cedar Park, Williamson County and TxDOT partnered on the project to rebuilt RM 1431 into a six-lane divided roadway between Market Street and CR 175/Sam Bass Road. The project included a continuous-flow intersection at Parmer and Ronald Reagan as well as raised medians, curbs and gutters, lighting, turn lanes and drainage improvements. The city opened the continuous-flow intersection Aug. 2. TxDOT engineers said workers have since been finishing up striping and median work. Cedar Park Mayor Matt Powell said the city opened the intersection as soon it could to start relieving traffic for drivers. He said the ribbon cutting concluded the largest transportation infrastructure project the city has taken on in its history. “The idea behind this was bold—it was more than just expansion,” he said. “Adding the [continuous-flow intersection] added a level of complexity that not only had Cedar Park not attempted before, but most communities in this area haven’t attempted before.” According to the city, the population in Cedar Park has more than doubled in the last decade, which has caused decreased mobility and safety along the RM 1431 corridor. According to a city news release, the goal of the 1431 pass-through project was to improve both safety and mobility with the widened roadway. According to data from TxDOT, 30,000 vehicles traveled along RM 1431 west of Parmer/Ronald Reagan in 2011. The numbers of cars increased to 40,101 in 2016—an increase of 34 percent. On the east side of Parmer/Ronald Reagan, the number of cars increased by 24 percent in the same time period, the data show. Since the continuous-flow intersection opened in August, travel times along RM 1431 between Market Street and Toro Grande Drive decreased during peak travel time in the morning by 61 percent for cars going eastbound and 46 percent for drivers going westbound. In the evening, the travel time decreased during peak travel times by 53 percent going eastbound and by 33 percent going westbound. According to TxDOT’s data, a driver going eastbound on RM 1431 in the morning may have previously waited at the Parmer/Ronald Reagan intersection for three minutes. Since the intersection opened, that wait time is down to 1 minute and 9 seconds. “That just puts the proof in the pudding about how effective this is,” Ranthum said. The $22 million project was completed through a pass-through financing agreement with TxDOT. Per the agreement, Cedar Park funded the up-front design and construction costs and TxDOT will reimburse the city for 80 percent of the construction costs starting next year. Williamson County also contributed $1.7 million for construction administrative costs, $100,000 for sidewalks and $1.15 million for increased construction costs for the intersection. At the ribbon cutting, Williamson County Commissioner Cynthia Long read a letter from a former neighbor that thanked her for working to open the new intersection. “That is why we do this,” she said. “We want our citizens to be able to get around easier throughout Williamson County and the community, and it happens with partnerships.”