Roadway options discussed by local entities
When Ron Cox leaves his Steiner Ranch home for his River Place Plaza office at the intersection of RR 620 and RR 2222, the physician packs a coffee mug and plenty of music for the seven-mile drive. For Cox, who has lived in the Four Points area since 2009, a 15-minute morning commute often doubles or triples in time because of the traffic, he said.
"The [RR 620 at RR 2222] intersection has a significant impact on my business from the standpoint of losing patients who come here for their allergy shots on a regular basis," Cox said.
Cox is not alone in his concern. During the past year, local residents have banded together—Four Points Traffic Committee, River Place Traffic Committee and Transportation Advocacy Group—to bring awareness of the RR 620 corridor congestion issue to government officials.
"Right now the west side of town is not on anyone's top 10 list [for transportation improvement projects]," said Harrison Labdell, Steiner Ranch Neighborhood Association Traffic Committee chairman.
Recently, however, the intersection and its corridor caught the attention of state lawmakers and a county commissioner who have begun a dialogue to solve the traffic congestion issues, he said.
Current fix on hold
The Texas Department of Transportation maintains the intersection and received 2010 bond funding for a project to add a right-turn lane on RR 620 heading east on RR 2222. The turn lane is intended to improve the approach onto RR 2222, according to a July 2013 TxDOT bond project status.
"We know the bottleneck [on RR 2222] doesn't stop [at RR 620]—[it] continues to go south," TxDOT spokeswoman Kelli Reyna said. "That [intersection is] really the key."
Reyna said the scope of the $628,000 TxDOT build, which began July 16, a partnership with the city of Austin and includes restriping lanes and replacing traffic signals at the intersection.
The turn lane from RR 620 onto southbound RR 2222 was proposed to be extended from its single lane of 250 feet to a 470-foot double right turn lane extending past the Walgreens and Wells Fargo bank driveway, Reyna said. This was intended to help get vehicles into the right lanes early and off other RR 620 lanes, she said. TxDOT realized the proposal would not work for drivers making right turns in and out of the business, so TxDOT shortened the turn lanes, she said.
State Rep. Paul Workman, R-Austin, said he thought the dual turn lanes were a valid solution until he started getting emails from constituents expressing displeasure with the shorter lanes.
Workman said he met with TxDOT officials Sept. 11 who told him the turn lanes interfered with RR 620 businesses originally permitted for full-access driveways. He said TxDOT is now considering lengthening the turn lanes to the original proposed depth and allowing customers to enter or exit Walgreens from the left or right onto RR 2222. Walgreens' RR 620 access would be restricted to only right-in, right-out turns, he said.
Walgreens will work with the state and community to find safe entry and exit solutions to its store, Walgreens media relations officer Phil Caruso said.
Higher density on the way
Ray Freer, Four Points Chamber of Commerce Chairman, said when he moved to the area in 1996, he never encountered the traffic now confronting residents.
"The traffic and roads haven't grown to accommodate [the newcomers],"Freer said. "To get out to I-35, it takes 45 minutes. To get through Anderson Mill, you need a plan. We're having people move out of the area due to traffic. I don't know if there's one correct answer, though it all takes money."
New multifamily projects Escape at Four Points and The Preserve at Four Points, located within a few hundred feet of the RR 620/RR 2222 intersection, will add more than 500 homes to the area, said Realtor Mia Sanchez of Avalar Realty. Colina Vista Condominiums and the Promesa apartments added 435 units to the area within the past year, she said.
Currently Steiner Ranch has 4,035 single-family homes built by various developers out of the 4,076-home cap allowed under its 2000 development agreement with the city of Austin, said Adib Khoury, Taylor Morrison vice president of land development. The Monterone apartments, with more than 500 units, is not included in this tally.
Khoury said more multifamily homes are in the sale process including two Steiner Ranch mixed-use areas with nearly 300 combined units and The Fairways' 88 units. However, the slated build-out of two tracts, MU-11 and MU-14, will be at a lower density than allotted in the original development agreement.
"We're not going to stop developing, but we're going to take [residents'] concerns into account as we close development at Steiner Ranch," Khoury said.
Business and medical complexes—the Medical Towers at River Place and a second medical building at the River Place Center Bldg. 2—are in the final stages of construction near the intersection. Additional medical offices are planned for the Colina Vista grounds, and a Residence Inn by Marriott is under construction at River Place Boulevard and RR 2222.
Solutions offered
September's meeting between Workman and TxDOT engineer Greg Malatek also included representatives from the offices of Bruce Todd, interim Travis County Precinct 2 Commissioner, and state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, as well as the Texas Department of Natural Resources. Lobdell, who represented SRNA at the discussion, said the focus expanded beyond the RR 620/RR 2222 intersection to the traffic plaguing travelers up and down the RR 620 corridor.
"I've driven that stretch of 620 myself, and I know how bad it is," Workman said.
Along with SH 45 and the Y at Oak Hill, the RR 620/RR 2222 intersection is a top critical city traffic issue, he said.
Reyna said the
RR 2222/RR 620 intersection's level of service, akin to a report card with grades ranging from A, or least congested, to F, or most congested, is rated F during morning and evening peak times.
"The problem is that the River Place Drive and RR 2222 intersection can't handle the amount of traffic once people have turned right [onto RR 2222 from RR 620]," Reyna said. "We are looking at the entire system—to make changes to the River Place/2222 and McNeil [Drive]/2222 lights to help get the cars through the area."
She said TxDOT hired an engineering firm to look at ways to move traffic along RR 2222 from RR 620 through McNeil Drive, the exit for Vandegrift High School. Currently the only project in place for the intersection is the dual turn lanes, she said.
At meetings held with TxDOT officials in June 2012 and January 2013, SRNA proposed long-term measures including adding overpasses and flyovers at both the RR 620/RR 2222 and RR 620/Anderson Mill Road intersections, SRNA Chairman Brian Thompto said.
TxDOT considered using continuous-flow lanes, allowing traffic to bypass the junction when turning at the intersection, but determined the project would not be feasible based on the traffic volume and limited right of way, Reyna said.
"We continue to brainstorm ways to address congestion along these roadways, but at this time, the current construction project is what we have planned for the intersection," she said. "TxDOT looks to local leadership and the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization to [allocate funding and] determine projects to construct with the limited funds available for transportation."
There are no transportation projects listed on CAMPO's 2035 plan for western Travis County, Lakeway Deputy City Manager Chessie Zimmerman said.
On May 22, the city of Lakeway unveiled its proposal to create an elevated toll road that would link RR 620 near RR 2222 to Hwy. 71 along the eastern edge of Bee Cave and SH 45 in southern Travis County.
The city of Austin has been making frequent adjustments to signal timing at the RR 620/RR 2222 intersection, Austin Public Information Officer Samantha Park said. She said the transportation department has seen a noticeable increase in traffic at the junction over the past three years and hopes to bring a Bluetooth program—currently in the pilot stage along South Lamar Boulevard—to the RR 620 and RR 2222 intersection.
Park said the program tracks a traveler along a roadway by their Bluetooth useage, marking when a driver passes Point A and later, Point B. The program monitors the amount of time the driver takes to travel a roadway stretch, and, if it takes the driver too long to reach Point B, provides feedback for staffers to adjust the signal timing—giving more green light time where needed or providing travel alerts, she said.
Park said the program does not collect any personal data from the users, and, if it is determined to be a viable asset based on results of the pilot, the program may be available to the RR 620/RR 2222 intersection in a couple of years.
"The traffic signal timing is functioning [at RR 620 and RR 2222] and optimized for traffic volume and lane configurations," Park said. "It's working as best as signal timing can work for that intersection. Beyond that, road reconstruction is the next step."
