Building the long-awaited SH 45 SW road in southern Travis County would not create any additional traffic congestion, according to a traffic modeling study discussed at a Dec. 9 Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting.

The study—created by the Network Modeling Center at the Center for Transportation Research at The University of Texas at Austin—looked at where drivers would be coming from and going to if the new road were built and how they would change their routes, center Director Jen Duthie said.

The Texas Department of Transportation and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority already launched an environmental study for SH 45 SW that could be built from MoPac to FM 1626 in northern Hays County.

CAMPO was going to release a traffic study in September 2012, but staff found that incorrect data was used, and the study was delayed, said Daniel Yang, CAMPO's geographic information systems and modeling program manager.

The study looked at traffic scenarios if SH 45 SW were not built, if it were a two- or four-lane nontolled roadway and if it were a two- or four-lane tolled road.

Duthie said drivers heading northbound on SH 45 SW would be coming up FM 1626 from Hays County and continuing north onto MoPac or heading west on Hwys. 290 and 71. Heading southbound, drivers could also use MoPac and then SH 45 SW to head back to FM 1626.

Duthie said RM 1826 would see some relief because that is the road most used by these drivers to get to MoPac and the Oak Hill area.

"These travelers would have a more efficient path than available to them now. They [would] have a shorter path," she said.

Traffic would even improve slightly on Brodie Lane, Manchaca Road and South First Avenue if SH 45 SW were built, Duthie said. This could be because drivers needing to get to MoPac would no longer need to use those roads to access MoPac.

"It's just a shift in behavior," she said. "[MoPac] is already at capacity so we're not seeing more."

Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty has been advocating for the construction of the road for the past 16 years.

"So the people that live in Circle C that continue to say if you build 45 SW that you will create more traffic north of Slaughter because of people coming off 45 SW, this clearly shows this is not the case," he said.

TxDOT and the Mobility Authority are hosting an open house event Dec. 10 from 5–8 p.m. at Bowie High School on Slaughter Lane. For more information, visit www.sh45sw.com.