The city of Round Rock will start on major construction and road alignment work downtown this March. City officials acknowledge it will pose challenges for motorists and businesses alike but say patience is required to achieve an improved downtown.

The project will widen Mays Street and create a new alignment at the Main Street intersection. Currently, Round Rock Avenue intersects Mays at a roughly 45-degree angle. A small gazebo prevents East and West Main from intersecting.

After construction is completed motorists headed toward downtown on Round Rock Avenue will access Blair Street via a roundabout. From there they can turn left or right onto Main from Blair. Main will then run continuously through Mays.

After the project is completed there will be no Round Rock Avenue/Mays intersection and the gazebo will be relocated.

Round Rock Transportation Director Gary Hudder said the realignment "significantly" improves pedestrian safety downtown, which will be complemented with new crosswalks and pedestrian signals as well.

"Because we improve the pedestrian mobility at the [Main/Mays intersection] it helps us tie the two sides of Main together for shoppers and visitors," he said.

Hudder said one of the primary goals of the project is to improve mobility on Mays by adding a center left-turn lane.

"Today a car has to sit in the through lane [on Mays] to make a [north or southbound] left turn, and that's a safety concern," Hudder said

The realignment of Main Street will improve the performance of the intersection with Mays as well, Hudder said. He said currently the signal at Round Rock Avenue and Mays has four cycles, one for each direction. After construction is completed the new Mays/Main intersection will have two cycles.

Hudder said the project will ultimately make downtown more destination-oriented.

He said the Round Rock Avenue/Mays intersection is currently used mostly as a bypass. He said a traffic study found that 70 percent of traffic headed east on Round Rock Avenue was turning south onto Mays.

"We aren't getting any economic benefit from that," he said.

There will also be new gateways on the north and south edges of downtown on Mays letting visitors know when they have entered downtown. The Union Pacific Bridge, on the southern edge of downtown, will feature markings honoring the 'Immortal 10,' members of the Baylor University basketball team that died at the spot in 1927.

The city estimates construction will last two years. Construction will go in phases, so different areas of Mays will be affected at different times.

"The primary challenge is our ability to work with the current active businesses," Hudder said. "While we transition through the construction phase we will work with them to give them access."

Marci Wagner, owner of Bless This Nest near the corner of North Mays and East Austin Avenue, said she is nervous about the construction, but also excited for an improved downtown. Wagner said she hopes her store feels more incorporated into downtown.

"I feel like I'm off the beaten path just enough where I can't get the foot traffic," she said.

Wife and husband Cyndy and Nick Flores, co-owners of Che Bella Boutique at the intersection of Mays and Round Rock Avenue, said their store will be ground zero for construction.

"We know that it will impact our business," Cyndy Flores said.

Nick Flores said once construction is done downtown should be improved overall.

"We're excited about the changes," he said. "But it's going to be a rough patch during the construction."

Cyndy Flores said she wished the city had taken the initiative years ago to do the redevelopment work.

Wagner said she has gotten letters from the city warning there could be utility outages, though the city states it will try to make them at the most convenient times for businesses.

"I tell [customers] all the time no matter what goes on you'll be able to get into here," Wagner said.

A meeting was held Feb. 25 to educate local business leaders about the project. Hudder said several such meetings will be held throughout the project.

Round Rock Downtown Manager Courtney Ainsworth said her position, recently created as of May, will be the city's primary liaison to local businesses. Ainsworth said she has been pleasantly surprised with business owners' responses to the project.

"You have to go through growing pains to get to the other side," she said.

She said downtown will remain active during construction.

"We don't want to sugarcoat it—construction is never fun," she said. "But construction is going to lead to a much better, much more walkable downtown."