Transportation Updates: Southwest Austin

1. South Congress Avenue lanes


Featured project South Congress Avenue lanes[/caption]

The Texas Department of Transportation is solving utility conflicts from Foremost Drive to Eberhart Lane. The revamped road will include five lanes, upgraded drainage facilities, bike lanes and new sidewalks along the west side of Congress Avenue and in a few places where there are gaps in sidewalks on the east side of the road.


Timeline: October 2014-spring 2016
Cost: $6.3 million
Funding source: TxDOT



2. Oak Hill Parkway study continues


A project team is refining two concepts and a no-build option as part of the ongoing Oak Hill Parkway environmental study on potential solutions to bring traffic relief to the intersection of Hwy. 71 and Hwy. 290. TxDOT and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority plan to host a workshop sometime in the first quarter of 2016.


Timeline: environmental study expected to be complete in 2017
Cost: TBD
Funding sources: TBD



3. Manchaca Road and Slaughter Lane updates


At the intersection of Slaughter Lane and Manchaca Road, the city of Austin Transportation Department plans to revise right-turn lanes, add raised medians on Manchaca Road north and south of the intersection and include dual left-turn lanes in every direction of the intersection. The transportation department is designing the improvements in conjunction with TxDOT. Staff implemented temporary fixes for the short term in October, according to the city.


Timeline: Oct. 2015-spring/summer 2016 (design), TBD (construction)
Cost: $1.5 million
Funding sources: city of Austin



4. Hazard Elimination project on Fitzhugh Road


Safety improvements Hazard Elimination project on Fitzhugh Road[/caption]

TxDOT plans to make safety improvements to Fitzhugh Road, including signage, delineation and guardrails along the Southwest Austin roadway from Hwy. 290 to the Hays County line. The project is slated to go out for contractor bids in August 2017.


Timeline: August 2017-fall/winter 2017
Cost: Approximately $104,500
Funding sources: TxDOT federal funds, Travis County



5. Behind schedule: Frate Barker Road widening


The project will widen the road to a total of five lanes east of Hewitt Lane to Manchaca Road and a three-lane section from east of Brodie Lane to Hewitt Lane. The entire project area will have bicycle lanes and sidewalks on each side of the road. A continuous center left-turn lane is being added through both sections, from east of Brodie Lane to Manchaca Road. An AT&T utility relocation has delayed the project, but work on that is expected to be completed by the end of December.


Timeline: February 2014–summer 2017
Cost: about $7 million for construction
Funding sources: Travis County, Federal Highway Administration funds through TxDOT



6. On schedule: FM 1626 in Travis County


The project will rebuild FM 1626 from Brodie Lane to Manchaca Road, widening it from a two-lane road to a four-lane highway with a continuous left-turn lane, shoulders, curbs, gutters and sidewalks. The on-schedule project is in the design phase, which is about 80 percent complete.


Timeline: August 2012-summer 2019
Cost: $12 million
Funding sources: design funded by Travis County, construction funded by TxDOT



7. SH 45 SW design phase


The Mobility Authority has identified opportunities to enhance the design environmentally cleared by TxDOT earlier this year for the limited-access, four-lane, 3.6-mile toll road connecting MoPac to FM 1626 in Hays County. As of early December, TxDOT was continuing the environmental re-evaluation, which may be complete by the end of the year. The Mobility Authority expects to request construction bids early next year.


Timeline: spring 2016-spring 2018
Cost: $100 million (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization estimate)
Funding sources: Travis and Hays counties, Mobility Authority, TxDOT Toll Equity grant, TxDOT Toll Equity Loan



8. Behind schedule: Loop 360 auxiliary lanes


New auxiliary lanes Behind schedule: Loop 360 auxiliary lanes[/caption]

TxDOT will add auxiliary lanes, or extended entrance/exit lanes, on Loop 360 to improve intersections with Walsh Tarlton Lane, the Barton Creek Square Mall entrance, Loop 1 and the intersection just south of Loop 1. A left-turn lane will also be added on the northbound frontage road of Loop 1 at Loop 360. TxDOT opened up the project to bids in September and selected Dan Williams Construction as the contractor. Construction has been delayed from winter 2015 to February.


Timeline: February 2015-spring 2017
Cost: $6.44 million
Funding sources: TxDOT



9. MoPac Intersections Environmental Study


An environmental study has been underway since May 2013 for Loop 1 at the intersections of Slaughter Lane and La Crosse Avenue to alleviate traffic congestion and increase safety. The project team is reviewing schematics for a diverging diamond interchange at Slaughter Lane as well as for an underpass design in which Loop 1 would go under Slaughter Lane and La Crosse Avenue. The project team anticipates completion of the study, as well as an environmental decision on the proposal, by the end of 2015.


Timeline: May 2013-winter 2015
Cost: about $45 million for construction
Funding sources: TxDOT