The Texas Department of Transportation expects to let out to bid summer 2018 a project that will allow vehicles to bypass the intersection of RR 620 at RR 2222. The Texas Department of Transportation expects to let out to bid in summer 2018 a project that will allow vehicles to bypass the intersection of RR 620 at RR 2222.[/caption]

During a Jan. 18 presentation before the Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce, Bruce Byron, project manager for the Texas Department of Transportation, told members that the proposed $18 million bypass near RR 620 and RR 2222 is anticipated to go out to bid next summer.

“The new bypass will basically take traffic off [RR] 620 and intersect onto [RR] 2222, about where the [Paul’s Motor Werks, 110003 RR 2222, Austin] is, where the transmission lines go across,” he said.

Byron said the agency would also add a lane onto RR 2222 to take the additional traffic from the bypass past the entrance to Leander ISD's Vandegrift High School at McNeil Lane.

“This [bypass] will reduce traffic congestion significantly at that intersection,” he said.

The project will be executed in two phases simultaneously and be ready to be bid upon by contractors in summer 2018, Byron said. The environmental study for the project is ongoing, he said.

RR 620 project

The Texas Department of Transportation has proposed a project to help congestion on an 18-mile stretch of RR 620, from US 183 to West Hwy. 71. TxDOT has proposed a project to help congestion on an 18-mile stretch of RR 620 from US 183 to West Hwy. 71.[/caption]

Although the design for the RR 620 project proposed for an 18-mile stretch of the corridor—from US 183 to West Hwy. 71—remains the same as when it was introduced last year, Byron said the agency will be working with local businesses to determine the logistics of where the turn bays will be located on the roadway. TxDOT expects to begin the design of the southern portion of the project in the spring, he said.

The project proposes changing RR 620 from four lanes with a center turn lane to six lanes from US 183 to Quinlan Park Road. From Quinlan Park to Lakeway Boulevard, RR 620 is proposed to become a four-lane, divided roadway and then increase to a six-lane, divided roadway from Lakeway Boulevard to West Hwy. 71 in Bee Cave.

A raised concrete median will be constructed in the current center turn lane to provide turn bays, Byron said. Long-range plans may involve adding a four-lane elevated roadway from US 183 to RR 2222, he said.

“For the most part, [the RR 620 project] proposal improves most of the [southern RR 620] area [of Bee Cave and Lakeway],” Byron said. “Although there’s still some problem areas. This alone will not suffice to remedy the problems.”

The mid-term project that adds lanes and a median on RR 620 from US 183 to West Hwy. 71 costs about $170 million and requires an additional $30 million to acquire right of way along the road, he said. The long-term project that includes an elevated roadway above RR 620 is estimated at more than $600 million, he said.