The $612 million project aims to relieve congestion along 183 North—the 9-mile section of road between MoPac and SH 45—by adding two toll lanes in each direction that will connect to the existing tolls on MoPac and 183A in Cedar Park.
The project also added a fourth nontolled northbound and southbound lane, which opened last year, and is working to improve shared-use paths along the corridor for bikes and pedestrians.
In partnership with CapMetro, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, and Travis and Williamson county governments, the project is being funded through TxDOT, a federal loan and toll revenue bonds.
A 2024 TxDOT analysis reported 183 North as the 90th most congested roadway in Texas, causing an annual congestion cost of $31 million. Austin’s population has also grown by about 111,000 people since the project’s inception over a decade ago, plus more people moving farther north to areas like Cedar Park and Leander, Mobility Authority Director of Engineering Mike Sexton said.
Without the project, average peak travel times could reach nearly an hour in each direction by 2035, per data from the project’s environmental study.
An average of 50,000 to 90,000 vehicles already travel in each direction per day on the road, said Sylvia Shelton, Mobility Authority assistant director of communications.
A closer look
Along with the new northbound and southbound toll lanes, the project includes new and updated sidewalks for walking and biking, improved shared-use path connections and a new collector-distributor road from the highway to the frontage road.
Diving in deeper
183 North is one of the primary roadways between Austin and northern cities such as Cedar Park, Leander and Liberty Hill, Sexton said, and is seen as a vital connection between the communities.
The project isn’t just a toll road, he added, but an opportunity for “all different modes of transport” to be addressed and a way for businesses along the corridor to gain better visibility.
“The beauty of this is it’s going to impact any type of user of the community,” Sexton said.
According to the Mobility Authority, the completed project will bring:
- 4,200 feet of shared-use paths connecting bike lanes
- 11 miles of Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalks
- 9 minute toll lane commutes by 2035
- 24 minute faster nontolled lane morning commutes by 2035
- 16 minute faster nontolled lane evening commutes by 2035
Shelton said the 183 North team often attends HOA meetings and other local events so the community can discuss the project with officials.
“We like to join where we know people are already going to be because we know that they have those questions there as well,” Shelton said.
Linda Strickland, Balcones Village/Spicewood HOA president, said that while neighborhood outreach efforts have been good, some residents are concerned about traffic increases on Anderson Mill Road, which many BVS residents utilize.
More drivers are cutting through Anderson Mill to avoid construction on 183 North and RM 620, she said.
“Since this project is not really including any of the intersection there at [RM] 620, we have concerns that this will become a permanent situation,” Strickland said. “Anderson Mill Road is not built for that kind of traffic.”
The US 183 North team works with businesses along the corridor to keep them informed of upcoming construction. The outreach team offers businesses free “open for business” signage during driveway construction, which usually lasts 4-6 weeks. Businesses retain open access to driveways, but only a portion of driveways are blocked during construction.
183 North officials said crews have completed about 150 business driveways as of early 2025—about 70% of the task—and have about 64 sections of driveway work remaining.
Major takeaways
In August, construction crews hit one of the project’s biggest milestones yet: the completion of the two additional nontolled lanes, bringing the total number of lanes in each direction to four.
Roadways that transition from three lanes to four lanes and then back to three are common throughout Austin, Sexton said. Current oncoming ramps on 183 North add a lane, but drivers lose it once the ramp exits, he said.
“It creates a lot of congestion at those ramp points where people are trying to merge, so us being able to do that fourth lane early has allowed an improvement in travel time to that section of roadway—not even getting to the tolled section yet,” Sexton said.
As crews work to complete the project throughout the rest of the year, travel alerts with lane closures and other information can be accessed at www.183north.com.
According to the Mobility Authority, project milestones include:
- Aug. 2013: project begins
- April 2016: environmental study with public input approved
- Feb. 2021: Great Hills Constructors selected as design-build contractor
- Jan. 2022: project breaks ground
- Aug. 2024: nontolled lanes open
- 2026: project complete
