The $674 million Oak Hill Parkway project—which broke ground in 2021—will add 27 bridges, construct miles of shared-use paths and widen Hwy. 290 up to 12 lanes from Circle Drive to MoPac.
The overview
TxDOT crews are building a “state of the art” roadway that will benefit local and through traffic, TxDOT Public Information Officer Bradley Wheelis said.
The key project goals include:
- Building three main lanes in each direction along Hwy. 290
- Lowering Hwy. 290 main lanes from just west of William Cannon Drive to Circle Drive
- Building two to three frontage roads in each direction along Hwy. 290
- Constructing two flyovers that will create a direct connection from Hwy. 290 to Hwy. 71 so drivers will no longer have to wait at the Y intersection that’s managing traffic flow
- Building new bridges at Convict Hill Road, RM 1826, Circle Drive and Scenic Brook Drive.
- Adding 14 miles of shared-use paths and 1.5 miles of sidewalk
“If you've ever driven through that area and Oak Hill, you know the Y intersection is basically at a standstill all day long. It's a very congested corridor,” Wheelis said.
What’s happening?
In April, crews finished a section of the new Hwy. 290 eastbound frontage road at McCarty Lane. The work raised the intersection by 12 feet as McCarty Lane is close to Williamson Creek and needs to withstand a 100 year flood, Wheelis said.
In July, crews completed the William Cannon bridge over Williamson Creek and shifted traffic onto the new William Cannon travel lanes.
In August, crews shifted traffic going eastbound on Hwy. 290 to the newly built eastbound frontage road between Thunderbird Road and El Rey Boulevard and pushed westbound Hwy. 290 traffic to the existing eastbound main lanes.
Crews also finished building the first section of shared-use paths on either side of Hwy. 290 from MoPac to Old Fredericksburg as well as between Circle Drive and RM 1826.
Crews are working on building new frontage roads and excavating for the future main lanes from Circle Drive to Convict Hill Road. The first segment of lowered main lanes on Hwy. 290 will be completed on the eastbound lanes near Circle Drive by the end of the year, Wheelis said.
What else?
Throughout the project, TxDOT will excavate 2 million cubic yards of material—enough to fill The University of Texas’ football field 83 stories tall, Wheelis said.
All the excavated material will go to an on-site recycling facility and will later be repurposed for other materials in the project.
Learn more
Short- and long-term traffic updates on the project are posted regularly here.
