The long-term solution to Y at Oak Hill traffic problems may not arrive anytime soon, even if a study of the project’s impact on social, economic and environmental issues is slated to finish in 2017.
The Oak Hill Parkway traffic-alleviation project calls for overhauling the Hwy. 290 and Hwy. 71 intersection, known as the Y at Oak Hill, into a raised highway with service roads, with either Hwy. 290 or Hwy. 71 as the overpass at the intersection point. The 6-mile project would extend from MoPac in the east to west of FM 1826 on Hwy. 290.
The project may be completed between 2022-23, according to a presentation by the Texas Department of Transportation and consulting firm Rodriguez Transportation Group at the May 5 Oak Hill Business and Professional Association luncheon.
Factors such as acquiring right of way to build, utility relocations, financial shortcomings and final design work may put new driving lanes years away. Securing the funding alone could take several years, and construction may take at least three years, RTG Project Manager Wade Strong said.
“Things outside our control can affect us,” said James Williams, TxDOT transportation engineer and project manager for Oak Hill Parkway. “In 2001 [for example], a lot of transportation money was diverted to [The U.S. Department of] Homeland Security, so a lot of projects were put on the shelf.”
TxDOT and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority have considered two build options—Alternative A and Alternative C. Alternative A makes the Hwy. 290 lanes depressed and the Hwy. 71 lanes an overpass at the Y at Oak Hill intersection. Alternative C reverses the depressed lanes and overpass lanes so the Hwy. 290 lanes will be elevated. Both agencies are also considering a no-build alternative scenario.
The environmental study began in 2012. TxDOT plans to hold a public hearing in early 2017 and complete the study six months later. TxDOT completed interim improvements in 2015, including a continuous-flow intersection at William Cannon Drive and Hwy. 290 in September.
“We estimate a service life of seven to 10 years for the interim improvements,” Williams said.
At the luncheon, TxDOT and RTG displayed renderings of the two alternative builds and heard from OHBPA members.
Daniel Fuertes, a minister at Western Hills Church of Christ in Oak Hill, said he has been an Austinite for almost 20 years and has been hearing about the Y at Oak Hill project since he arrived.
“This project has been started and stopped multiple times,” Fuertes said. “There is an amazing amount of growth in Oak Hill and Lakeway, so this should’ve been taken care of decades ago.”
