Ongoing projects
1. Westgate Transit Center
Westgate Transit Center, located below West Hwy. 290 between Pack Saddle Pass and Manchaca Road at 2707 W. Ben White Blvd., held its grand opening May 31. The center became active June 2, with service from six Capital Metro bus routes—30, 300, 311, 315, 318 and 803—running through the stop. There are 200 parking spaces at the new transit hub, including some reserved for bicycles and rideshare vehicles.
Timeline: July 2018-June 2019 Cost: $3.2 million Funding source: city of Austin
2. Manchaca Road improvement project
Travis County commissioners voted at an April 30 meeting to approve a funding agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation, allowing a Manchaca Road improvement project to move forward. The project, which addresses the south end of Manchaca from Ravenscroft Drive to FM 1626, will add a second lane in each direction and create a center turn lane as well as add sidewalks and bike accommodations to the area. The maximum federal funding available for this project is $7.6 million. Travis County is required to provide $1.9 million and cover any remaining costs, which amount to around $1.5 million. This project is separate from the corridor-wide project that is being designed by the city of Austin to address traffic and pedestrian concerns along all of Manchaca.
Timeline: fall 2010-summer 2021 Cost: $11 million Funding sources: Travis County, TxDOT
3. SH 45 SW toll road
SH 45 SW—a 3.6-mile, $109 million toll road connecting Hays and Travis counties in Southwest Austin—opened June 1. Local officials and residents celebrated the project’s completion with a ribbon cutting May 25. SH 45 SW was first proposed in 1985, and after years of planning, red tape and changes in local leadership, it officially broke ground in 2016. At the ribbon cutting, Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty said it took a joint effort by Hays and Travis counties to get the road built. He said the relief is long overdue, and residents deserve the new connection between the two counties.
Timeline: 2016-June 2019 Cost: $109 million Funding sources: Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, Travis County, Hays County
Regional projects
4. I-35 from Rundberg Lane to East Hwy. 290 project
The Texas Department of Transportation will begin major work at the St. Johns Avenue Bridge over I-35 in June. The construction is related to ongoing work on I-35 from Rundberg Lane to East Hwy. 290. The bridge will be demolished and reconstructed, with new frontage road U-turns at St. Johns and new intersection bypass lanes. During the construction, drivers will be detoured onto I-35 frontage roads to make a U-turn on Hwys. 183 or 290. The bridge is slated to reopen this fall.
Timeline: January 2018-2021 Cost: $124.2 million Funding sources: TxDOT and other sources
5. Hwy. 183 South Project
Construction continues for the 183 South Project, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s effort to build a new tolled expressway with three lanes in each direction on an 8-mile section of US 183 between Hwy. 290 and Hwy. 71. Most recently, US 183 southbound between 51st Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was closed during morning hours on May 11 for construction. The project’s first phase is expected to finish later this year.
Timeline: April 2016-2020 Cost: $743 million Funding source: Mobility Authority
Mobility35 Capital Express Project
The Transportation Policy Board, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s governing body, voted May 6 to grant the Mobility35 Capital Express Project $500 million in additional funding toward a project to revamp I-35 in Austin and make other updates. Funding will go toward new expressways from SH 45 North in Round Rock to SH 45 SE; intersection upgrades at RM 620 and Anderson Mill Road; and new Toll 183A frontage roads.
Timeline: spring 2021-2031 Cost: $8.1 billion Funding sources: city of Austin and TxDOT
