Project estimated at $9 million, take 15 months to complete

The city of Lakeway and HDR Engineering Inc. are moving forward with a plan to widen and improve a portion of Flint Rock Road from the newly completed section of Lakeway Regional Medical Center to Serene Hills Drive.

The improvements to the roadway include widening the road to four lanes between Wild Cherry Drive and RR 620. The new roadway will be reduced to two lanes west of Wild Cherry Drive, and the roadway will not include a divider. The new Flint Rock Road will have a right-turn lane at Wild Cherry Drive and a left-turn lane onto northbound Wild Cherry Drive.

Flint Rock Trace will be abandoned, and a section of road will be updated on Wild Cherry Drive near the intersection of Flint Rock Trace.

As currently planned, the existing roadway from the new Flint Rock Road to Flint Rock Trace would be retained to provide access to Lohman's Spur.

"The goal [for the project] is safety improvements," Lakeway City Manager Steve Jones said. "We will be adding lanes on a small section of [Flint Rock Road], flattening some of the hills, straightening the curve, adding shoulders and just making it safer overall."

Jones said that by adding 4-foot paved shoulders, the road will become safer for both cars and bicyclists.

The project, which is a joint effort by Travis County and the city, has a total estimated cost of about $9 million. Travis County will cover $4.76 million, or roughly 53 percent, and Lakeway will cover the remaining $4.3 million using city-issued bonds.

Jones said the project is scheduled to take 15 months and will begin in late summer or early fall of 2014.

Voters in the city and the county passed bond proposals in their respective elections in November 2011 and 2012. Sixty-two percent of Lakeway voters approved the Flint Rock Road bond.