CAMPO approves roadway projectsPhoto by Leslee Bassman

If all goes according to plan, western Travis County is slated to receive urban transit and roadway transportation projects that planners hope will help alleviate traffic issues anticipated to plague the area by the year 2040.

Following the Dec. 8 vote by the transportation policy board of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, RR 620 was approved to be widened to six lanes—adding a lane in each direction—from Anderson Mill Road in Austin to Hwy. 71 in Bee Cave. CAMPO is the regional board that coordinates transportation planning for Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties.

The $52 million RR 620 proposal was included in the list of draft roadway projects and scored high on all four CAMPO ratings: meets CAMPO criteria, public involved in issue, traffic congestion and vehicle crashes.

However, a proposal by the city of Lakeway for an alternate toll road to RR 620 was not included in the preferred scenario list but added to the illustrative list reserved for transportation projects that do not have funding identified.

"I'm excited that western Travis County actually has one road—RR 620—in the [approved CAMPO] plan," said Lakeway Mayor Dave DeOme who substituted for Councilman Joe Bain, the city's CAMPO representative, at the Dec. 8 meeting. "The inclusion of the [RR 620] toll road [proposal] in the illustrative list and RR 620 in the plan will spur on more [road] corridor studies going forward," he said.

Additional western Travis County projects included in the CAMPO 2040 Regional Transportation Plan draft:

  • build a Capital Metro Bee Cave Park & Ride facility for $3.8 million;
  • build a Capital Metro Park & Ride facility at RR 620 and RR 2222 for $6 million;
  • widen and expand Flint Rock Road in Lakeway for a total cost of $7.8 million;
  • build the RR 620 bypass to RR 2222 for $8 million;
  • add dual left-turn lanes southbound at intersection of RR 2222 and McNeil Road for $4 million;
  • widen RR 2222 at the RR 620 bypass for $12 million;
  • complete a RR 2222 corridor study from Loop 360 to RR 620 for $281,000;
  • complete a RR 620 corridor study from RR 2222 to US 183 for $393,000;
  • implement Capital Metro express bus service from Four Points at RR 620 to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard for $2.5 million;
  • improve and widen Bee Creek Road from Highlands Boulevard to Hwy. 71 for a total cost of $15.4 million; and
  • widen Bee Caves Road in Westlake from Walsh Tarlton Lane to Redbud Trail for $6 million.

Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty and Austin City Councilman Chris Riley voted against the preferred scenario for the CAMPO 2040 Regional Transportation Plan.

For a full list of approved projects download the Dec. 8 agenda packet here: https://www.campotexas.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/December-08-2014-Agenda-Packet.pdf.