Transportation Updates


 

Transportation Updates Little Elm Trail[/caption]

1. Little Elm Trail


Work began in December on a project to fill in two gaps of Little Elm Trail. The project will finish Little Elm to become a four-lane road that connects Bell and Lakeline boulevards. Crews will add right-turn lanes from Bell to Little Elm as well as left- and right-turn lanes from Lakeline to Little Elm.


A new entrance will also open access between Little Elm and the Randalls shopping center as well as new businesses being built between Gold’s Gym and Cypress Creek Road.


All four lanes may open by the end of this year, and final paving is planned by spring 2017. Read more about the project on Page 17.
Timeline: December 2015-spring 2017
Cost: $7.06 million
Funding sources: city of Cedar Park ($2.98 million); Cedar Park Community Development Corp., also known as the 4B Board ($550,000); Williamson County ($3.53 million)




Transportation Updates Cypress CreekRoad/Lakeline Boulevard[/caption]

2. Cypress Creek Road/Lakeline Boulevard


Randall Lueders, city of Cedar Park project manager, said work on the Cypress Creek Road/Lakeline Boulevard intersection paused for two weeks in late January. Crews installed new barriers to safeguard workers who are making improvements to medians, Lueders said. However, the project remains on schedule to finish late this spring. Project plans call for extended dual left-turn lanes and widened existing left- and right-turn lanes on north- and southbound Lakeline, which includes adding a lane to a bridge on Lakeline. Crews are also adding medians and two new right-turn lanes each on east- and westbound Cypress Creek.
Timeline: June 2015-spring 2016
Cost: $2.2 million
Funding sources: city of Cedar Park, Williamson County



3. East Whitestone Boulevard pass-through project


Work is delayed on a project to widen a portion of East Whitestone Boulevard between Market Street and CR 175/Sam Bass Road, and rebuild the intersection of East Whitestone and Parmer Lane/Ronald Reagan Boulevard into a partial continuous-flow intersection.


On Feb. 25, Alan Green, city of Cedar Park senior engineering associate, told City Council the project completion was delayed five months from spring to August 2016. Green said the delays were  partially caused by flawed designs for a storm sewer, retaining wall and bridge deck elevation. The project includes adding separate left-turn lanes for drivers to turn left from East Whitestone to Parmer or Ronald Reagan. Crews are widening the road from four to six lanes and lengthening turn lanes on East Whitestone for Toro Grande Drive as well as Raley and Sam Bass roads. As of March 11 the project was listed as 62 percent complete. Read more about the project on Page 23.
Timeline: August 2014-August 2016
Cost: $22 million
Funding sources: city of Cedar Park, Williamson County (Texas Department of Transportation will reimburse 80 percent of actual construction costs)



4. Old FM 2243 widening


Crews are in the early stage of a project to widen Old FM 2243 in Leander from two to five lanes, including a center turn lane, between US 183 and a location just west of North Lakeline Boulevard. Crews will keep at least one lane open in each direction throughout most of the project and will announce any brief road closures, which are expected to occur at night or during low-traffic periods. The project includes relocations of utility lines and conversion of drainage ditches to storm sewers under new lanes. Crews will add turn lanes for cross streets.
Timeline: Jan. 4, 2016-spring 2017
Cost: $24 million (estimated)
Funding sources: city of Leander, Williamson County (50 percent or up to $9.15 million)