Although Jana Motzkus said business has yet to be affected by the Bee Caves Road expansion project, the office manager at Liz James Designs, 4407 Bee Caves Road, Ste. 511, Austin, said she has seen an increase in delays on the road during business hours and is worried about losing walk-in customers as construction work progresses this fall.

“We imagine it probably will start to affect us more come September and October as construction continues,” she said. “That will be the true test, but we haven’t seen much of [an impact] yet.”

Since the $29 million expansion project to add a continuous left-turn lane on Bee Caves from Redbud Trail to Walsh Tarlton Lane began in November, contractors have worked to complete utility work along the road. These efforts have also led to the addition of a retaining wall west of Sundown Parkway, said Diann Hodges, spokesperson for the Texas Department of Transportation, the agency that owns and manages the roadway.

Contractors are also currently completing waterline work on Bee Caves from Redbud to McConnell Trail and will next build retaining walls at locations along the north side of the road, she said. 

Four waterlines are being installed between Sundown and Buckeye Trail nightly, from Sunday through Thursday each week, Hodges said. Weather permitting, this segment of the project should be completed by May 20, she said.

Engel & Volkers broker Steve Turnquist said the construction has not affected his real estate office, located at 3700 Bee Caves Road, Ste. 102, West Lake Hills, other than providing minor inconveniences. He said the end result of the construction would ultimately be a positive move for the Westlake area.

“We do have the inconveniences of slower traffic and lane closures, but once this project is completed [the road] will be improved dramatically,” he said.

In anticipation of increased construction near the business over the summer, Motzkus said Liz James Designs has been ramping up its social media presence and is pushing more customers to its website for online shopping.

“If [customers] can’t make it to the store and don’t want to deal with the construction, they can always shop online,” she said.