TxDOT to close part of William Cannon for water line installation on Valentine's Day

The Texas Department of Transportation is planning to close part of William Cannon Drive on Feb. 14 to install new water lines as part of a project to improve traffic flow at the road's intersection with West Hwy. 290.

TxDOT said Feb. 12 that, weather permitting, it will close southbound travel lanes of William Cannon Drive for 250 feet past the Hwy. 290 intersection while construction takes place.

"There's never a good time to completely close down any roadway and so what we try to do is just be as expedient as possible whenever we do close these," TxDOT spokeswoman Kelli Reyna said. "Our goal will be to have this reopened for Saturday [Feb. 15]."

Southbound lanes will be closed starting at 8 p.m. on Feb. 14, and will re-open no later than 5 a.m. on Feb. 17. Reyna said the closure will not affect northbound traffic.

This is the second time in two weeks TxDOT has closed lanes as part of the project to install continuous-flow intersections, or CFIs. The first project on Feb. 7 involved installing city of Austin wastewater lines, and Reyna said that project went smoothly and opened the next day.

Road signs have been placed in both directions along the highway to alert drivers. Reyna said motorists should allow extra time to travel through this area during the affected hours.

"Obviously with Valentine's Day if you're making plans, if you're going out to eat be aware of that one particular area there on William Cannon," she said.

TxDOT's goal to complete the CFIs project is late spring 2015, Reyna said.