Lake Travis Roadwork: What You Get For $11 Million Dollars

Remember when the words “elevated highway” made everyone put down their chai lattes and take notice?

Back in February, we had a little bit of fun breaking down the TxDOT Feasibility Study. Ah, those were the days!

We highlighted some obvious traffic woes that exist on 620 like the “failing” intersections that are ill-equipped to handle growth in the next 20 years.

We explored the dangerous nature of accidents on 620 and explained why hooded left turns may indeed be the solution. Yes, hooded left turns are a real thing.

The final point was that no funding is available for the proposed changes.

There is money for the current transportation projects you may be observing on and around 620 right now.

What’s happening on Lake Travis area roadways? How much is being spent? And who’s paying for it?

New & improved traffic signals

Have you noticed the shiny new traffic signals hiding behind the old ones at Lohmans Crossing? Yes, we’re excited too. Hopefully they’ve fixed the notorious left-turn syncing issue.

If you’ve ever tried to turn left from Lohmans Spur onto Lohmans Crossing during high traffic times, you’ve probably wished for a light. Well, your wish will soon be granted.

You’ll be seeing a traffic signal at Lohmans Crossing Road and Lohmans Spur soon. The intersection doesn’t boast a bevy of accidents yet, but it has the potential for being treacherous as traffic cruising along Lohmans Crossing increases. Bright orange safety fence has made an appearance, which means construction will be starting soon.

You may also notice the addition of more traffic signals at Dave Drive and Oak Grove Boulevard too.

Paving & lanes

Other projects in the works in the Lake Travis area include paving busy intersections and adding auxiliary lanes along 620 to enhance the configuration and flow of existing intersections.

And in honor of the Summer Olympics, the gold medal for shut-the-front-door-there-aren’t-any-lane-lines-and-it’s-pitch-black-out-here goes to Flint Rock Road.

Our apologies to everyone who lives in Flintrock for the insanity happening between Lakeway Regional Medical Center and Serene Hills Drive.

We know it’s a necessary evil, but holy cow, talk about white-knuckle road trips?!

A look at the costs 

The price tag attached to these transportation projects is around $11 million dollars.

So who’s paying for what?

Well, according to our calculations TxDOT is paying $1.72 million and the rest is being covered by the City of Lakeway with a portion funded by Travis County.

Thanks to all of the growth anticipated in Austin, TxDOT will have its hands full with big transportation projects for a long, long time.

The mobility projects on I-35 alone are estimated at $48 million. We also know there will be ongoing transportation woes closer to home on West Hwy 71 too, which will continue to impact Lake Travis residents.

Perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel is by 2035, all of the intersections along 620 should be getting straight As. Until then, spending $11 million on roadwork will help … but it’s going to take a much larger chunk of money to get Lake Travis roadways off the D list.