Georgetown Edition | April 2023

TRANSPORTATION UPDATES

WilCo to issue debt for 2019 road bond

UPCOMING PROJECTS

LEFT TO FINISH Of the eight uncompleted projects that need more funding from the 2019 road bond, ve are in Leander, Georgetown and Liberty Hill.

RROWST

175

2243

CREEK MEADOW COVE

BY GRANT CRAWFORD

N. AUSTIN AVE.

IMPROVING

Due to rising ination and construction costs, the Williamson County Commissioners Court voted March 7 to issue short-term debt to help tackle eight uncompleted projects from the 2019 road bond. After discussing possibly delaying projects from the bond—a $412 million package meant to fund road construction and expansion—the court approved a cost amount of $237.4 million for the uncompleted projects as well as overage costs on the expansion of the Williamson County Juvenile Detention Center. To help cover those expenses, the county will issue no more than $150 million in tax anticipation notes— which allows government entities to issue debt and repay it with future tax collections—this scal year. Of that amount, $70 million will go to right-of- way purchases, the price of which has skyrocketed, Precinct 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long said. “This is a unique challenge that we’ve not had— at least in the 16 years that I’ve been doing this,” Long said. Ocials said the remaining funding could come from more tax anticipation notes or a future bond, for which a committee was formed March 28.

HERO WAY

LEANDER RD.

2 Hero Way/RM 2243 from 183A Toll to Southwest Bypass 1 CR 175 from RM 2243 to Creek Meadow Cove

Austin Avenue bridge projects The city will start a project to rehabil- itate and improve the Austin Avenue bridge and roadway over the San Gabri- el River. The bridge’s sidewalk will be removed, widening existing lanes and adding shoulders. A separate pedestri- an and bicycle bridge will be built. Timeline: late 2023-mid-2025 Cost: $11.5 million Funding source: 2021 Georgetown mobility bond

2243

SOUTHWEST BYPASS

183A TOLL

2243

CONSTRUCTING

4 CR 214 to connect to US 183 in Liberty Hill 5 Liberty Hill Bypass to connect RM 1869 to CR 279 3 Southeast Inner Loop from Hwy. 29 to Patriot Way

PATRIOT WAY

130 TOLL

SAM HOUSTON AVE

OAK RIDGE RD.

3405

1869

332

214

183

279

SOURCE: WILLIAMSON COUNTYCOMMUNITY IMPACT

ALL INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE WAS UPDATED AS OF MARCH 17. NEWS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE OR OTHER LOCAL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS? EMAIL US AT GEONEWSCOMMUNITYIMPACT.COM. DB Wood Road widening A 1.4-mile portion of the two-lane DB Wood Road from University Avenue to Oak Ridge Road is set to be widened to four lanes. The project’s design makes it a major arterial, adding a shared-use path for bicycles and pedestrians. A separate project will widen a northern section of DB Wood from Oak Ridge to Williams Drive. Timeline: late 2023-mid-2025 Cost: $18.4 million Funding source: 2015 Georgetown transportation bond

Improvements planned for many I35 bridges

KEY

Ongoing project

Upcoming projects

BY CLAIRE SHOOP

with improvements on the way are I-35 at Hwy. 29, I-35 at Leander Road and I-35 at Westinghouse Road. He added the Hwy. 29 and Westinghouse Road overpasses will be com- pletely reconstructed, while the Leander Road intersec- tion will be improved. “Over the next multiple years, we are going to have

one section of I-35 where one of our roads crosses over to be under construc- tion,” Morgan said. Bradley Wheelis, Southwest communica- tions director at TxDOT, said each of these inter- section projects is in the early planning stages, and funding for construction has not been identi ed.

WILLIAMS DR.

The Williams Drive

diverging diamond intersection is the rst of four proposed projects to improve Georgetown’s I-35 crossings. City Manager David Morgan said during the 2023 State of the City presentation Feb. 15 the other three intersections

AUSTIN AVE.

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