On the toll again

Construction on 183A Toll through Liberty Hill is halfway done

BY RACHEL MADISON STAFF WRITER

Settle in and get used to the lane shifts, extra delays and orange construction cones at Seward Junction, because the project taking place there is just halfway done—but promises to increase mobility significantly once completed.

The project, dubbed the 183A Phase III Project by the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA), will be the third and final phase of the 183A toll road. This phase is extending the toll road 6.6 miles from Hero Way in Leander to just north of State Highway 29 in Liberty Hill.

When it’s finished, the project will include two tolled lanes in each direction, alongside the non-tolled frontage roads already in existence. The tolled lanes will go underneath SH 29, and additional project improvements just north of SH 29 will include turnarounds and dedicated turn lanes onto CR 213 and CR258.

The first phase of the project brought a tolled roadway from RM 620 to RM 1431, with non-tolled frontage roads from RM 1431 northward to the San Gabriel River. That section opened in 2007. A few years later, in 2012, a five-mile extension northward from RM 1431 to Hero Way opened.

County Commissioner Cynthia Long, who oversees Precinct 2 in which Liberty Hill is located, said planning for the extension of the toll road northward has been on the County’s radar since before her time, more than 16 years ago.

“This has been a strategic and very important project to the County,” Long said. “It’s a critical roadway through our county that will give residents another opportunity to get north and south more quickly.”

As of now, once this project is completed, no additional toll roads will be constructed farther north, said Sylvia Shelton, assistant director of communications for CTRMA, adding that the only plans for the roadways will be necessary maintenance.

The need for the 6.6-mile extension stems mainly from the population growth predicted for the area, Shelton said.

“Projections show both residential and commercial growth along the Highway 183 corridor will more than triple by 2030,” she said. “With this unprecedented growth in Williamson County, most notably in Leander and Liberty Hill, increased traffic volumes are driving the need for proactive congestion relief. The 183A Phase III Project will save commuters time, provide a reliable transportation option, and eliminate the need to use signalized intersections.”

Long added that there will still be the option for drivers to take the frontage road instead of the toll road, so people will only have to pay for the tolls if they choose to.

“As long as people continue to love living in and moving to Liberty Hill and increasing their footprint in the area, we are going to need more capacity on our roadways,” she said. “This is an option for people who want to pay for it to use it.”

The project is on track to be open to traffic in early 2025. Since it began in 2021, significant progress has been made on earthwork, drainage and bridge construction, Shelton added.

“This project includes construction of an impressive 17 bridges,” Shelton said. “So far, roughly 80 percent of both drilled shafts and bridge columns for these structures have been completed.”

Now that significant progress has been made on bridge columns and other elements, the focus of the project has shifted to bridge decks, intelligent transportation systems infrastructure, and retaining walls, Shelton said. Additionally, crews have begun the large excavation and retaining wall system surrounding SH 29.

Traffic at that intersection will be shifted through the end of the project to accommodate the excavation underneath SH 29, as well as the construction of a new bridge. To construct the toll lanes under the highway, more than 230,000 cubic yards of dirt will be moved and reused elsewhere on the project.

In addition, based on analysis completed during the planning and design phases, the 183A Phase III Project will include the addition and improvement of signalized crossings at SH 29, Whitewing Drive/Larkspur Park Boulevard, Bryson Ridge Trail/US Highway 183 and Hero Way.

Besides the toll roads themselves, the 183A Phase III Project also includes an extension of the existing 183A shared use path from Hero Way to Seward Junction Loop along the southbound US 183 lanes.

The current shared use path is a 10-footwide, 7-mile-long dedicated bicycle and pedestrian path that borders 183A from South Brushy Creek in Cedar Park to Hero Way in Leander. It also includes a trailhead and pedestrian bridge that crosses Brushy

Creek and connects to Williamson County’s Brushy Creek Regional Trail.

“Once the project is complete, pedestrians and cyclists will have a safe, dedicated bicycle and pedestrian route from Cedar Park to Liberty Hill,” Shelton said. “In anticipation of the City of Leander’s future San Gabriel River Park, the path will also cross underneath [Highway] 183 so that pedestrians may safely access the northbound side and future park location.”

Though the project will take the better part of four years to complete, the opportunities it will create for Liberty Hill are worth the wait, Long said.

“When the first phase of this project was completed in Cedar Park, it really opened up huge opportunities for economic development in that area, and it will do the same for Liberty Hill,” she said.

For more information on the 183A Phase III Project and real-time construction updates, visit 183a.com.

By the Numbers

Project Cost: $277.3 million

Project Length: 6.6 miles

Project Timeline: 4 years