Arterial A • Round Rock

Arterial A • Round Rock

Written by Eric Pulsifer Friday, 06 June 2008

 

The City of Round Rock is currently in a joint design phase with Williamson County to create Arterial A, a north/south roadway running from University Boulevard to Toll 45.

The first portion of the project, which will begin this summer and should be completed within 18 months, will be a four-lane roadway under Hwy. 79 and the adjacent Union Pacific Railroad track starting at Joe DiMaggio Boulevard.

The road will then proceed south with a bridge over Brushy Creek and a six-lane roadway tying into Forest Creek Drive.

Next, the arterial road will stretch to Gattis School Road before ultimately intersecting with Toll 45.

Four lanes will span from Joe DiMaggio Boulevard in the northern part of Round Rock, past University Boulevard and into Georgetown.

Tom Martin, Round Rock transportation services director, said the project will make travel easier for drivers in the region.

“It opens up another north/south route that is sorely needed to provide mobility, especially out of the area around Forest Creek.”

Martin said the section north of Hwy. 79 may still be 10 to 15 years off, but that construction of the road from Joe DiMaggio Boulevard to Forest Creek will begin this summer and should be completed within 18 months.

Project manager Bill Stablein said going underneath Hwy. 79 and the parallel railroad track was necessary to keep traffic congestion manageable. It also avoids the creation of a dangerous railroad crossing.

“[Hwy. 79] is going to continue to get more and more congested,” Stablein said. “Anytime you’re having a four-way stop or even at a signalized intersection, you can have accidents. But if you have a nongraded crossing, both directions can travel freely without being impeded by the other.”

The portion of Arterial A south of Forest Creek toward Gattis School Road should be completed within five to seven years, but Martin said the city and county have yet to determine a date for connecting Arterial A with Toll 45 because of right-of-way issues over possible light rail transit or commuter rail systems that may be built in the area.

“That may be too far off at this point,” he said. “There are still some questions that have to be answered between [the city of Round Rock] and the state as to what’s going into that corridor.”

Round Rock’s portion of Arterial A is funded by a half-cent sales tax passed in 1999 dedicated to the construction of arterial roadways throughout the city. Williamson County’s portion will be funded by bond issues sold in 2007.

A four-lane roadway will run under US 79 and the adjacent Union Pacific Railroad track starting at Joe DiMaggio Boulevard.

The road will then proceed south with a bridge over Brushy Creek and a six-lane roadway tying into Forest Creek Drive.

The arterial road will stretch to Gattis School Road before ultimately intersecting withToll 45.

Four lanes will span from Joe DiMaggio Boulevard, past University Boulevard and into Georgetown.