Round Rock’s City Council voted unanimously on March 12 to lock in a pair of interlocal agreements with Williamson County, turning the county into a formal funding partner on two big traffic upgrades: a Deep Wood Drive extension tying together RM 620 and Sam Bass Road, and Segments 5 and 6 of Kenney Fort Boulevard. City officials say the deals are designed to sharpen Round Rock’s pitch for competitive regional CAMPO grants and nudge both projects closer to being truly shovel-ready.
What the interlocal deals cover
The signed agreements spell out milestone-based reimbursements and cost-sharing between the city and county. Under the Round Rock Legistar entry for the Deep Wood extension, Williamson County’s participation is capped at $11,000,000, with the agreement listing an estimated total project cost of $21,474,000. A separate Round Rock Legistar item puts the county on the hook for up to $9,000,000 toward Kenney Fort Segments 5 and 6.
In both cases, the city keeps the driver’s seat. Round Rock is responsible for design, right-of-way acquisition, and construction, while the county’s payments are tied to specific project milestones laid out in the paperwork.
Where the projects stand now
Kenney Fort Segments 5 and 6 are already in the final design phase, and Williamson County’s project page notes construction is expected to begin in spring 2026, assuming right-of-way work stays on track. Deep Wood is earlier in the pipeline, sitting in schematic design after the city approved a professional engineering services contract in August 2025 to handle surveys, environmental reviews, and preliminary alignments.
Both project pages flag the same hurdles between planning and pavement: completing property acquisitions and ironing out coordination on trail connections and stormwater issues before construction bids can be advertised.
How the projects would be funded
To help pay for it all, Round Rock has applied for roughly $9.7 million in CAMPO funding for the Deep Wood project and about $21 million for the Kenney Fort segments, city staff told Community Impact. Public Works Director Michael Thane told the outlet the city has committed to covering 40% in local funding, which is double the regional program’s typical 20% match.
Thane also noted the CAMPO pot is seriously oversubscribed, with “roughly $330 million” available and about $1 billion in total requests chasing it. If Round Rock’s applications make the cut, the interlocal agreements already on the books outline how the city and county will divvy up the remaining construction costs and reimburse one another at the milestone checkpoints.
Timelines and next steps
Even with cost-sharing in place, residents should not expect crews and concrete to appear overnight. The city’s engineering contract and project materials call for multiple rounds of field surveys, environmental analysis, and right-of-way purchases before any construction bids are issued. Those same documents lock in milestone-based payment schedules and require ongoing coordination with county staff on trail access and habitat protections.
The next visible signs of movement are likely to be CAMPO funding decisions, outreach to affected property owners and the steady stream of coordination meetings the agreements mandate, rather than bulldozers rolling out next week.
Both resolutions passed without a single dissenting vote, signaling a new phase of city–county cooperation as Round Rock chases regional dollars and Williamson County puts public money behind local corridors, according to Community Impact. For residents trying to read the tea leaves on construction timing, the best clues will come from CAMPO’s funding updates, right-of-way notices and the city’s meeting agendas.
