Southwest Austin drivers are finally seeing daylight at the "Y at Oak Hill." New east- and westbound main lanes are now carrying traffic without the old stoplights, so through drivers can bypass several intersections while crews finish bridges, striping, and other final work nearby.
What Is Open Now
State project pages show the westbound US 290 main lanes between Patton Ranch Road and just west of RM 1826 opened to traffic as early as April 16, and an eastbound William Cannon bypass section opened in March. New Convict Hill U-turns are already in service, and other cross-street bridge work remains staged so traffic can keep shifting as the team finishes the corridor.
According to TxDOT, construction will continue through 2026 while crews complete the remaining bridges and striping.
Heavy Lifting Behind The Scenes
Deputy project manager Cody McGuire told FOX 7 Austin that crews have moved enormous volumes of material, saying, "we've milled out 2 million cubic yards of ground" to lower the main lanes and make room for new overpasses.
FOX 7 Austin also reports that crews have built nearly 600,000 square feet of retaining walls and placed millions of pounds of rebar, and that support beams for dozens of bridges, laid end to end, would stretch for miles. The station notes the crossover bridge could open before the end of the week and that twin flyovers to and from SH 71 could follow within about 30 days, with an official ribbon-cutting targeted for mid-summer.
A Project Years In The Making
The Oak Hill rebuild has survived lawsuits, redesigns, and a long public review. As the Austin Monitor reported, environmental groups pushed for changes, and the Texas Transportation Commission's 2018 funding decision came with a condition that the project proceed without tolls.
TxDOT currently lists the Oak Hill Parkway on its Texas Clear Lanes page with a multihundred-million-dollar price tag. The agency's entry shows roughly $731 million, reflecting shifts in scope and schedule over the life of the project. Community and agency edits to the design also added stormwater protections for Williamson Creek and tree-preservation zones during construction, according to project documents and reporting.
What Drivers Should Expect Next
Project leaders caution that lane patterns and detours will keep changing as crews finish bridge decks, paving and striping, so motorists should watch the signs and expect intermittent night work. FOX 7 Austin reports the team is moving toward those last milestones and wants the crossover bridge open imminently and the flyovers online in the coming weeks, weather permitting.
Once the ramps and final striping are in place, officials say through drivers will be able to travel longer stretches without stopping, while local access shifts to frontage roads and U-turns during wrap-up.
Why It Matters For Commuters
Local coverage notes the project will replace signalized stretches of US 290 with two to three nonstop main lanes in each direction, add frontage roads and build about 14 miles of shared-use paths. The changes are intended to improve safety and reliability on a corridor that saw more than 1,200 crashes from 2016 through 2022.
Community Impact reports crews have already removed more than 2 million cubic yards of material and that contractors expect to finish punch-list items and reach substantial completion by mid-2026. For now, drivers should plan extra time through the "Y" as finishing work continues and new traffic patterns settle in.
