Construction on the long-awaited widening of RM 620 may finally begin in early 2029, but Lakeway city leaders are warning that the current plan could stop the six-lane expansion just short of Lake Travis High School, creating a bottleneck at one of the corridor's busiest intersections. The project, which would extend from Hwy. 71 to RM 2222 with six through lanes, raised medians, turn lanes and shared-use paths on each side, is being proposed for inclusion in CAMPO's 2027-2030 Transportation Improvement Program.
According to Community Impact, construction on the segment between Hwy. 71 and Dave Drive is anticipated to begin at the start of fiscal year 2029, while widening from RM 2222 to Hudson Bend Road is expected to begin in 2025, and the stretch from Aria Drive to Hudson Bend Road isn't expected to start until 2033. The Transportation Improvement Program is adopted every two years and can be amended twice a year, and CAMPO's 2050 Regional Transportation Plan divides the overall project into three sections. That staggered timeline is exactly what has Lakeway officials worried.
A Cutoff Right at the School's Front Door
On September 8, the Lakeway City Council passed a resolution requesting changes to the RM 620 project, formally asking CAMPO to extend the planned six-lane expansion past Dave Drive through Lakeway to Oak Grove Boulevard, according to the City of Lakeway. The resolution also formally opposes any partial project that stops short and creates a local bottleneck.
Per the same Community Impact report, Thomas Kilgore said the Hwy. 71-to-Dave Drive construction plans may be interpreted to end the six-lane expansion at Aria Drive, near Lake Travis High School. RM 620 passes the school's entrance, and the intersection near the campus sees roughly 3,500 cars each morning. The city council cited both traffic congestion and cost concerns in pressing its case.
Lakeway Says It Already Paid Its Share
Kilgore said that our city and our residents have borne the financial burden of this issue, according to the same Community Impact account, adding that Lakeway has contributed more than $3.2 million toward the project. Lakeway taxpayers have repaid nearly $1.1 million in interest on the debt, per the Community Impact report.
That frustration traces back to 2020, when CAMPO's Transportation Policy Board voted to reallocate hundreds of millions of dollars in regional highway construction funding, including money earmarked for RM 620, toward the Interstate 35 expansion, according to Texas Condemnation Projects. That reshuffling delayed RM 620 construction even as right-of-way acquisition funds stayed in place. When TxDOT presented project options at public open houses in October 2018 and June 2019, construction on the funded segment from Hwy. 71 to Oak Grove Boulevard was originally scheduled to begin in fiscal year 2022, meaning the timeline has already slipped by roughly seven years.
Engineering Studies Long Flagged the Bottleneck
The concerns aren't new. TxDOT's 2017 RM 620 corridor feasibility study found that major intersections along the corridor, including RM 620 at Cavalier Drive/Aria Drive near Lake Travis High School, were already operating at an F level of service, warning that congestion and safety would keep worsening without a raised median and six-lane widening, according to the Steiner Ranch Neighborhood Association. TxDOT issued an environmental finding in August 2020 for the SH 71-to-Hudson Bend segment, while the full 9.8-mile RM 620 corridor stretching from SH 71 in Travis County to US 183 in Williamson County was planned for widening from four lanes to six lanes with raised medians.
Lakeway's own local thoroughfare plan, approved on Oct. 19, 2020, calls for a continuous shared-use pedestrian and bicycle path along the west side of RM 620 from Cavalier Drive north to Oak Grove Boulevard, matching TxDOT's proposed cross-section for the corridor, according to Community Impact's earlier coverage. City officials noted in September that regional plans currently show different schedules for the Hwy. 71-to-Dave Drive project, slated for 2027-2030 UTP funding, and the Aria Drive-to-Hudson Bend segment, which carries a 2033 target start date but no committed construction funding.
What Happens Next
Doise Miers said phasing construction projects into different segments is common and based on various factors, per Community Impact's reporting, a standard practice CAMPO officials have defended elsewhere in the region. The RM 620 segment between Hwy. 71 and Dave Drive remains under consideration for transportation funding.
The public comment period on the Transportation Improvement Program amendments runs through September 21, and the CAMPO Transportation Policy Board is anticipated to take action on October 4. Further north on the same highway, Hoodline previously reported that TxDOT designed a separate $45 million intersection overhaul at RM 620 and Anderson Mill Road, featuring overpass bypass lanes and turnarounds, to relieve traffic that regularly backs up more than a mile during rush hours — a sign that state officials have prioritized grade-separated fixes elsewhere on the corridor even as the southern widening moves slowly through the funding pipeline.
