The Texas Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the City of Round Rock and Williamson County, broke ground Friday, July 8, on a $28.1 million improvements project designed to enhance safety and mobility along Interstate 35 between U.S. 79 and SH 45 North.

The project will address the existing traffic bottleneck north of SH 45N where more than 177,000 vehicles a day use I-35. Crews will construct braided ramps (where one ramp crosses over the other) along the northbound I-35 mainlanes between Hester’s Crossing and RM 620 to eliminate merging conflicts. In addition, the north and southbound frontage road intersections at I-35 and U.S. 79 will be reconstructed and a third left-turn lane for westbound U.S. 79 added.

Expected benefits of the project include increased mobility and travel speeds, especially during peak periods, increased merging distance for the existing SH 45N flyover to I-35 and increased safety with the elimination of the existing merge conflict between the Hester’s Crossing entrance ramp and RM 620 exit ramp.

The 2.3-mile project was funded by Proposition 1 and construction is expected to be complete in winter 2018/2019.

The project will take place in phases as outlined below:

Construction Phases (Work on this improvement project will take place in three phases)

Phase I:

• Making improvements to the US 79/I-35 intersection
• Constructing temporary entrance/exit ramps at RM 620 and Hester’s Crossing
• Constructing elevated entrance/exit ramps between SH 45N and RM 620

Phase II:

• Building a tie-in to the new northbound entrance/exit ramps and opening the braided ramps to traffic

Phase III:

• Performing final paving operations for the entire project

More information on TxDOT’s Mobility 35 project can be found here: http://www.my35.org/Capital/

Project Maps: