The Bee Cave Bee

The City of Lakeway’s proposal for construction of SH 45 West cleared another hurdle in its evolution with a key CAMPO endorsement Monday night. The Transportation Policy Board of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization voted, 17-3, to include it in a list of transportation projects to model for the 2040 Regional Transportation Plan.

The proposed toll road would connect the planned extension of SH 45 from U.S. 183 to RM 2222 with the project known as SH 45 SW. The 10-mile section would be one of several roads and improvements that would complete the State Highway 45 Loop circling the greater Austin area and improving regional mobility.

The CAMPO board endorsed regional and sub-regional scenarios for use in modeling the two scenarios as part of the 2040 plan development process.

“This toll road project has just passed a significant milestone in its embryonic stages,” Lakeway City Manager Steve Jones said. “The board’s endorsement advances the SH 45 Loop project and gets us one step closer to a new thoroughfare on the map of western Travis County that was devoid of any significant road projects for the foreseeable future.”

The idea of an outer loop has been discussed for decades in the area and for almost eight years in Lakeway, but Lakeway officials believe now is the time to take action.

“Something needed to be done to address the traffic congestion that grows every day on roads in western Travis County,” Jones said. “Although some people may view this road as a dream, many successes often start out as just that – great ideas that seem unattainable, at first, but then they become a reality.”

The City of Lakeway encourages residents to take part in future CAMPO discussions about the 2040 Regional Transportation Plan. According to its website, CAMPO has scheduled a public survey for the third quarter of 2014 and mobile meetings for the first quarter of 2015.