In March, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority broke ground on a five-mile northern extension of the 183A toll road, marking the beginning of construction for Leander’s first expressway. The project is being built seven years earlier than first anticipated in response to significant traffic coming from Leander and points north. Recent traffic counts conducted by the Mobility Authority found more than 30,000 vehicles a day are using the 183A frontage roads just north of FM 1431, with 12,000 vehicles a day using the portion in Leander north of RM 2243. The higher than projected traffic volumes led to rush hour delays at traffic signals along the 183A frontage roads, and that motivated the Mobility Authority to expedite construction of the toll road extension. The 183A northern extension will run from FM 1431 in Cedar Park to just north of RM 2243 in to the heart of Leander’s Transit Oriented Development and adjacent to Leander’s planned Austin Community College Campus. The extension project accommodates the construction of local roads that in the future will serve the Transit Oriented Development, including Hero Way and an extension of San Gabriel Parkway. The project includes a 10-foot wide shared use path that runs along the 183A southbound frontage road and will eventually link with the Brushy Creek Regional Trail. The $105 million extension project was funded by the sale of bonds backed by
future toll revenue from 183A. The extension is expected to open in early 2012. Learn more about the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and who is running the toll roads in the July/August issue of Eye On Leander. | 
