US 183A toll extension opens northwest of Austin

AUSTIN, Texas - A new stretch of toll road has just opened along the US 183 corridor northwest of Austin. 

The five-mile 183A toll extension between Hero Way in Leander and SH 29 in Liberty Hill opened to traffic early Wednesday morning. 

What we know:

Until now, 183A in this area had just been a frontage road. 

Drivers are now able to bypass four traffic lights, with the toll lanes easing congestion on the existing frontage road. 

"We've essentially added two toll lanes in each direction down the middle, so there can be nonstop traffic in that corridor for the entire stretch," said Mike Sexton, Director of Engineering for the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority. 

In case you're wondering, the cost to drive the new five-mile stretch is $2.38—if you have a toll tag. If you'd rather save the $2.38, you can, of course, still take the frontage road for free.

Timeline:

This marks the third phase of the 16-mile buildout of the 183A Tollway by the CTRMA.

"Leander is grown exponentially in size over the last 10 years and Liberty Hill is now doing the same thing," said Sexton. 

The first part between RM 620 and RM 1431 opened in 2007. The second section between RM 1431 and Hero Way opened in 2012. 

Drivers' reaction

What they're saying:

"I notice it's quicker to get where you need to go," said Kayla Allen of Leander. "It definitely helps with traffic a lot."

"It was like 15 minutes normally. It took us five minutes to get them to school. And then we had to go down to Cedar Park and the GPS was like 10 minutes faster than what it normally would say," said Kelly Cockrum of Cedar Park. 

"Pretty frequently I drive Uber, so they have me all over," said Kayla Allen of Leander. "It should save everybody a lot of time now."

What's next:

A heads-up: you will still notice some construction in the coming weeks, as crews finish up the SH29 interchange. 

"There will be some closures. There will be impacts to traffic overnight, especially as they do some final work," said Sexton. 

Crews are also still working on a seven-mile-long hike and bike trail that was built in combination with the tollway. It is set to open in the coming weeks.