Williamson County road opens after expansion project

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas - A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for a road expansion project in Williamson County on Monday.

County Road 245 is only a mile long, but it represents a much larger effort to build infrastructure in that fast-growing county.

Cactus and cattle once outnumbered people in that part of Williamson County, but now longtime residents, like Cathie McDonald, are dealing with a population stampede.

"This area out here is going to look very different a few years from now than it does at this point," said McDonald.

With a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday morning, the newly expanded CR 245 was officially recognized as a major connector between Ronald Reagan and Williams Drive.

"But it’s a regional roadway that eventually go all the way up to Florence and that area," said County Commissioner Valerie Covey PCT 3.

Covey literally paved the way for this $6.9 million project that she moved up higher on the 2019 bond list.

"And I’m really thankful we did because, as you can see, there is really a lot of traffic on it," said Covey.

Next to the new highway bridge are pickle ball courts. The players, residents of Sun City, spent the day returning overhand smashes instead of avoiding them on the road. Rick Piland says the old road was narrow with blind spots.

"It was hard to see exiting out pickle ball courts, now it's much easier to see entering and exiting the court area," said Piland.

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This certainly isn’t the end of the road for infrastructure projects in Williamson County, a lot more are on the way. 

Back in November, voters approved a 2023 bond, and it’s big. The new bond package totals $825 million and will fund 38 road projects without a tax hike.

"The voters continue to vote for the Bonds because they see the need, and they also see that we are actually doing what we say we are going to do. We are putting lane miles on the ground, we are making it safer, we are having turning movements, we are having intersections, but also we are building Ronald Reagan, and now we are going to be expanding Ronald Reagan soon and adding lanes to it," said Covey.

It's all part of a master plan for the entire build out of Williamson County. 

FOX 7 Austin was told the past four bonds issues, dating back to 2000, have so far completed 376 miles of new lanes. 

The 2019 bond issue, which was used for the CR 245 project totaled $412 million. Since 2011, Williamson County has saved $92 million by paying down its bond debt earlier than what was scheduled.