I-35 northbound frontage road project to start in January

GEORGETOWN — Work that will add a northbound frontage road to Interstate 35 between Westinghouse Road and Texas 29 will begin in January after Williamson County Commissioners voted to award an $18.7 million contract for the project.

Brief applause and a shout of “Yay!” preceded Tuesday’s vote to approve the contract with Hunter Industries.

“This is a much overdue project,” said Commissioner Valerie Covey, whose Georgetown precinct includes the stretch of highway.

Commissioner Lisa Birkman, who represents a Round Rock precinct that once included the stretch, said the project was the first thing she worked on her first day in office in 2004. “I think this will be great for the whole region … because it’s I-35,” she said.

The Texas Department of Transportation will fund 63.5 percent of the project as part of an agreement signed in 2011. County funds for the project come from voterapproved road bonds.

It will include adding a northbound frontage road between Texas 29 and Southeast Inner Loop Drive, with bridges at the South Fork of the San Gabriel River and West Fork of Smith Branch, county documents show.

The project will also add lanes to the existing northbound frontage road and the highway to ease entering and exiting the highway, and construct an elevated turn-around bridge north of RM 2243, according to county documents. Northbound ramps will be relocated and sidewalks also will be added along the stretch, documents said.

Commissioners said the project will improve mobility and safety, especially by adding additional access to St. David’s Georgetown Hospital.

The $18.7 million contract came in more than $900,000 below the estimated cost of construction, county documents say. Hunter Industries worked on Texas 79 and has “established favorable working relationships with the county and its representatives,” the documents say.

The project is expected to be completed by the fall of 2014.