RM 620 construction fixes to cost $50 million, take years to complete

Intersections need upgrades and there are too many cars on the road, official says.

The path to improvements on RM 620 is long and in need of clearer avenues of funding, as committee members learned during a stakeholder presentation to the Lakeway and Bee Cave RM 620 corridor study committees.

During a brief meeting on Oct. 16, committee members heard a presentation by Texas Department of Transportation public engagement officer Bruce Byron on the imminent degradation of intersections along RM 620, particularly the southern stretch through Lakeway and Bee Cave. Other than the intersections, there are simply too many cars on the road, he said — about twice the capacity that might be ideal for the way RM 620 is structured, with a center turn lane from which drivers can turn either direction. With so many vehicles trying to turn, sometimes cars “play chicken” in the turn lane, causing major safety concerns, traffic consultant Rashad Islam said.

“If you have an accident, think about EMS,” Islam said. “They’re not only having problems going to the accident, but if there’s a health situation, and they have to go around (traffic) they don’t have any choices. It’s a big issue because between 2010 and 2015, on the southern section (of RM 620) we’ve had about 600 crashes.”

The committees and TxDOT are taking a preliminary look on the impact involved with widening RM 620 and building more sophisticated turn lanes in the middle of the roadway.

Without taking into account the purchase of right-of-way or the moving of utilities, construction costs for improvements to the entire stretch of RM 620 would cost around $50 million, Byron said.

Lakeway Mayor Joe Bain said there’s a decent chance the city would have to put forward a bond via city election, and that TxDOT would be more willing to help out if Lakeway contributes. Bee Cave City Manager Travis Askey said Bee Cave has money set aside through the city’s Economic Development board.

Byron emphasized the importance of community support along the corridor in order to see change, but committee members said that “progress” happened on a timeline of years to decades, with limited results.

The first step in the process requires the cities to formally ask TxDOT to begin the environmental and engineering studies, which can both take several years.

Byron said the process can be expedited if the studies occur simultaneously.

“The whole community needs to support each other so we can jump start this and get the ball rolling,” Byron said.