AUSTIN — If you are driving up north, RM 2243 between 183A and I-35 is pegged for some major construction. It could end up becoming a freeway.
The Texas Department of Transportation wants to add flyovers or highway connectors as well from 183A to RM 2243.
It would be a major undertaking for a rural road. That is why TxDOT is asking for input before any construction starts.
A mom-and-pop shop is nestled in that increasingly busy intersection of 183A and RM 2243 – also known as Leander Road.
"Traffic is ridiculous wherever you go these days,” said Linda Larson, co-owner of Fabcon Products.
Larson said she is in favor of TxDOT turning it into a freeway.
“You have to have easy access going in and out of locations,” said Larson. “You have to have vehicles moving and going. It will only enhance our business."
TxDOT is considering adding three main lanes and three frontage road lanes in each direction on RM 2243 from 183A in Leander to Southwest Bypass in Georgetown. Then, from Southwest Bypass to I-35, it would be a four-lane divided road.
"We're limited in the Austin area for how we get east and west,” said Diann Hodges, spokesperson for TxDOT.
The department said it expects Williamson County to grow by 80 percent in the next 20 years.
“We are going to have to look at right-of-way requirements at this point to expand a road that's pretty narrow," said Hodges.
RM 2243, for the most part, is a two-lane divided highway. But if it becomes a freeway...
“That would be the only downfall," said Larson. "That they would be taking some of our property.”
Her two acres that her business sits on could shrink.
"But that's part of progress,” she said.
TxDOT had an open house Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Dell Pickett Elementary to receive feedback from the public.
If you were not able to make it to the meeting, you can still weigh in on the plans by contacting TxDOT here.
Funding for the project has not been set aside yet. A study on the road is expected to be finished by the middle of next year.