Highland Horizon community on 620???????? (Austin, Round Rock: new construction, safety, to move)

[OneFormula]

Originally Posted by NorthAustinMom

Unless you are talking about Ph3 (which I haven't looked into) there are no Lennar homes in HH. It's Streetman and David Weekly.

you are correct. It is Streetman, but not the high end Streetman becuase they normally have better floorplans than what I saw at HH.

[OneFormula]

Originally Posted by monkey2003

The builders for Phase I and Phase II are David Weekly and Streetman Homes. I do not know who is the builder for Phase III, but hear it's going to be high end homes. I have a house built by Streetman Homes and extremely happy with the purchase. Phase I started small and had smaller less expensive houses. Phase II have bigger houses in the $350K-500K. Your definition of high end homes may be different from mine. But I think that is high end enough for me. The neighborhood has a small community feel and is close enough to downtown for me. It will be better when the 620 construction and the Occonner/45 intersection is done.

That's average high end so we're in the same ballpark of thinking. if these prices are what they are planning, then I would love to see the models they got coming. Streetman builds "Matchstick" homes so they maximize the use of space with no "dead" walls. I like what they built in Sendero on 1431.

[therehanz]

Standard Pacific recently bought Streetman. I know because I got an email explaining that it shouldn't disrupt the building of my home in HH phase II. Don't know if that changes anything with phase III.

Also according to a recent tweet by Williamson County the O'Connor intersection at 45 will open in August.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by OneFormula

you are correct. It is Streetman, but not the high end Streetman becuase they normally have better floorplans than what I saw at HH.

I think it would be hard to define a 'better' floorplan. Unless it is somehow cheaper to build a 'lesser' floorplan, I doubt a builder would build something that wouldn't be 'better' in the eyes of some buyer.

Do you suppose the meeting went something like this: "OK, let's be sure to build the lousy floorplans over in HH...you know that's a great strategy!"

[austinizer]

Here is some more info about the O'Connor/SH-45 intersection progress. Several weeks ago they projected a July opening, and now they have set a tentative ribbon cutting ceremony for August 21. Striping on the O'Connor approach and feeders looks complete, traffic signs are installed, traffic signals are operational. For many days now, they have been working on the tolling equipment at the Mopac toll entrance (and probably others that I can't see from my vantage point). I believe they are still working on the exit/entry for SH45, and turnaround closer to McNeil (again, can't see these from my vantage point).

What concerns me a little bit is that the O'Connor bridge over Lake Creek (just before you get to the interchange) looks like it still needs some final finishing touches such as striping and cleaning. This bridge was built several years ago along with the O'Connor extension. I hope this will be completed in time for the opening of the interchange.

By the way, for in-depth information on all the road projects in the area look here:

Williamson County Road Bond - Road Bond News

The "Reports" tab has construction reports which are usually updated every couple of weeks (sometimes weekly), including the projected completion dates for the projects.

[ScoPro]

Excellent info, Austinizer. We've been wondering about the progress on the opening.

[10scoachrick]

I wonder how they decide on the toll amount to be charged. I haven't figured out a pattern; but I wouldn't likely change the routes I take unless the tolls are way spendy and I can easily take an alternate route.

[austinizer]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

I wonder how they decide on the toll amount to be charged. I haven't figured out a pattern; but I wouldn't likely change the routes I take unless the tolls are way spendy and I can easily take an alternate route.

10scoachrick, this is a mystery to me as well. Several years ago it was still a simple system (68 cents at plazas and 45 cents at ramps, with a TxTag). At that time I felt that it was somewhat expensive per mile (e.g. compared to Houston toll rates) but not unreasonable. Naive as I was, I thought that perhaps if enough people would use it (and I do my part), it might even become more affordable.

Beginning in 2013, TxDOT implemented significant changes, including eliminating the cash lanes (not a good idea if you try to get drivers without a tag interested in trying the toll road), and raising the rates at some plazas and ramps by 50%-100% even with the tag "discount."

Here is a chart of the current TxDOT managed toll road rates in our area (183A is managed by CTRMA):

https://www.txtag.org/en/about/tollr...tin_area.shtml

Some toll roads (e.g. Loop 1) still have one rate for plazas and one for ramps. Others (e.g. SH45 N) now have a different toll rate at each ramp. The closest one to HH (RM620 at SH45) was one of those that doubled in price. For example, a commute from HH from RM620 to Mopac would have cost $1.13 in 2012 and now costs $1.93 (+70%).

My initial reaction at the time was to never take the toll road again, but it was too late. I had already developed a dependency at the much lower 2012 cost. As hard as I tried to keep right when heading south on 620 (towards Parmer), on most days I found myself in the left lane (towards SH45) without realizing it. This continues to this day; perhaps I need to seek a "Toll Roads Anonymous" group.

Interestingly, the toll rate for the yet unopened O'Connor interchange was already set as part of the 2013 rate changes. My understanding from the TxDOT toll chart is that the price will be the same entering/exiting SH45 and Loop 1 at the O'Connor interchange (inconsistent with the other Loop 1 ramp rates), and it will be 91 cents (2 cents more than entering/exiting RM620). Then, there's of course the possibility to get to and from McNeil for free. I think the convenience and cost of building the O'Connor interchange will be worth the extra 2 cents for HH residents that already use the toll roads towards the south/east direction. Anyway, that's my 2 cents for today!

[austinizer]

County Commissioner Birkman tweeted that the O'Connor/SH45 interchange is now open!

I have not yet had a chance to drive on the interchange myself, but I drove by there this morning around the time of the ribbon cutting ceremony. The interchange was still closed off on O'Connor and also from the SH45 approach, but there was activity on both ends that suggested they were getting ready to open it.

[ScoPro]

Finally!

Now we gotta be patient until the work on the 620 improvements are done. Any guesses as to when that will happen? They have been going full blast on it for quite a while.

Of course when that part is finished, they'll start tearing up the road in front of RRHS to begin the railroad overpass.

Hope I live to see that completed. lol