Highland Horizon community on 620???????? (Austin, Round Rock: zip codes, vs., safer)

[therehanz]

Excellent. We close on our house on Tuesday and move in Friday. I was hoping the road would open before we got there.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by 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

You and me both, neighbor Got a feeling I WON'T make it (at least not still driving) to see the 620/IH35 'improvements' finished

Actually, since we moved to the west side of Parmer, we don't travel down the Blvd to O'Connor very often. Especially since Johnny T's Round Rock BBQ moved to Pf-ville, only the Wash Tub and Bush's Chicken beckon me(well, my dentist twice a year, also) in that direction.

Folks, I did notice at lunch that the O'Connor 'direction' from 45 Eastbound was still closed...sign stated that only McNeil was open from that direction.

[austinizer]

therehanz, welcome (in advance) to Highland Horizon! We were also informed about the O'Connor extension when we closed on our house - in 2009 , so I'm happy for you that you don't have to wait for the road. But there are many people who waited for this even longer -- rumor has it that the O'Connor extension has been in planning since 1999.

ScoPro, the completion date for the 620 expansion is still listed as Sept. 28 in the latest construction summary report -- this is the same completion date when the project was started. If you remember, they found a cave during construction near Wyoming Springs Dr. last year, which caused some delay, so it will probably be longer than that (but, judging from the progress they have made, not much longer).

I'm also curious when the 620 railroad overpass will be built -- I have not seem much about this since they published the interesting schematic with the roundabout at the railroad tracks for their open house in early 2013:

City of Round Rock - RM 620 Safety Improvements Project

On that webpage, they now estimate that construction could start in 2016 "pending funding, federal environmental clearance, UPRR approval, right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation." I'm sure it also doesn't exactly help that one of the most historic buildings of Round Rock, the Old Stage Coach Inn (where Gumbo's and then French Quarter Grille were located) is in the path of the new NB RM 620 lanes. Round Rock purchased the property and French Quarter Grille closed. (Round Rock might be able to move the historic building.)

[NorthAustinMom]

Is it lame to be this excited about the O'Connor exit?!? I took it home from work last night and it was awesome! Glad we didn't have to wait too long for it to open - we just moved to HH in November.

Therehanz - welcome to the neighborhood!

[monkey2003]

We bought a house in Highland Horizon because it was new construction and because of the ease of access to 183/mopac/I-35. This will only make the neighborhood more attractive now that the O'Conner extension finish. I used to exit 620 (Exit 252B) coming northbound on I-35 to get home. It wasn't worth going on Tollway 45 (Exit 250) before because I had to go pass our neighborhood and all the way to the 620 exit. Not anyways. Now the most attractive option is to take Tollway 45 and exit O'Conner to get home.

[austinizer]

Originally Posted by NorthAustinMom

Is it lame to be this excited about the O'Connor exit?!? I took it home from work last night and it was awesome!

It's probably not quite as lame as me walking to the construction site every couple of weeks over the last two years to check on the progress and imagine what it will look like when it's open.

One aspect that I was suprised about is that the traffic signals on the bridge were red for quite a while, even though I was practically the only car on the bridge. It seemed longer than the typical wait at the SH45/620 intersection, maybe even longer than the lights at 620 & Great Oaks. I hope they are still dialing them in (maybe they are not sensor-controlled yet?).

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by NorthAustinMom

Is it lame to be this excited about the O'Connor exit?!? I took it home from work last night and it was awesome! Glad we didn't have to wait too long for it to open - we just moved to HH in November.

!

Your excitement is likely match by scores of folks who are now taking the Little Elm 'extension' from S. Bell Blvd toward the west(instead of queuing up at Cypress Creek.

Progress...the opposite of Congress

[NorthAustinMom]

10scoachrick - yes, the light is too long. I hope they calibrate that quickly!

[sloppymeg]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

Your excitement is likely match by scores of folks who are now taking the Little Elm 'extension' from S. Bell Blvd toward the west(instead of queuing up at Cypress Creek.

Progress...the opposite of Congress

Little Elm is open now!?!?!?! Where have I been!?!?!

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by sloppymeg

Little Elm is open now!?!?!?! Where have I been!?!?!

Doesn't go through to Lakeline...yet. Certainly gives some options to folks dropping kiddos at the school...not to mention some more houses along the way.