Construction crews will be busy at the intersection of Texas 71 and Hamilton Pool Road for the next seven months, according to Don Nyland, Austin area engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation.

“We will be widening and preparing that area in preparation for Bee Cave Parkway, once it is completed,” Nyland said. “The project has just started and we hope it will be finished before the scheduled seven months.”
The intersection is just one of several stretches along Texas 71 under construction. That includes work at Bee Creek Road, part of an extensive project road improvement along the highway.
“If the rain tapers off, we might have that project completed by the end of the month,” Nyland said.
TxDOT is also widening Texas 71 from R.O. Drive to the Pedernales River.
“That section is also part of the safety improvements along the road,” Nyland said. “Hopefully — depending on the weather — that project will also be completed by the end of the month.”
Both of the Bee Creek and East Bee Creek bridges will be widened, according to Nyland.
The safety of Texas 71 has been a topic of heated debate for years. In 2007 following a string of traffic accidents — including several fatalities — a grassroots organization of residents who live along the highway was formed. Dubbing itself as “Concerned Citizens for Texas 71” (CC71) residents pressured TxDOT and area lawmakers, demanding that steps be taken to make the road safer. CC71 quickly found support in from Texas Sen. Kirk Watson, District 47 Rep. Valinda Bolton, and former Travis County Commissioner of Pct. 3 Gerald Daugherty.
Within months, area residents were reviewing plans and participating in stakeholders meetings to review possible scenarios designed to make Texas 71 safer.
Last year, TxDOT began a series of projects to make the highway safer.
While the recent rainfall finally ended a record Central Texas drought, it has slowed progress for construction crews.
“It didn’t rain for so long that no one can get grass to grow,” Nyland said. “Then, just as we are ready to put the dirt in on several of these projects, it finally rains. Those two projects [Bee Creek and R.O. Drive] are going to be dependent on weather. We are almost to the point were we are supposed to pour the hot mix, so if we don’t finish this month, we should wrap it up sometime in January.”
Nyland is asking area residents to exercise safety along Texas 71 while construction continues.