The infrastructure at US 183 and Cypress Creek Road was no longer supporting the high traffic volumes caused by increased growth in the area north of Austin. The area is experiencing growth in local business and housing, which is leading to more local traffic beyond what the current roads were able to manage. This intersection of a major city street crossing a busy US highway needed a dual left turn lane to lighten the traffic congestion.
As we planned for improving this intersection, consideration needed to be paid to a major FEMA creek crossing that was part of Cypress Creek Road.
The original creek crossing project consisted of cleaning, re-grading, addition of retaining walls at the bridge and improving area flooding without affecting other areas and cost $1.5M. Our plan for the road needed to avoid making any changes to this crossing in its current state.
Our team, that served as project manager and lead roadway and drainage design engineer, studied the conditions of the road and compared several different concepts in order to come to the best solution. Ultimately, we were able to provide a recommendation that would save hundreds of thousands of dollars and not require relocating the creek.
By rethinking the way standards are applied to projects, we supplied a cost effective solution that included the relocation of pedestrian facilities, traffic signal modifications and striping revisions; improving safety and mobility at this intersection.
