AUSTIN, Texas — Mobility leaders are moving forward on a study to extend the U.S. 290 toll into Elgin.
That extension would run nearly 13 miles east from the tolled highway’s current end near State Highway 130, through Manor and into Elgin near southbound State Highway 95.
During a meeting on Wednesday, Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s board voted to work with Bastrop County on the project’s design and environmental study.
“All we’re looking for in our agreement’s very simple, is to do the study and do the environmental report,” said Mike Sexton, director of engineering for CTRMA. “We’re not asking for any funding from you, nor are we asking for the ability to do any construction.”
Sexton added he’ll come back to the board and Bastrop County for any future funding and construction needs.
Because CTRMA’s jurisdiction stops at the Bastrop County line, the county’s commissioners court must also approve the deal.
Currently, the U.S. 290 toll runs roughly 6 miles from U.S. 183 in East Austin to Parmer Lane at the western edge of Manor.
The original plan extended the tolled highway into town, but residents pushed back. Now, city leaders in both Manor and Elgin support an extension.
Residents in both cities agree traffic along U.S. 290 has grown rapidly alongside the population boom.
“It just moves so slow,” said Alicia Yanez, who works at the Birrieria Mama Rosa food truck in Manor on U.S. 290 near Lexington Street.
She added, “Without traffic, I can get home in like five, 10 minutes, but with traffic, it’s like, who knows?”
Paula Becker, a lifelong Elgin resident, told KVUE on Wednesday that the drive to Austin on U.S. 290 “takes forever.”
“Before it wasn’t so bad, but now with everybody moving here from somewhere else, the traffic is hideous,” said Becker.
However, Yanez and Becker are split on the idea of a toll road.
“How it is with construction, you know, people working, we’d have to go even slower, so it would probably be a bit of a struggle in the beginning, but once it’s done, like you said, it would be a great help,” said Yanez.
“I like my small-town feel, and I don’t like toll roads, so I’ll stay on the frontage,” said Becker. “That or take back roads.”
KVUE reached out to CTRMA on Wednesday afternoon for information about possible project costs and construction timelines but did not hear back.
Bastrop County Commissioners meet next on April 14.
Boomtown is KVUE’s series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.