Highway expansion brings piece of mind

LIBERTY HILL, Texas (KXAN) - A highway project that included a turn lane in Liberty Hill has finally been completed and residents say it's more than just a sign of a growing community.

It's also a necessary expansion to protect hundreds of teen drivers who use that stretch of highway nearly every day.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony that's been a year in the works officially ended the $3 million construction project. It's centerpiece is a 1.8-mile stretch of constant turn lane. The road widening may sound just like any other road project that comes along with a growing community, but there was an urgency to finish this one.

"We looked at congestion. We looked at traffic incidents and places where it just wasn't safe to turn on and off the road," said Williamson County Commissioner Cynthia Long. "And this was one of the areas that we really deemed it was very important to address."

The new Liberty High School will be open this time next year. And along with that will come a lot more traffic. Abd heavier traffic could equal more accidents.

In February, a 14-year-old boy and his 16-year-old sister were killed when she rammed her car into the back of a school bus waiting to make a turn off the highway just west of Liberty Hill .

A turn lane might have prevented that fatal collision. With nearly 1,000 new students expected to enter the stretch of highway, It's those tragic accidents school administrators are trying to avoid.

"There's a tremendous traffic flow on Highway 29 before this project ever started," said Liberty Hill school Superintendent Rob Hart. "So it's a huge help to us to widen it and give us a turning lane because of the flow in and out not only to school, but all the activities that comes with the high school."

Store owners along the new turn lane are equally relieved.

"Oh, absolutely," said store owner Tami Spearman, who recently opened a home decor business. " Before it was real scary trying to turn in hoping you don't get hit from behind. It's going to make it a lot safer."