The project, which will expand the two-lane highway to a four-lane divided highway, has been planned for several years but was held up by a lack of funding and an extensive environmental review process, Williamson County Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey said.
“While I am immensely pleased to see these improvements finally becoming reality, it has been frustrating to have taken this long to get it done,” U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, said in a statement. “This section of highway is one of the most dangerous sections of road in the country.”
He said the road is a risk to soldiers commuting to and from Fort Hood, in particular, as well as other motorists.
Since 2006, there have been 337 crashes on that section of Hwy. 195, including eight deaths and 115 injury crashes, according to TxDOT collision data.
“It is really the highest priority because of the number of cars that travel it each day,” Covey said.
The first segment—from about 1 mile south of the Bell County line to just south of Florence—was bid in January and is expected to cost $39.2 million, which was less than original estimates, TxDOT Austin District Engineer Carlos Lopez said.
The project was broken into four segments, and funding had been found for three of the segments. In February, when bids for the first segment came in lower than expected, TxDOT commissioners approved using the difference for the unfunded segment, Lopez said.
The project’s funding, about $93 million, comes from Proposition 14 bond money, approved in 2003 and reauthorized in 2007, he said. The bond money is backed by federal and state highway funds. Williamson County commissioners also approved $10 million–$12 million to help pay for right of way acquisition, utilities and consultant costs.
“[The commissioners] are speeding up the process by paying for some of those costs,” Covey said. “The county is excited to get started on the Florence end, and we are hopeful that the environmental process will be completed soon and allow us to go to bid on [the other phases] this year.”
Lopez said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the other phases, and once that process is completed, the plans will be sent to the Federal Highway Commission for final clearance.
Construction on the other segments, which will most likely be done in two phases, could begin in 2012, he said.
“This is the start of making [Hwy.] 195 a better highway,” Lopez said. “I think that’s probably the most important thing about this project: It’s going to be a safer road, and it’s going to be able to handle future growth.”
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