Gattis School Road • Round Rock

Gattis School Road • Round Rock

By Amy Stansbury Friday, 06 March 2009

Gattis School Road has become a major east-west thoroughfare that runs through portions of Williamson and Travis counties. The road runs from Mays Street east to Toll 130, and various portions are under construction.

City projects

The City of Round Rock installed a traffic signal in February at the T-intersection of Gattis School Road and Surrey Drive, where a flashing stop sign was previously located. The road was also widened there to create a left-turn lane for westbound drivers turning onto Surrey Drive.

Round Rock Director of Transportation Services Tom Martin said adding a light at Surrey Drive replaced the stop sign, which was an interim device installed in the late 1990s.

“That subdivision has a lot of people and Gattis School Road has a lot of traffic on it, so it’s really difficult for people to get in and out of the subdivision,” Martin said. “The stop sign was a temporary solution. The signal will make it operate a whole lot better, and there won’t be so much congestion on Gattis.”

A development that includes multifamily and retail will extend Surrey Drive north, past Gattis School Road to School Days Lane near Voigt Elementary School.

“Extending Surrey will provide access basically from subdivisions on the south side of Gattis School Road up to the elementary school there,” Martin said.

The city is near completion on a project to widen Gattis School Road from the Clay Madsen Recreation Center east to South Creek Drive, where a new signal was recently installed. Medians were implemented at intersections within this portion of the roadway to provide safe dual-left-turn lanes in all directions, ensuring safety and reducing traffic delays.

The road is being widened at the A.W. Grimes and Gattis School Road intersection to allow for right-turn lanes.

Gattis School Road is being widened at Via Sonoma Trail, and a traffic signal will be installed in late summer or early fall.

Widening various portions of Gattis School Road and installing medians at three intersections cost the City of Round Rock approximately $5.5 million. Installing three traffic signals cost another $600,000. The city projects on Gattis School Road are expected to be complete by this fall.

County project

Travis and Williamson counties recently secured right-of-way for a project to widen the eastern portion of Gattis School Road from Red Bud Lane to Toll 130. Travis County is managing and funding the project, which was approved to begin construction in February.

Travis County Precinct Two Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt said the project includes all the bells and whistles that one would expect with the growing population in this area. The road will be widened from two to four lanes, and a full storm drainage system, curbs and sidewalks will be installed.

“It’s no longer going to be a two-lane, rural road with ditches on either side and no sidewalks,” Eckhardt said. “Now it’ll be a nice four-lane road — the real deal.”

Medians will be installed for regulated turn lanes at the major intersections to help traffic flow smoothly along the road.

Several neighborhoods developed along the corridor have only one entrance and exit out of the neighborhood — on Gattis School Road. Eckhardt said this issue, which creates heightened congestion, is because the area is unincorporated so connectivity and an alternative grid are not required.

“There are definitely some trip generators on that road that weren’t there before, like the new H-E-B and the Clay Madsen Recreation Center,” Eckhardt said.

The estimated $6.9 million project is funded by Travis County and expected to be complete by February 2010.

Future Gattis School Road city projects:

• Improvements at Mays Street intersection to add a right-turn lane from northbound Mays to eastbound Gattis School Road (timeframe: approximately two years)
• Traffic signal at the main entrance of Cedar Ridge High School (by the time the school opens in fall 2010)
• Widen Meister Lane, the eastern boundary of CRHS (timeframe: by the time the school opens in fall 2010)