New Toll 45 ramps expected to bring city more business

New Toll 45 ramps expected to bring city more business

By Amy Stansbury Thursday, 07 February 2008

Drivers heading in or out of Pflugerville on Heatherwilde Boulevard will have direct access to Toll 45 when the ramps open in late March.

The state highway is the northwest arterial into Pflugerville and the new ramps at the intersection of Toll 45 and Heatherwilde Boulevard could help alleviate some traffic congestion, according to Charles Simon, director of the Pflugerville Community Development Corporation.

“Right now, even with all the new roads, we’re stuck traveling old routes to get to IH 35. The fact that the highway is there, really isn’t doing anything with the way it is now,” he said.

The ramps were not in the original Toll 45 plans, but the City of Pflugerville later proposed to the Texas Department of Transportation that they be added.

He said the property near the intersection is not desirable for residential development because it is so close to the highway. Without the ramps, it was not desirable for commercial development either. Now it will be.

“The access to 45 from Heatherwilde will immediately benefit the Round Rock stores and businesses near La Frontera because Pflugerville residents will be able to get over there so much easier,” Simon said. “Over time, we’re hoping the ramps will benefit Pflugerville businesses, too.”

Construction began in March 2007. The addition of the new ramps to the existing toll road system, funded by TxDOT, cost $10 million.

The toll at this exit will be 50 cents, which is the same as other exits. Traveling on the frontage road west from Heatherwilde Boulevard, drivers must enter the tollway.