Since Aug. 30, 2026, northbound and southbound Loop 360 traffic has run under Westlake Drive and Cedar Street without stopping at either light. TxDOT expects to finish the rest of that project in late 2026. Down on Red Bud Trail, Austin Water's capital project records show two large jobs at the Ullrich Water Treatment Plant reaching their scheduled end dates this year.
The work wrapping up this fall is the work nearest the center of Westlake, and its successors are already on the calendar. Just up Loop 360, the RM 2222 project started in April and is scheduled to run through 2029, and a disinfection overhaul at Ullrich is forecast to begin in 2027 or 2028 and take about four years. For a West Lake Hills household, late 2026 marks a handoff from one construction cycle to the next.
| Project | Where | Status this fall | Next published milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loop 360 at Westlake Drive/Cedar Street | Bold Ruler Way to Pennybacker Bridge | One mainlane each way open since Aug. 30 | Completion expected late 2026 |
| Loop 360 at Courtyard Drive/RM 2222 | North of Pennybacker Bridge | Under construction since April 2026 | Completion expected late 2029 |
| Ullrich Low Service Pump Station electrical renewal | Red Bud Trail | Anticipated end fall 2026 | Substation building and access road |
| Ullrich Inherently Safer Disinfection Project | Red Bud Trail | Not yet started | Construction start forecast 2027/2028, about four years |
| The Mackenzie Club | 260 Addie Roy Road | Moved from late 2026 | Spring 2027 opening |
Driving 360 Without the Westlake Drive Light
The new layout changes the trip in a few specific ways, according to TxDOT's Westlake Drive/Cedar Street project page:
- Loop 360 has one open lane in each direction beneath the Westlake Drive and Cedar Street crossings.
- To pass both former signals, stay in the left lane.
- To reach Westlake Drive or Cedar Street, exit right onto the connector roads.
- To get onto Loop 360 northbound or southbound, use the non-signalized U-turns on the Westlake Drive bridge.
TxDOT says construction continues on the mainlanes between Bold Ruler Way and Pennybacker Bridge through late 2026. Excavation runs weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and hauling happens at night. The most recent closure notice was for alternating single-lane overnight closures on the connector roads between the Pennybacker Bridge and Shell Refuel, Oct. 11 through 15. That window has passed, and the project page is the place to watch for the next one.
The project cost $72.1 million, paid for by TxDOT and the City of Austin's 2016 mobility bond, and work started in June 2022. TxDOT's project page gives the finish date this way:
"Expected to be complete late 2026, weather permitting."
Two of the project's original features don't yet appear among the open pieces: the shared-use paths and sidewalks. TxDOT's current page describes the open mainlanes but doesn't say the walking and biking connections are finished.
North of the Pennybacker Bridge, the Clock Resets at RM 2222
The Westlake Drive work is winding down just as its neighbor is getting started. On April 29, TxDOT broke ground on the Courtyard Drive/RM 2222 project, a $68.4 million job funded from the same two sources. Community Impact's Oct. 12 roundup lists its timeline as 2026 to 2029. The plan removes the Loop 360 signal at Courtyard Drive, adds an overpass there, and rebuilds the RM 2222 interchange at Loop 360 as a diverging diamond.
Drivers coming off RM 2222 already feel it. TxDOT's Courtyard/RM 2222 page lists the eastbound RM 2222 entrance ramp to southbound Loop 360 as closed and tells drivers to turn right at the signal. It also lists new lane assignments on the northbound Loop 360 exit ramp to RM 2222. The October notices included overnight closures on both westbound and eastbound RM 2222 at Loop 360 on Oct. 14 and 15.
TxDOT's phase plan places the connector roads, drainage, braided ramps, the Courtyard bridge and the path work in the project's second phase, and expects the whole job to finish in late 2029. If that holds, the corridor will have had about seven and a half years of continuous construction from the Westlake Drive start in June 2022. One more project waits farther north at Lakewood Drive and Spicewood Springs Road. It was environmentally cleared in summer 2023, and construction depends on funding but could begin in 2029.
On Red Bud Trail, the Plant Follows the Same Pattern
The Ullrich Water Treatment Plant sits on Lake Austin along Red Bud Trail, and its schedule looks a lot like the highway's. Austin Water says the current capital work stays inside the plant's existing footprint and doesn't raise its rated capacity of 167 million gallons per day.
Two of the biggest jobs there have reached their scheduled end dates:
- Low Service Pump Station Electrical Feed Renewal. This replaces the old 15-kV substation with an enclosed substation building, along with a duct bank, an access road and stormwater-quality work. The city's capital projects listing shows $35.6 million in planned spending, a winter 2020-21 start and an anticipated finish in fall 2026.
- Process Drain and Support Systems Improvements. This automates the sludge cross-over vault and enlarges clarifier flushing. The listing shows $21 million in planned spending, a summer 2022 start and an anticipated finish in summer 2026. In its November 2025 neighbor presentation, Austin Water called it a $15 million job and said temporary pumps would go into service in December 2025.
The next project is bigger. The Inherently Safer Disinfection Project will replace chlorine disinfection with sodium hypochlorite made on site, replace anhydrous ammonia gas with liquid ammonium sulfate, and add a new disinfection pipeline. Austin Water's November 2025 presentation forecast a 2027/2028 start and roughly four years of construction. That forecast is itself later than the October 2024 version, which had construction starting in fall 2025 and wrapping up in winter 2028.
The sound question runs underneath all of it
For homes near the plant, noise is the issue that stays the same no matter which project is underway. Austin Water's December 2023 sound modeling report identified the audible sources and the possible fixes:
- Sources. Lime-delivery blowers, water falling out of the treatment basins, HVAC and other plant equipment, truck traffic, and periodic basin cleaning. Lime blowing and basin cleaning produced the highest measured levels.
- Lime delivery. Using the plant's indoor lime blower instead of the truck-mounted one cut sound by more than 11 dBA, and added silencing could remove about 6 dBA more.
- Barriers. Barriers on top of the basins were most useful against the waterfall and cleaning noise. Fence and buffer barriers offered limited benefit at high cost, and barriers near the driveway or between the basins and the building could affect operations and maintenance.
The November 2025 presentation said Austin Water hired a contractor in August 2025 to study which mitigation options could actually be built and run. It forecast a lime-blower silencer in 2026 and decisions on feasibility by 2026. The same deck said Basins 7 and 8, the ones closest to Red Bud Trail, were due for routine cleaning before the end of 2025 and get cleaned every two years.
The next public update was a neighbor meeting at West Lake Hills City Hall, 4010 Bee Cave Road, on Oct. 19 at 5:30 p.m. Austin Water had moved it from Sept. 21. The city's notice said the agenda covered current projects and ongoing sound mitigation. Austin Water posts updates on its Ullrich upgrades page, and neighbors can report a concern at 512-972-1000, option 1.
A Club on Addie Roy Road Moves to Spring
Private projects have schedules that move too. The Mackenzie Club is a three-story private indoor golf club at 260 Addie Roy Road, with simulators, a restaurant and bar, and wellness facilities across 33,000 square feet. Community Impact reported in January that it planned to open in late 2026. In an Oct. 9 update, the same outlet said the club is "now targeting a spring 2027 opening." The club's website also says spring 2027 and describes membership conversations and private tours happening before it opens.
Two Dates on the Calendar This Season
The community calendar has two fixed dates this season:
- Rollingwood Trunk-or-Treat is set for Saturday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. at Upper Park, 3111 Gentry Drive, according to the City of Rollingwood calendar.
- Westlake Wonderfest runs Sunday, Dec. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Westlake High School Chaparral Stadium parking lot at 523 Camp Craft Road, according to the Westlake Chamber of Commerce.
Construction timelines matter for anyone weighing when to list or buy near Loop 360 or Red Bud Trail. A buyer touring in spring 2027 could find the Westlake Drive work finished, RM 2222 about a year into a schedule that runs to late 2029, and the Ullrich disinfection project still waiting on its forecast start. Camille Casper follows these schedules street by street and can walk you through how they line up with your plans for a sale or purchase in West Lake Hills. Let's Connect.
