CTRMA celebrates 45 SW opening

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority celebrated the pending completion of the State Highway 45 SW toll road Saturday. The road – a 3.6 mile stretch connecting MoPac Expressway to FM 1626 – is expected to open on Saturday, June 1. Covering environmentally sensitive terrain, it has been a source of debate for years. A press release from CTRMA touted “the innovative and environmentally sensitive roadway” and says it is a path that “provides a multimodal travel option for the community, will feature trailheads at MoPac and Bliss Spillar Road and an area known as the ‘Hill Country Classroom,’ a shaded section of the trail where cyclists and pedestrians may rest while viewing educational signage.” MoPac, Bliss Spillar Road and FM 1626 will all serve as points of access on 45 SW. The road will use electronic tolling, with the cost to travel the full length of the road at $1 for electronic tag holders and $1.50 for Pay by Mail customers. The Mobility Authority is offering a “toll-free period” through June 30, where drivers who have an active electronic tag may travel the road for free. A “Grand Opening Jubilee” held Saturday to celebrate the road’s impending completion was attended by about 400 members of the community. Speakers included Mobility Authority executive director Mike Heiligenstein, Mobility Authority Chairman Ray Wilkerson, Texas Department of Transportation engineer Terry McCoy, Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, Hays County Commissioner Mark Jones and state Rep. Vikki Goodwin. “This project is why I ran for office in the first place,” Daugherty said. “I am so proud to be a part of this occasion. It was Hays and Travis counties that bonded together to make this project possible. And that is what government needs to be doing for its people.”

This whisper has been updated to correct the date of the jubilee.