Loop 360's Work Zone Is Moving From Westlake Drive to the Far Side of the Pennybacker

When did you last stop for the light at Westlake Drive on Loop 360? For anyone heading straight through, it was late August. On Sunday, August 30, the Texas Department of Transportation opened a new mainlane in each direction that lets drivers skip the signals at both Westlake Drive and Cedar Street. KXAN reported the opening two days ahead of time.

The Westlake Drive and Cedar Street project started in June 2022. Its connector roads, bridges and paths are still being built, and the final paving and striping that will make the new layout permanent come last. Meanwhile, the next Loop 360 project has already started just north of the river. Its expected finish is late 2029, roughly three years after Westlake's. Over the next few years, a Westlake commute toward northwest Austin will run past more construction across the river than at home.

How the drive works right now

TxDOT's project page lays out the temporary pattern drivers use today.

1. Going through: Loop 360 has one open lane in each direction. Stay in the left lane to bypass the signals at Westlake Drive and Cedar Street.
2. Getting to Westlake Drive or Cedar Street: Exit right onto the connector roads. The connector roads handle all access to the two cross streets.
3. Turning around: U-turns without a signal on the Westlake Drive bridge give access to both northbound and southbound Loop 360.
4. The southbound U-turn near Bold Ruler Way: It stays open, according to KXAN's report on TxDOT's announcement.

This is what the project was designed to do. Drivers going to Cedar Street or Westlake Drive turn off at the side, and through traffic heading for the river keeps moving. In a May 2026 Loop 360 guide, a TxDOT spokesperson told the Austin American-Statesman that traffic studies show most Loop 360 traffic is through traffic. Removing the stoplights and moving turning cars out of the main lanes should keep it flowing.

The current pattern is single lanes and temporary routing, so overnight lane and access closures on the connector roads between Bold Ruler Way and the Pennybacker Bridge still happen. TxDOT posts them on the project page, and they change week to week.

What has to happen before it's finished

TxDOT splits the project into five phases. The bypass lanes opened before the earlier phases were done, so most of the list is still in progress.

TxDOT expects completion in "late 2026, weather permitting." In June 2025, TxDOT's construction information sheet forecast mid-2026, so the date has already moved once. Community Impact's October 30 transportation roundup still lists the late-2026 target. It says construction on the mainlanes between Bold Ruler Way and the Pennybacker Bridge continues through the end of the year.

Phase 5 matters to residents because "permanent traffic patterns" are the layout you will actually live with. That includes final lane striping, final connector road alignments and the full set of mainlanes. Until then, the single bypass lane in each direction is a temporary setup. TxDOT's posted rules for when crews can work also hint at what remains. 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 work at home cost $72.1 million and began in June 2022. KUT reported when work started that $14 million of the funding came from the City of Austin's $720 million mobility bond, approved by voters in 2016. The contractor is Copasa Group.

The pieces you'll use on foot and by bike

The new bridges carry more than car lanes. TxDOT's 2019 design boards show three pieces for people walking and biking:

• a shared-use path on the Cedar Street bridge
• a sidewalk along the south side of Cedar Street that gives access to Bridge Point Elementary
• a path that continues north toward the Pennybacker Bridge

The paths were not built at full width everywhere. KUT reported in 2022 that the plans narrowed the path in some spots along Loop 360's east side. In places it shrinks to 8 feet, with a 2-foot buffer where it runs beside the cliffs and the right-turn lanes at Westlake Drive. On a weekend walk or ride, those tighter stretches are where you will pass oncoming bikes most closely. The shared-use paths are part of Phase 2, which is still ongoing.

Across the river, the same rebuild starts over

As the Westlake work winds down, the next project picks up on the other side of the Pennybacker Bridge. At Courtyard Drive and RM 2222, TxDOT is taking the signal off the Loop 360 mainlanes again. This time it is building an underpass at Courtyard Drive and turning the RM 2222 interchange into a diverging diamond. Crews broke ground on April 29, 2026, according to Community Impact.

The two projects side by side:

The schedule follows the same pattern as Westlake's. The Statesman's construction guide explains that the Courtyard bridge comes first. Next is the diverging diamond at RM 2222. Final paving and striping come last, followed by the opening of the permanent traffic patterns.

The bridge between the two projects stays as it is. The Pennybacker Bridge has crossed the Colorado River since 1982, and the plans make no changes to it. It will remain two lanes in each direction.

One change near the bridge hits weekend plans more than commutes. The same Statesman guide reported TxDOT's plan to put up barriers near the trail to the Pennybacker Bridge overlook as crews set up the Courtyard work zone. With the barriers in place, cars can no longer park at the trailhead. TxDOT said the boat ramp near the bridge would stay open.

The longer queue behind Courtyard

Beyond Courtyard, the next Loop 360 projects depend on funding more than on construction schedules:

• Lakewood Drive / Spicewood Springs Road: Environmentally cleared in summer 2023. Utility work comes first, and construction depends on funding and could start as early as 2029.
• MoPac to RM 2244: Proposed grade separations at Walsh Tarlton Lane and at Lost Creek Boulevard and Westbank Drive. Environmental work began in fall 2019, and construction depends on funding.
• RM 2244 / Bee Cave Road: A possible diverging diamond interchange is under evaluation and will move forward when more funding is available.

For Westlake households, the last two projects are closest to home. Walsh Tarlton, Westbank Drive and the Bee Cave Road interchange are all on the south side of the river. None of them has a construction date, so the Courtyard Drive zone north of the Pennybacker Bridge is the only Loop 360 construction with a firm calendar after Westlake Drive and Cedar Street wrap up. TxDOT's Loop 360 project pages remain the place to check closures each week until the final striping is done.

Infrastructure timelines like these affect how a home is priced, and Cord pays close attention to what is changing on Loop 360, from Cedar Street to Courtyard Drive. If you're weighing a move on either side of the Pennybacker, or want to know how the finished interchange may affect a property you own, Cord Shiflet Group can walk you through it. Work with Cord.