How long has it been since you stopped at the light on Loop 360 at Westlake Drive? For most Westlake drivers the answer is about five weeks. On Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, the Texas Department of Transportation opened new mainlanes that pass under Westlake Drive and Cedar Street, so through traffic no longer waits at either signal.
It feels finished, but it isn't. Only one lane is open in each direction, the last construction phase hasn't started, and work has been running a few miles north since April under a schedule that goes to late 2029. Your current drive is an in-between version of Loop 360, and it will change again more than once.
TxDOT's instructions for the current layout are short. Many drivers who used the old signals for years still find them unfamiliar:
The bridge U-turns have been part of the corridor for longer than the new mainlanes. When the Westlake Drive bridge opened in August 2025, Community Impact reported that it restored east-west connectivity and opened the non-signalized U-turns. In the same change, the double U-turns near Cedar Street and the Shell Refuel station closed. Since then, the road has been rebuilt one piece at a time. The cross-street bridges came first, then the mainlanes underneath them. The final lane configuration hasn't been built yet.
The travel-time figures Community Impact has reported for this corridor come from a 2022 study of all of Loop 360. They are forecasts, so they don't describe what drivers have experienced since the signals came out.
TxDOT divides the Westlake Drive/Cedar Street project into five phases. Its project page shows how much of the work the Aug. 30 opening actually covers.
| Phase | Scope, per TxDOT | Status listed by TxDOT |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Set up work zone, construct waterlines | Complete |
| 2 | New northbound and southbound connector roads, drainage systems, shared-use paths | Ongoing |
| 3 | Westlake Drive bridge, begin mainlanes | Ongoing |
| 4 | Cedar Street bridge, complete mainlanes | Ongoing |
| 5 | Final paving and striping, open permanent traffic patterns | Not yet started |
Phase 4 lists "complete northbound and southbound mainlanes" as unfinished work, and Phase 5 is when the permanent traffic pattern opens. Taken together, the Aug. 30 opening is a temporary pattern. The connector roads and shared-use paths in Phase 2 are also still under construction, so the walking and biking parts of the design aren't finished either.
TxDOT hasn't published a date for opening a second mainlane in either direction. The project page gives the overall completion as late 2026, weather permitting. That date has already moved once. In February 2026, Community Impact reported a mid-2026 target, and KXAN reported a similar target in December 2025. Construction began in June 2022, which puts this one project past four years with the final phase still ahead. The contractor is Copasa Group.
For daily driving, nighttime work matters more than the end date. TxDOT says construction on the mainlanes between Bold Ruler Way and the Pennybacker Bridge continues 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 overnight. This week shows the pattern. From Sunday, Oct. 4, through Thursday, Oct. 8, the left lane of both the northbound and southbound connector roads between the Pennybacker Bridge and Shell Refuel Gas is closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. These closures change week to week, so TxDOT's project page is the place to check before a late drive home.
The rebuild at Westlake Drive and Cedar Street is ending just as the next one ramps up. At Courtyard Drive and RM 2222, construction began in April 2026 and is expected to finish in late 2029. The plan removes the Loop 360 mainlane signal there, builds an underpass at Courtyard, and converts RM 2222 to a diverging diamond interchange. TxDOT lists weekday work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday work as needed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
That work already affects drivers. TxDOT's RM 2222 page says there are no lane closures right now. The same page lists the eastbound RM 2222 entrance ramp to southbound Loop 360 as closed and tells drivers to turn right at the RM 2222 signal. It also shows revised lane assignments on the northbound Loop 360 exit ramp. If your route to Westlake comes down Loop 360 from the north, construction is still part of it.
Here is how the rest of the corridor near Westlake stands, based on TxDOT's project pages as of this fall:
So when the Westlake Drive work wraps up, the Courtyard project will still have about three years to go. If Lakewood starts on its earliest projected date, the two projects would overlap. The interchange closest to most Westlake errands, Bee Cave Road, has no construction date and no funding.
Most of what changed in Westlake's daily routine since late summer is on and around Bee Cave Road, the part of the corridor with no rebuild scheduled. Community Impact's September business roundup for the Lake Travis-Westlake area tracks the changes.
Postino opened its Westlake location on Sept. 13 at 701 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. It is the wine cafe's third Austin location, after Bryker Woods and South Central Austin, and it serves paninis, salads, bruschetta and charcuterie boards along with a long wine list, craft cocktails, beer and non-alcoholic options. Postino's own location directory lists the cafe as open in West Lake Hills.
Farther out, House of Shan opened Aug. 28 at 8907 Bee Cave Road. Shannon Buth founded the clothing and accessories shop in 2020, and it is known for custom trucker hats. The shop donates $5 from every purchase to charities supporting women and children, and Buth said it raised more than $125,000 for Kerr County flood relief last summer.
Two places on Bee Cave Road are in the middle of changes:
One business left. Material Bespoke Stone + Tile, a design showroom for stone, glass and ceramic tile and custom architectural stonework, moved from Westlake to 3010 W. Anderson Lane, Ste. I, in North Austin on Aug. 3. For a kitchen or bath project, that showroom is now a drive north on Loop 360, through the Courtyard and RM 2222 work zone, instead of a stop near home.
By December, if both schedules hold, Bee Cave Road will have a dining room more than four times its old size at Baldinucci and a new fast-casual option at 3231. The Westlake Drive project will also be heading into its final paving and striping, and the Courtyard project will be in its first year of a four-year build.
Loop 360 has been under construction for so long that it shapes everyday decisions in Westlake: which errands stay close to home, which U-turn gets you there, and how long the drive takes from the north side of town. If you're thinking about how the corridor's timeline fits with a sale, a purchase, or a move within Westlake, Anna Lee can walk you through it. Schedule a private consultation.
3825 Lake Austin Blvd Ste 501 Austin TX 78703
3825 Lake Austin Blvd Ste 501 Austin TX 78703
