On September 24, TxDOT, local officials, and the Fluor and Balfour Beatty joint venture held a ceremony to open the Oak Hill Parkway. The project had taken five years and $677 million. Four weeks before that, a Fort Worth retail company bought the shopping center at the northwest corner of US 290 and SH 71. It said plainly that it had waited for the road to be finished.
Most coverage of the parkway is about getting through Oak Hill faster. For people who live here, the bigger change is that the corner at the Y no longer has to carry the traffic that only wants to pass through. That frees it up for local trips, and the first new money in the area is betting on exactly that.
Where the through traffic went
The old Y was a set of traffic lights handling two jobs. It served people heading to H-E-B or the post office, and it served people driving from Dripping Springs to MoPac. The parkway separates those two kinds of trips.
KXAN reported the order of openings. Eastbound US 290 mainlanes opened in March and westbound in April. By May, drivers could skip the signals at William Cannon Drive, SH 71, Convict Hill Road, and RM 1826. The Convict Hill Road bridge was the last cross-street bridge on US 290 to open. The two flyovers connect eastbound SH 71 to eastbound US 290 and westbound SH 71 to westbound US 290, so those drivers never stop at a light. A single-point urban interchange replaced the old Y itself, and US 290 now goes over William Cannon on new overpasses.
In short, a commuter from west of town can now cross Oak Hill on the upper level. The signals, frontage roads, and turn lanes at street level are left for trips that actually end here. The project rebuilt about seven miles of US 290 and SH 71 and went from two mainlanes to three in each direction.
Construction isn't completely finished. Substantial completion came on July 20. Landscaping, paving, and striping will continue, with final completion expected by the end of 2026. TxDOT's posted schedule for this month includes:
- Eastbound US 290 left lane closed between McCarty Lane and Monterey Oaks Boulevard through mid-October
- Westbound US 290 left lane closed between MoPac and Patton Ranch Road through mid-October
- Eastbound US 290 left lane closed between RM 1826 and SH 71 through late October
- Westbound US 290 right lane closed between RM 1826 and Scenic Brook Drive overnight, October 5 to 8, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
TxDOT notes that closures can change, so check the project's alerts page before a late-night drive.
The first bet on the corner
Oak Hill Plaza is a 116,000-square-foot neighborhood shopping center at the northwest corner of US 290 and SH 71. On August 27, Trademark Property Company announced it had bought the center in partnership with Cohen & Steers. Trademark will manage and lease it and lead a plan to upgrade both the property and its tenant mix. Trademark CEO Terry Montesi tied the timing directly to the road:
"The timing for this investment is perfect now that this major project is substantially complete."
Current tenants include Wells Fargo, Pluckers, Dollar Tree, AutoZone, Jim's Restaurant, and The Picklr. Trademark says the planned improvements are meant to bring in more local and regional retailers and restaurants. The company hasn't announced specific new tenants or a timeline, so for now this is a stated plan, not a list of openings.
The Picklr shows the kind of use the corner can support. Community Impact listed the pickleball club as opening at Oak Hill Plaza in late January 2026, while the road was still under construction. Its Oak Hill location now takes court bookings and runs leagues, clinics, and social play. People don't stop by a club like that on the way to somewhere else. They plan the trip and come back regularly.
The plaza also shows what construction cost the corner. In June, KXAN reported that the road connecting the two sides of Oak Hill Plaza across SH 71 was still cut off. Karly and Jim English, who own Once Upon A Child Southwest Austin, said changing traffic patterns had made it hard for customers to reach the store. They also said business had grown a little at a time as access improved, and U-turns had become available to help customers get in. That report came out before substantial completion. Nothing published since says whether the connector has reopened, so it's worth looking for on your next trip.
A short loop around the interchange
The new owner's bet makes more sense in light of what already surrounds the Y. Several places nearby have opened or kept going through the construction years, and all of them are within a few minutes of the new interchange:
| Place | Address | Why it's on the loop |
|---|---|---|
| Oak Hill H-E-B | 7901 US-290 | Open until 11 p.m.; moved west of the Y in 2021 |
| Jack Allen's Kitchen Oak Hill | 7720 Highway 71 West | Takes reservations, with current hours posted |
| Southern Steer Butcher | 8701 W. State Hwy. 71 | Opened October 2025; open daily |
| Oak Hill Social | 8600 Hwy. 290 W. | Coffee and cocktails, with live music, karaoke, and comedy nights |
| The Picklr | Oak Hill Plaza | Pickleball leagues, clinics, and social play |
Southern Steer opened in October 2025 on SH 71, in the middle of construction. Oak Hill Social opened on US 290 in February 2024 and now runs regular events. Both of them set up next to the barrels, which suggests they were counting on local customers more than drive-by traffic. Saturday mornings can also include a short drive to Sunset Valley. The Sustainable Food Center runs a year-round farmers market at Toney Burger Center from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
On foot, the Y is getting a tunnel
The least-discussed part of the parkway is the part you can walk on. Community Impact describes the project as including 14 miles of shared-use paths along new frontage roads. TxDOT also counts 1.5 miles of new sidewalk. Fluor describes a seven-mile shared-use path. The seven-mile figure matches the length of the rebuilt corridor. The 14-mile figure likely counts paths on both sides of the road, but neither source confirms that, so treat the gap between the numbers as unresolved.
TxDOT's construction photos show a shared-use path along the eastbound US 290 frontage road between Old Bee Caves Road and William Cannon Drive. A 2025 construction report shows crews pouring concrete for another path along the new westbound frontage road on the same stretch. At Circle Drive and South View Road, a sidewalk and a shared-use path run on either side of the cross-street bridge. The most useful piece is near Hill Oaks Drive at the Y. TxDOT's construction photos show the path designed to run under the bridge structures through a pedestrian tunnel that connects the US 290 side to the SH 71 side. Those photos date from the construction period, and nothing published since confirms the tunnel is open. Once it is, people on foot will be able to cross the Y without going through the intersection.
Path work was still underway in late summer. In August, Trademark said work on the paths and sidewalks would continue through the fall. No one has published a segment-by-segment list of which stretches are fully open. Before a walk or ride, check TxDOT's shared-use path map along with the alerts page.
For a longer trail, the Violet Crown Trail is close by, but it isn't directly connected to the new paths. Its 290 Trailhead is at 4934 W. US 290 Service Road in Sunset Valley. From there the route crosses south over William Cannon and west under MoPac before reaching the Whirlpool Trailhead at Convict Hill Road and Latta Drive. From the Dick Nichols District Park Loop Trail, a spur connects to the Violet Crown Trail. At the junction you can head toward the Dick Nichols Trailhead on Latta Drive or toward the Deer Park Trailhead. The trail's trip planner has the route map. Compare it with TxDOT's map before assuming the two systems meet at a signed junction near William Cannon.
Taken together, it adds up to a corner that's easier to reach by car, owned by a company planning upgrades, and getting new path connections on foot. The frontage-road paths between Old Bee Caves Road and William Cannon, along with the planned tunnel at Hill Oaks Drive, are the pieces to check on TxDOT's map before your first walk.
Angie and Lindsey at McDowell Property Group are keeping an eye on how the finished parkway changes everyday life on both sides of the Y. If you want to talk through how the new access, paths, or plaza plans might affect your street in Oak Hill, we'd be glad to hear from you. Contact Us.
