WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — The Williamson County Commissioners voted on Tuesday to provide an additional budget of approximately $25 million to the FM 3349-US 79 Interchange Project in progress.
This project, dubbed the “East WilCo highway project,” began in 2021 and is “planned controlled-access roadway connecting south SH 130 to north I-35” according to the county. There is eight different segments in the project.
“It’s a significant project—and I’m going to say not just in the county or East Williamson County—but in the state,” said Russ Boles, the Williamson County Commissioner for Precinct Four. “We’re seeing a lot of that growth show up in Hutto and Taylor.”
One of the major contributors to that growth is the Samsung semiconductor plant set to be opened in 2026 in Taylor. According to past records, the Samsung plant is expected to create at least 10,000 jobs in the cities of Austin and Taylor.
Where and what is the $25 million coming from?
“It’s not new funds—these are funds that have already been expended,” Boles said. “Part of our agreement with TxDOT is that they would fund a portion of it, and we would fund a portion of it, and it’s just time for us to reimburse TxDOT for our portion.”
Parts of the FM 3349-U.S. 79 Interchange Project have already been completed, which are segment one and segment three. Segment one is from SH 130 to County Road 138. Segment Three is the bridge over U.S. 79 over FM 3349.
The bridge portion of the project was $94,811,760. Boles said that the $25,029,700 commissioner court will discuss approving on Tuesday will go towards the total cost of the project, not something specific.
“In this case, it was the pass-through funds for FM 1660 and so working with TxDOT—FM 1660 is still being reconsidered, we’re looking at a new alignment,” Boles said. “As those funds aren’t being used right now, we in TxDOT agreed that we would reallocate it towards this project.”
Segment two of the project is still under construction, and Boles said he expects it to finish in the first part of 2027. According to the county, in November 2023, voters approve $825 million to fund projects like this to increase “safety and mobility across the county.” Voters also did the same back in 2019, voting for a $412 million road bond.
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