Since late September, crews have been cutting six inches into the pavement down the middle of Williams Drive, between Serenada Drive and a small connector the City calls Sports Clips Way. The contractor's plan is to keep the milling crew one or two medians ahead of the concrete crew. Traffic in the work zone has at times dropped to one lane in each direction, according to the City's ClearGov project log dated Sept. 23, 2026.
When the raised median is done, the center turn lane between Serenada Drive and Lakeway Drive will be gone, and drivers won't be able to turn left across Williams Drive anywhere in that stretch. The City's construction notice says that plainly, and adds that access to neighborhoods and businesses will remain even though "some traffic movements and access points will change." The left turns went first for a reason. In 2023 Georgetown residents were asked how to fix Williams Drive, and this is the option they left standing.
Residents Turned Down Driveway Closures in 2023
From April 28 to June 3, 2023, the City ran an online survey and an interactive comment map for the corridor. It collected 1,241 survey responses and 471 mapped comments, according to the Williams Drive Corridor Recommendation Report, finalized Feb. 23, 2024. The map comments sorted into five main concerns: congestion with 118 comments, access with 117, safety with 108, left turns with 71 and signal timing with 69.
The survey results were sharper. In that 2023 survey, 73% of respondents were dissatisfied with traffic flow, 67% were concerned about the safety of turning into businesses, 54% were concerned about traffic speed and 47% were dissatisfied with safety conditions.
The planners' first recommendation tackled that business-turn worry with two tools together, fewer left turns and "the strategic closure of driveways." The fifth recommendation in the same list dropped the second tool:
"Based on a lack of support for driveway closures, focus on the installation of the median first."
That sentence explains this fall's construction. Closing driveways would have changed how every shopping center and side street along the road connects to Williams Drive, and the public didn't support it. A raised median handles the left-turn conflicts on its own. Elsewhere the report also says driveway closures weren't pursued at that point because of funding constraints. In August 2023, Community Impact reported that Council Member Amanda Parr thought some driveways would eventually have to close, and that council recommended more meetings with property owners and stakeholders.
The project description on ClearGov still lists "driveway reconfigurations" in its scope, next to raised medians, turn lanes, lighting, signal work and better bike and pedestrian facilities. What drivers are getting now is the median the 2023 survey allowed. The driveway question is still open.
What Changes at Each End of the Work Zone
With no center turn lane between Serenada Drive and Lakeway Drive, the signalized intersections at each end matter more. The 2024 report sets out a plan for each one, and the corridor runs in this order from downtown outward: Rivery Boulevard, Riverbend Drive, Booty's Crossing, Deer Haven Drive, D.B. Wood Road, Wildwood Drive.
- Williams Drive at Booty's Crossing/Lakeway Drive is a signal, and the report recommends no change to the intersection itself.
- Williams Drive at Deer Haven Drive/Serenada Drive is also a signal, and it gets the bigger rework. The plan adds a southbound left-turn bay, restripes the approach into separate left-only, through-only and right-only lanes, adds a right-turn lane from Serenada Drive onto Williams Drive, and lists a southbound right-turn lane "to be done by others."
- Between the two signals, the report's segment plan calls for raised medians with left-turn bays and wider pavement where U-turns are planned. It also mentions widening at the Serenada and Lakeway intersections.
The 2024 report doesn't give locations for those U-turn spots or median openings. Drivers will only know which movements survive from the signs once each median section is poured, or from the City's updates. The rework at Deer Haven and Serenada suggests that end will carry more of the turning traffic once the center lane is gone.
A Phase Planned to Finish in February 2026 Started in September
The report was optimistic about timing. It scheduled the Lakeway-to-D.B. Wood segment's first phase, the one with the medians, U-turn widening, signal changes and lighting, for February 2025 through February 2026. A second phase, starting in February 2026, would upgrade the north-side sidewalks to a 10-foot shared-use path.
| Milestone | 2024 plan | Current schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Median work begins | February 2025 | Sept. 16, 2026 per City notice and Community Impact. Crews started Sept. 21 per ClearGov |
| Median phase complete | February 2026 | Late 2027 per City. Aug. 13, 2027 per ClearGov |
The City's own completion dates also disagree. The construction notice says late 2027, "weather, field conditions, and work progress permitting," while the ClearGov page shows Aug. 13, 2027. For anyone timing a long commute pattern, a remodel delivery or a holiday season of errands, the honest answer is somewhere between late summer and the end of 2027.
How the work zone moves is already visible. The City's street closures page, updated Oct. 8, 2026, split the stretch at Sports Clips Way. Between Serenada and Sports Clips Way it ran one lane each direction around the clock. Between Sports Clips Way and Lakeway Drive it dropped to one lane each way from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., then reopened to two lanes each way at 4 p.m. That schedule was expected to run through Oct. 11, which has now passed. The next lane pattern goes up on the project page, where residents can sign up for updates. The project team takes questions at [email protected] or 512-354-2627.
Across the September coverage, the Williamson County Sun photographed traffic squeezed into one lane on Sept. 23, and Community Impact noted that drivers can still reach every business and neighborhood even as traffic patterns shift.
Who Is Paying for It
On June 23, 2026, the City Council awarded The Dan Williams Company a construction contract for $6,242,265.40, the Williamson County Sun reported. The ClearGov page shows $10,505,808.27 in projected spending on the project, with $2,322,633.97 spent so far.
According to the City's Williams Drive project page, the money comes from three places. The 2021 Road Bond contributes $10 million earmarked for Williams Drive from Austin Avenue to D.B. Wood Road, TxDOT adds $1.7 million in safety-lighting funds, and the rest comes from traffic impact analysis revenue paid in by development. Georgetown voters approved the bond in 2021, and residents responded to the survey in 2023. Those two steps set the shape of what's being built now: bond money pays for the median, the lighting and the signal work, and the driveway changes that drew little support are left for later.
The Errands Just Past the Cones
Several of the newest stops on Williams Drive sit northwest of D.B. Wood Road, past the current work zone, around the Wildwood Drive signal. Sprouts anchors Cedar Breaks West at 4610 Williams Drive, at the corner of Wildwood Drive. Community Impact reported that Marshalls opened at that address on April 2 and HomeGoods on April 23. Project LeanNation, which sells prepared meals and has a shake bar, opened Sept. 26 at 4720 Williams Drive, per Community Impact.
For drivers coming from downtown or the Rivery side, the Serenada-to-Lakeway stretch is the part of the trip that has changed. Planned work is also continuing on the side streets. The City's Oct. 8 closures update lists pavement seal work in the Deer Haven, Woodlake, Heritage Oaks and Estrella Crossing neighborhoods running Sept. 15 through Oct. 28, with weekly schedules posted on the City's street maintenance page. Through late October, people who live in Deer Haven may find both their own street and the Williams Drive signal at its entrance under work at the same time.
The 2023 survey decided which change came first. The ClearGov page will show which access changes come after the median is finished in 2027.
If you own a home along Williams Drive and want to know how buyers will view your property while the road is under construction, Marion Lamantia can walk you through it using what the City has actually published. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll look at your timing alongside the project schedule.
