On Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, the Texas Department of Transportation opened one new Loop 360 lane in each direction. These lanes skip the traffic signals at Westlake Drive and Cedar Street. Work on the project started in June 2022. For close to four years, the lights at those two intersections set the pace of a daily drive through West Lake Hills. For anyone driving straight through, the lights are now gone. The rest of the highway near home will keep its signals for years. TxDOT's schedules for the neighboring intersections show that the stretch between Westlake Drive and Cedar Street will be the only signal-free part of Loop 360 close to West Lake Hills until at least 2029.
That gap affects more than the commute. It changes which trips get faster, which ones now take a new move, and how long the work zone stays part of the week.
The Three Moves That Replaced the Light
The signals still exist. They now serve the connector roads instead of the main highway. TxDOT's project page and KXAN's report from Aug. 28 lay out the pattern in plain terms:
- To go straight through, stay left. The new mainlane is one lane in each direction, and the left lane is the one that bypasses the Westlake Drive and Cedar Street signals.
- To reach Westlake Drive or Cedar Street, exit right. Connector roads still carry traffic to both streets.
- To turn around, use the bridge. Unsignalized U-turns on the Westlake Drive bridge lead back onto northbound and southbound Loop 360. KXAN reported that the southbound U-turn south of Bold Ruler Way also stays open.
For someone heading to downtown or to the Pennybacker Bridge, the switch is all upside. The trip changes most for drivers whose destination is in West Lake Hills itself. A trip that used to mean waiting at a light now means deciding early. You pick your lane before the intersection, not at it, and a missed exit costs a loop over the Westlake Drive bridge.
So far, nobody has published an account of how drivers have handled the new pattern since it opened. The KXAN and KLBJ coverage ran two days before the switch. TxDOT's Westlake and Cedar community Q&A from February 2025 recorded concerns at the time about drivers using the shoulder to get around traffic and cutting through nearby streets. That document came out before the switch and says nothing about what has happened since.
Open Is Not the Same as Finished
The single lanes are a temporary setup that comes before the final layout. TxDOT divides the project into five phases. Only the first is complete, and it covered setting up the work zone and building waterlines. As of early October, the other four stand as follows:
- Phase 2, ongoing: new northbound and southbound connector roads, drainage systems and shared-use paths
- Phase 3, ongoing: the Westlake Drive bridge and the start of the northbound and southbound mainlanes
- Phase 4, ongoing: the Cedar Street bridge and completion of the mainlanes
- Phase 5, not started: final paving and striping, then the switch to permanent traffic patterns
Phase 5 is the reason not to get too comfortable with today's lane markings. The pattern drivers have been learning since Aug. 30 is not designed to last. Another change will come when TxDOT opens the permanent configuration.
The target date has also moved. In February 2025, Community Impact reported that the project was expected to finish in mid-2026. TxDOT's current page now says late 2026, weather permitting. Until then, the work zone affects more than rush hour. Excavation runs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays, and hauling happens at night. Overnight closures keep coming. One example is this week's closure of the left lane on the connector road between the Pennybacker Bridge and the Shell station, from Sunday, Oct. 4, through Thursday, Oct. 8, 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. TxDOT updates these notices often. Check the project page before a late-night drive.
The finished project will also look different from the work zone. TxDOT's February 2025 Q&A describes 10-foot shared-use paths, with protected east-west crossings on both the Westlake Drive and Cedar Street bridges. The planned aesthetic treatment includes natural limestone, painted finishes, star motifs and retaining walls designed to look like native stone. The bridges will eventually carry walkers and cyclists across a highway that has long divided the two sides of Westlake Drive. TxDOT's current phase list does not say how far along the landscaping is.
Why This Stretch Will Have No Company Until At Least 2029
This is the part most coverage of the Aug. 30 opening left out. TxDOT runs Loop 360 as a set of intersection projects, and the ones closest to West Lake Hills are on very different timelines:
| Loop 360 intersection | Status as of October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Westlake Drive / Cedar Street | Mainlanes open one lane each way; completion targeted for late 2026 |
| Courtyard Drive / RM 2222 | Construction began April 2026; completion expected late 2029 |
| Lakewood Drive / Spicewood Springs Road | Not under construction; utility relocation first; start as early as 2029, depending on funding |
| RM 2244 / Bee Cave Road | No scheduled start; will proceed when more funding is available |
| Walsh Tarlton, in the MoPac-to-RM 2244 segment | Environmental work began fall 2019; construction depends on funding |
Courtyard Drive is the only other nearby project under construction, and Community Impact covered its groundbreaking on April 29. TxDOT expects it to finish about three years after the Westlake Drive and Cedar Street work. The intersection at Bee Cave Road has no start date. A trip that runs from the new free-flowing lanes onto Bee Cave Road still ends at a signal, and TxDOT has scheduled no project to change that.
The Stops on This Side of the Highway
That last point matters for the errands that changed along Bee Cave Road this year. Several local destinations have opened, closed or moved since June:
- Postino opened at the Village at Westlake, 701 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., Ste. J760, on Sept. 13. Community Impact reported that it is the wine cafe's third Austin location, after Bryker Woods and South Central Austin. The menu runs to paninis, bruschetta and charcuterie boards, and a monthly Bottle Club membership starts at $20. The Westlake Chamber has scheduled a ribbon cutting there for Tuesday, Oct. 27.
- Baldinucci Pizza Romana closed its flagship at 3300 Bee Caves Road, Ste. 110, on Aug. 10 for renovations. An August news release projected a November reopening, with the dining room growing from 12 seats to 54. The restaurant has not announced a firm date. Until it reopens, the family's new Domain Northside location, open since Aug. 17, is serving as the stand-in.
- Maverick Men's Health opened June 8 at 4238 Bee Cave Road. Its Chamber ribbon cutting is set for Thursday, Oct. 15.
- House of Shan Cottage opened its first storefront Aug. 28 at 8907 Bee Cave Road.
- Material Bespoke Stone + Tile moved out of Westlake on Aug. 3, after its lease ended, to 3010 W. Anderson Lane in North Austin.
Every one of these is a local destination, and on Loop 360 that means exiting right, not driving through. The new lanes speed up the trip past West Lake Hills more than trips within it.
On the Calendar at City Hall
The city also has some new dates to note this fall. Starting Oct. 1, West Lake Hills moved its regular City Council meetings to the second Wednesday of each month at 6:30 p.m., with a fourth-Wednesday meeting as needed. ZAPCO now meets on the first Wednesday and the Board of Adjustment on the third, both at 6:30 p.m.
Austin Water will hold a community update and neighbor meeting on the Ullrich Water Treatment Plant on Monday, Oct. 19, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. The agenda includes project updates and sound mitigation. A few days later, the West Lake Hills Art Committee opens "Native Birds and Sustaining Plants" at City Hall. The exhibit runs Oct. 23 through Nov. 20, with a reception on Nov. 4 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. If you'd like to see the native plants in person, Wild Basin has a guided hike listed for Saturday, Nov. 14, from 9 to 11 a.m., starting from the Wild Basin Creative Research Center deck.
If TxDOT holds to its late-2026 target, the permanent lane pattern at Westlake Drive and Cedar Street will arrive around the time the art exhibit closes and Baldinucci's projected reopening month ends. That will be the third time in a few months that drivers have to relearn the interchange.
The Petri Group watches changes like these on the streets our clients drive every day, from a new lane pattern to a restaurant moving from 12 seats to 54. To get Westlake updates and private listings as they surface, Receive Exclusive Listings in Your Inbox.
