AUSTIN (KXAN) — Transportation leaders are teeing up safety improvements along a 6.5-mile stretch in north Austin.
Multi-phased improvements are set to begin next spring on Cameron Road and Dessau Road to address safety concerns in the area. The project corridor runs along Cameron Road from 51st Street to Rundberg Lane and on Dessau Road from Rundberg Lane to Parmer Lane.
Officials collected community feedback on the proposal this summer, after leaders first held a listening session and hosted a community survey back in 2019. In this week’s Austin Mobility newsletter, transportation staff said an average of two people are killed and 95 people are injured each year in crashes reported along the project corridor.
Those serious and fatal crashes led to approximately $100 million in “comprehensive costs to the community” annually over the past five years.
New safety features, road reconfigurations planned
Revamped project elements along the roadway include:
- New or upgraded pedestrian crossings
- Expanding the separation between motor vehicle traffic and sidewalks
- Installing “physically protected bicycle facilities” along the project corridor
- Improving street lighting
- Situating bus stops closer to safer street crossings
Transportation experts are also planning to reconfigure vehicle travel lanes between U.S. 290 and Parmer Lane to enhance mobility safety, dropping travel lanes from three lanes in each direction to two.
Since gathering community feedback this summer, city leaders tweaked the initially proposed design to include:
- A third southbound vehicle lane in advance of the Shropshire Lane/Braker Lane intersection (north intersection) to Braker Lane (the south intersection to “better address vehicle capacity needs”
- A northbound dual left-turn lane at Braker Lane
- Dedicated left-turn pockets at current median breaks at the driveways for the Lucent and Parmer Place apartments, along with at Daleside Lane
- Refinements of access control and U-turns for improved motor vehicle movements and new placements for relocated or upgraded bus stops
Those changes join the original design, outlined in the below images and compared to existing conditions.
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department) 
Cameron Road and Dessau Road could soon undergo a safety upgrade, courtesy the City of Austin’s proposed corridor project. (Courtesy Austin Transportation and Public Works Department)
Project timeline
Austin Transportation and Public Works Department officials said they’ll begin reconfiguring vehicle lanes in next spring and summer, with construction at the intersection of Cameron Road and U.S. Hwy. 183 is expected to kick off work next summer.
Phased construction is also planned between 51st Street and Parmer Lane. That portion is centered around shared-use paths, traffic signal enhancements, improved bus stops, ADA upgrades, street lighting and access control. Work there is poised to begin in spring 2025 and take rough 24 months to complete.
Currently, design work is advancing at the U.S. Hwy. 290 and Cameron Road intersection, with final work on that design expected in 2026. That portion of the project remains unfunded and can seek out future construction funding as part of city capital programs down the road.
More details on the improvements are available online.
