By BRAD STUTZMAN
Cox Newspapers

“If you build it, they will come,” is an oft-repeated  (and only slightly misquoted) line from the movie “Field of Dreams.” But for Williamson County government the motto could be: Build it because they are already here.
The county unveiled its latest road expansion project Friday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a newly-widened stretch of County Road 175, located off FM 1431 about four miles west of Interstate 35.
The county – in collaboration with Blake Magee Company – expanded 1.1 miles of roadway, widening it from two lanes to four and adding a grassy center median.
“This is part of the long-range plan [for roads] and because we had willing partners that worked with us, we were willing to go ahead,” Pct. 2 Commissioner Cynthia Long of Cedar Park said.
County Road 175 is immediately west of Williamson County Southwest Regional Park and Parkfield at Mayfield Ranch subdivision.
Blake Magee Company – an Austin-based real estate development firm – built the subdivision and partnered with county government in widening the road.
“They donated right-of-way and paid for the part of the construction that was in front of their development,” Long explained.
She said that due to periodic traffic congestion the roadwork has been needed for some time.
“When we have soccer games and other events at the park it can get crazy,” Long said.
The area overlaps commissioners court precincts 2 and 3, with Long and Pct. 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey each present for Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Williamson County government spokesperson Connie Watson said the road-winding project took 10 months to complete, at a total cost of $1.9 million. RGM Constructors built the road, with engineering from Hayne Consulting.
Watson said an earlier phase of CR 175 expansion also widened a stretch of the roadway from two lanes to four with the addition of a center median.
“Phase one was completed in October 2003, from FM 1431 to the regional park entrance,” Watson said.
She said there are plans for continued CR 175 widening – proceeding in the same south-to-north direction that’s been the pattern – but no money has been committed and no timeframe set.
The next construction phase would pick up from where this one ended and would be from Creekside Meadows to FM 2243, with funding pending a future bond election to be held at the commissioners court’s discretion.