Loop 360 Is Moving at Westlake Drive. The Bee Cave Road Interchange Has No Start Date Yet.
Since the morning of Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, drivers on Loop 360 through West Lake Hills can stay in the left lane and pass Westlake Drive and Cedar Street without stopping at a signal. The Texas Department of Transportation started this project in June 2022. Its goal was to take the traffic signals off the mainlanes and build underpasses at both intersections.
The new lanes don't mean 360 construction is over for West Lake Hills. Work has moved to other parts of the road, and it's moving at very different speeds. The north end of town gets its signal-free stretch this year. The 360 intersection at Bee Cave Road, also called RM 2244, is still under evaluation and waiting on additional funding. That's the corridor where most of the area's recent restaurant and shop news is happening.
Right now there's one new mainlane open in each direction. TxDOT's project page gives these directions:
"Drivers will stay in the left lane to bypass signals at Westlake Drive and Cedar Street. Drivers will exit right for access to Westlake Drive and Cedar Street. Non-signalized U-turns on the Westlake Drive bridge provide northbound and southbound Loop 360 access."
The connector roads on each side still take you to the cross streets. According to TxDOT's release as reported by KXAN, the southbound U-turn south of Bold Ruler Way stays open as well. In practice, drivers going through stay left, and drivers heading to a Westlake Drive or Cedar Street address get over to the right earlier than they used to. If you need to reverse direction, the U-turns on the Westlake Drive bridge do it without a signal.
TxDOT hasn't said when a second mainlane will open in either direction.
TxDOT still targets late 2026 for completion, weather permitting. As of today, Oct. 4, that leaves less than three months. The date has already moved once. In February 2025, TxDOT engineer William Semora told Community Impact the project would likely be done "sometime in mid-2026."
The project page shows a good deal of work still in progress. Here's where TxDOT lists each of the five phases:
The contractor is Copasa Group. Mainlane construction between Bold Ruler Way and the Pennybacker Bridge continues through late 2026. Excavation runs weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and hauling happens overnight. This week also has scheduled closures. From Sunday, Oct. 4 through Thursday, Oct. 8, the left lane of both the northbound and southbound connector roads between the Pennybacker Bridge and Shell Refuel Gas closes each night from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The shared-use paths are part of the unfinished work. TxDOT's February 2025 community Q&A says the paths along the new mainlanes will generally be 10 feet wide, unstriped, and about 5 feet from the curb. Both the Westlake Drive and Cedar Street bridges will have protected east-west shared-use paths. Since Phase 2 is still in progress, those connections across 360 aren't done yet, and TxDOT hasn't given a separate date for them.
The Westlake Drive and Cedar Street work is one of several Loop 360 projects. Getting from signals to an underpass took this one more than four years. The other projects are at very different stages:
| Project | Where it stands | Timing TxDOT gives |
|---|---|---|
| Westlake Drive / Cedar Street | One mainlane open each way since Aug. 30, 2026; Phases 2 through 4 ongoing | Complete late 2026, weather permitting |
| Courtyard Drive / RM 2222 | Under construction; underpass at Courtyard and a diverging diamond at RM 2222 | Began April 2026, expected late 2029 |
| Lakewood Drive / Spicewood Springs Road | Utility relocation first; construction depends on funding | As early as 2029 |
| MoPac to RM 2244, including Walsh Tarlton Lane, Lost Creek Boulevard and Westbank Drive | Environmental work started in fall 2019; construction depends on funding | No start date |
| Loop 360 at RM 2244 / Bee Cave Road | Possible diverging diamond interchange under evaluation | Moves ahead when more funding is available |
Courtyard has already changed one ramp. TxDOT says the entrance ramp from eastbound RM 2222 to southbound Loop 360 will close, and drivers should turn right at the RM 2222 signal instead. The northbound 360 exit to RM 2222 now has a left-only lane, a combined left and straight lane, and a right-only lane. That's to the north. Closer to home, the Westlake Drive and Cedar Street work is the only project in the table with an end date this year. The Bee Cave Road interchange has no construction schedule.
Bee Cave Road is waiting on funding, but its storefronts are filling up. In 2026, Community Impact's Lake Travis–Westlake edition has reported a steady run of openings, renovations, and announced arrivals along the road:
One new arrival sits on 360 itself. Postino, a wine café serving paninis, bruschetta, charcuterie boards, and a long wine list, was listed for a mid-September opening at 701 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., Ste. J760. It's the chain's third Austin café, after Bryker Woods and South Central Austin. The news hasn't been all arrivals. Material Bespoke Stone + Tile moved from Westlake to West Anderson Lane in North Austin on Aug. 3.
Almost every address on that list is on Bee Cave Road. That's the part of the corridor where TxDOT's own project page says the interchange is still being studied. The two openings set for the next few months, Baldinucci in November and Teriyaki Madness in December, both have 3200- and 3300-block addresses. Both are projected dates and could change.
West Lake Hills has its own roadwork going on at a smaller scale. The city's 2026 street-maintenance program started July 6 under a contract of almost $1.7 million. It covers crack sealing and mill-and-overlay resurfacing, with temporary traffic control and the chance of short delays. The published report doesn't include a completion date or a street-by-street schedule. A cone on a neighborhood street this fall is more likely the city's resurfacing crew than TxDOT.
Taken together, here's what the corridor looks like this fall. 360 traffic passes Westlake Drive and Cedar Street without stopping, the paths, bridges, and final paving and striping are still ahead of a late-2026 target, and Courtyard construction runs to 2029 to the north. The Bee Cave Road interchange, which serves the stretch with Taqueria de Diez, Baldinucci, and the coming Teriyaki Madness, is still waiting for TxDOT funding.
Road timelines like these come up in real decisions, like which side of West Lake Hills fits a daily commute or how long a move-up buyer can expect a corridor to stay under construction. The team at Volt Realty follows these projects alongside the market and can explain what they mean for a specific street or address. Let's Talk.
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