The 2019 county road bond: what was promised and what got built (DRAFT – not published)

In short

In November 2019, voters approved $412 million in county road bonds. The county sold all of it: $300 million in 2020 and $112 million in 2022.¹ In fiscal 2025 alone, the program spent $100.3 million.¹ In 2023 the county also borrowed $150 million in short-term notes, partly to finish roads and buy land for them.¹² By December 2025, the county’s road report (read online) listed five 2019 projects in western Williamson County as done, two being built, and three still in design.³

Layer 1: the short version

• Promised: $412 million for roads, approved by voters in November 2019.¹
• Borrowed: all $412 million, in two sales (2020 and 2022).¹
• Spent in fiscal 2025: $100.3 million. Big items were FM 3349 at US 79 ($25.2M), Ronald Reagan widening ($28.6M), Corridor H/Sam Bass Road ($14.2M) and Wyoming Springs ($7.2M).¹
• Extra money: $150 million in notes in March 2023 for roads, land and a juvenile justice building.¹
• Finished vs not: see the table below.³

Layer 2: the scorecard (western county, Precinct 2)

This is the area nearest Leander. The county’s December 2025 report lists these “2019 Road Bond Program” projects.³

Project	Status, Dec. 2025
New Hope Drive Extension, Phase 2A	Done / open
Bagdad Road (CR 279) land clearing	Done
Freedom River Parkway (Liberty Hill bypass)	Done; finished Dec. 2, 2025
Corridor 11 (FM 3405)	Done / open
Corridor F / US 183	Done (planning)
RM 2243 realignment	Being built
Ronald Reagan Blvd widening (SH 29 to FM 3405)	Being built; due summer 2027
Bagdad Road / CR 279 roadway	In design
Corridor 12	In design
Whitestone Blvd widening	In design

Two big projects, in numbers:³

• Freedom River Parkway: bid at $14.1 million. Changes raised it to $14.8 million, up about 5%. One change paid for flood repairs after July 4, 2025. It finished 25 days past the first schedule.
• Ronald Reagan widening: bid at $52.2 million. Changes so far add less than $0.1 million.

Price changes by type (April 2026 report).⁴ The county’s report gives a reason for each contract change. We sorted them into changes that moved work to another fund, changes that lowered the cost, and changes that added cost. None of these 2019 contracts had work moved to another fund.

Contract	Signed for	Lowered	Added	Price, April 2026
Corridor H / Sam Bass Road	$36.1M	$2.39M (one change after award that cut dirt work)	$0.82M (10 changes; some paid back by Round Rock or a water company)	$34.6M
Ronald Reagan Blvd widening	$52.2M	$0.24M (one change)	$0.32M (six changes)	$52.2M
Freedom River Parkway	$14.1M	none	$0.64M (six changes; one, $21,500, paid by the county parks budget)	$14.8M
Hero Way	$30.2M	none	$0.04M (one change)	$30.2M
FM 3349 at US 79	$81.9M	$0.85M	$4.98M (many paid back by Hutto, a water district or TxDOT)	$86.1M

Hero Way’s price rose again to about $30.55 million in August 2026.⁵ These are building costs only; design and land are not included.⁴

Elsewhere in the county, the report lists FM 3349 at US 79 roadwork as done in June 2025, with railroad work running to spring 2027. Corridor H/Sam Bass Road was due in spring 2026.³

Layer 3: details and caveats

Counterweights (the other side):

• Prices rose fast. Road costs jumped after 2020. A local news report says the 2023 notes covered work that inflation pushed past the bond’s budget.² So “more money needed” can mean higher prices, not waste.
• Partners help pay. Several projects were shared with cities or the state, such as Round Rock on Wyoming Springs and Liberty Hill on the bypass.¹ Some change orders are paid back by cities or water districts.³
• Not every project is a road you can drive yet. Some “done” items are studies or land clearing.³
• The report mixes programs. The monthly report covers all county road bonds back to 2000. Its file title even says “2013.” We counted only items it labels “2019.”³
• One date looks wrong. The completed list shows Freedom River Parkway as “Nov 2026.” The same report says it finished Dec. 2, 2025. We use the second date.³
• What we could not find: a single county page that totals spending per 2019 project, start to finish. We did not use the county’s archive page directly, because it blocks automated reading.

The law:

• Tax-backed road bonds like the 2019 ones need voter approval at a bond election. (Notes and certificates of obligation are different; see below.) The Texas Constitution (Art. III, §52) allows road bonds when voters approve them. Texas Government Code ch. 1471 sets rules for county road bonds.⁶
• Bond money is meant for the purpose on the ballot. We did not research the court cases on how strict that limit is, so we do not say more here.
• Short-term “tax notes” do not need a vote. Government Code ch. 1431 lets a county issue them for public works, with a payback period of up to seven years.⁶ Critics say this skips voters. Supporters say it finishes work voters already approved.

Questions to ask

• Will the county post total spending for each road bond project, start to finish?
• Where does the county post its monthly road bond reports?

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Removed a cause we had not sourced from the summary.
• Nov. 2, 2026: Added questions to ask.
• Nov. 2, 2026: We removed two figures we could not match to a saved copy of the county’s report, and we now say which report figures we read online only.

Footnotes

1. Williamson County, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2025, transmittal letter, “Long-Term Financial Planning.” ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. Community Impact, “Williamson County to issue short-term debt for remaining 2019 road bond projects” (March 2023). https://communityimpact.com/cedar-park-leander/government/williamson-county-to-issue-short-term-debt-for-remaining-2019-road-bond-projects/ ↩ ↩²

3. Williamson County Road Bond Program, Construction Summary Report, December 2025. https://www.wilcotx.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/356 (read 2026-11-01). We read it online but the county site would not let us save a copy, so these figures are as we read them. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

4. Williamson County Road Bond Program, Construction Summary Report, April 2026. https://www.wilcotx.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/381 (read 2026-11-01). We read it online but the county site would not let us save a copy, so these figures are as we read them. ↩ ↩²

5. Williamson County Commissioners Court agenda, Aug. 4, 2026, Hero Way change order item. ↩

6. Texas Constitution Art. III §52; Texas Government Code ch. 1471 and ch. 1431. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/ (read 2026-11-01). ↩ ↩²