By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

An 80-room Holiday Inn Express and a new locally-owned seafood restaurant are just a couple of the new developments slated to open in the Trails at 620 Shopping Center in the months ahead.

The Trails at 620 is a 60-acre project located near Grandview Hill at 8300 RM 620 N., across from Concordia University Texas.

RedFin Seafood Kitchen could be opening as soon as January in 3,500 square-feet of space in the Trails Phase Two. Steiner Ranch residents Mike McCollum and Bill Rasch are in the planning stages of launching the restaurant.

“We have always had the common goal to launch a restaurant in this area with fresh seafood in a casual atmosphere” McCollum said.

In addition to fresh seafood, the menu will feature appetizers, salads, steaks and a full bar with local craft beers. The eatery will incorporate rollup doors extending out to a patio area for outdoor dining.

McCollum and Rasch are excited about opening a new restaurant close to home.

“We both live in Steiner Ranch and the Trails at 620 is something we had our eye on for awhile,” McCollum said. “It has a good anchor with the movie theater and it’s close to home. We need more eateries out here and there’s no seafood around. It’s something we know and have fresh suppliers.”

The Trails at 620 Phase Two anchor is the 44,000 square-foot Wilson Parke Medical Building slated to have opened this weekend, according to the project’s developer Leslie Sloan.

One side of the new 44,000-square-foot Wilson Parke Medical Building in the Trails @ 620.

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Hundreds came out to celebrate Independence Day at the annual Fourth of July Parade at Towne Square in Steiner Ranch. Photos by Erin Seitzler and Lynette Haaland.

Patriotic!

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By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Texas Department of Transportation unveiled plans last month for an auxiliary connector road and additional through lanes to help relieve congestion in Four Points during the Steiner Ranch Neighborhood Association annual meeting. After the meeting, SRNA asked for clarification about the traffic growth projections used in the traffic studies for RM 620 and RM 2222 improvements.

With the proposed connector road and additional lanes, there would be a estimated decrease in delays in Four Points traffic of 65 percent by the year 2020, said Mark Jones, Georgetown area engineer with TxDOT at the May 28 meeting.

“At the meeting it was stated that a 2 percent growth was used per year, but the graphic also showed a 77 percent increase in congestion between now and 2020,” said Brian Thompto, chairman of the SRNA.

This chart shows there would be a 77 percent increase in delays without adding a connector road.

Provided by TxDOT

TxDOT provided a clarification for the traffic growth projection. Continue reading →

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Local developer Pete Dwyer is part of Austin’s first Sustainably Roadway project, a $9 million extension of Parmer Lane just west of Manor, which broke ground last week.

Pete Dwyer at the June 18 groundbreaking ceremony for Austin’s first Sustainable Roadway project.

“Central Texas is a hub of innovation and ingenuity; now, even our region’s road construction efforts can maintain that entrepreneurial spirit,” said Dwyer, a Steiner Ranch resident and principal of Dwyer Realty Companies.

The Parmer Lane Sustainable Roadway Project is a 1.5-mile, divided, four-lane roadway that will extend the current Parmer Lane at U.S. 290 south and east to connect to Texas 130 through the heart of the 1,450-acre WildHorse property.

Dwyer and the rest of the team developing the WildHorse community were joined by officials from Travis County, the City of Austin and the Hill Country Alliance on June 18 along Texas 130 to break ground for the Sustainable Roadway pilot project.

Dwyer and the rest of the team developing the WildHorse community were joined by officials from Travis County, the City of Austin and the Hill Country Alliance on June 18 for the Sustainable Roadway pilot project.

Funding

The $9 million project — divided evenly between the 2005 Travis County Bond Program, a City of Austin Transportation Bond and private investment from the WildHorse development team led by Titan Capital Investment Group — is scheduled to be completed by spring 2015, weather permitting.

“The Sustainable Roadway project has been in the making for about three years,” said Dwyer, who helped bring both the Sustainable Roadway and the Wildhorse Masterplan together.

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