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Businesses Worry About RM 620 Construction Impact


Businesses along RM 620 west of I-35 are worried about how construction on the road will affect their bottom line. It's a project that will last at least two years. One of those businesses is the 620 Cafe and Bakery which serves a variety of home style entrees and baked goods. Owner, Brandy Jones says, "I think it's going to be hard for people to come here, and it'll hurt my business definitely."

Brandy worries the construction project could hurt access to her restaurant and put her out of business. "People want convenience, and we're convenient we're right here and we've been here for ten years and we want to stay," she says.

"It's one of our challenges in a community like this, where we are doing a lot of re-construction of old facilities is being sensitive to the business needs," Round Rock Transportation Director Gary Hudder says.

Hudder says the impact on businesses is one of the reasons they changed the alignment of the project so that two lanes will be open to traffic during construction. "We think from 65-70 percent of that construction will be done without much if all impact to the current road, so we believe we got a winner here so far as minimizing the impact to the local businesses."

He says the growing pains will still be felt, they just won't be as painful and in the end it'll make for a better road and more access.

The City of Round Rock also held an open house to allow residents and businesses to ask questions about the project.

By Lydia Pantazes