AUSTIN (KXAN) – If you’re headed east on Highway 71 over the holiday weekend, be prepared for delays through Del Valle. Ross Road and Kellam Rd at Hwy 71 currently have traffic lights, but by mid-2024, TxDOT will be done with the construction of new bridges, bypassing those lights.

And on a busy holiday weekend, it’s critical to use caution through construction zones.

Drivers headed eastbound and westbound on Hwy 71 from Bastrop County to Travis County frequently deal with major delays because of traffic through this construction zone.

Bradley Wheelis with TxDOT Austin said there was a big construction zone between Ross and Kellam.

“This is going to pay off for travelers in a big way, once these projects are complete, what we’re doing is removing the traffic signals from the main lanes of SH 71. And we will put bridges in there,” Wheelis said.

Bridges that will eliminate the traffic lights at Ross & Kellam, making it easier for commuter traffic to get through Del Valle on Hwy 71 and easier for local traffic to navigate those smaller trips.

“When you have that much traffic there on Ross Road that’s injuring SH 71 or vice versa. And you have the schools in that area, you have development there housing development, as well as commercial, it’s important that we make it as safe as possible,” Wheelis said.

But the improvements won’t stop here, TxDOT is planning to also remove the lights on Hwy 71 at Tucker Hill, Pope Bend and FM 1209.

“Once those projects are completed in the next several years, then you’ll be able to go from basically Austin Bergstrom International Airport to Houston without encountering a single traffic signal,” Wheelis said.

TxDOT expects this $60 million dollar project to wrap up in mid-2024.