TxDOT held the Oak Hill Parkway grand opening on September 24, 2026. By then, most of what's new at the Y was already open. A butcher shop, a pickleball club, a coffee-and-cocktails bar on a former barbecue lot and a ten-year-old pizza kitchen's full renovation all arrived while the cones were still up. The finished highway inherited a business lineup that was rebuilt during construction, by owners who were betting on the end date.
The road kept its own calendar
The project broke ground in the summer of 2021. This spring the pieces came together quickly. KXAN reported in May that the eastbound US 290 main lanes had opened in March. It also reported that drivers could now skip the signals at William Cannon Drive, SH 71, Convict Hill Road and RM 1826. The Convict Hill Road bridge, the last US 290 cross-street bridge on the project, had opened too. By early June, KXAN reported that the US 290/SH 71 flyovers were also open.
Fluor, which built the project in a joint venture with Balfour Beatty, dates substantial completion to July 20, 2026. The Fluor release on the ceremony describes about seven miles of US 290 and SH 71 widened from two to three main lanes in each direction. It also lists direct-connect flyovers and new overpasses at William Cannon. The old Y interchange is now a single-point urban interchange. TxDOT's October 1 announcement puts the cost at $679 million. Fluor and Community Impact both say $677 million.
Put the businesses on the same timeline as the road, and the order shows:
- Summer 2021: Parkway construction begins.
- February 26, 2023: Metcalf BBQ serves its last day at 8600 Hwy. 290 W.
- February 24, 2024: Oak Hill Social opens at the same address.
- June 27, 2025: Via 313 marks its reopening and ten years in Oak Hill after a renovation.
- October 18, 2025: Southern Steer Butcher opens at 8701 W. Hwy. 71.
- July 20, 2026: Substantial completion.
- By September 2026: The Picklr is taking court reservations at 7101 W. SH 71.
- September 24, 2026: Grand opening ceremony.
Four of these business milestones fall before the road was substantially complete. The fifth, The Picklr, was due to open in spring 2026 and was taking bookings before the ribbon cutting.
One lot at Hwy. 290 and Circle Drive
The address 8600 Hwy. 290 W. sits where Hwy. 290 meets Circle Drive, and it holds the whole construction era in one parcel. Community Impact reported in March 2023 that Metcalf BBQ at Graceland, formerly Do-Rite BBQ, had closed for good after two years in the middle of the work. The owner told the outlet:
"The concurrent effects of construction and their interminability were the drivers of the decision."
The same article closed on a prouder note: the owner said the staff had called it the best job they'd ever had.
A year later, the lot had a new tenant. Oak Hill Social opened there in February 2024 serving coffee and cocktails. Community Impact noted that owner Troy Anderson had posted directions so customers could find the gravel parking lot through the roadwork. The construction that ended one business at this address was the same construction the next owner chose to open into, with about two years of work still to go.
The bar is still going this month. Oak Hill Social's event calendar lists a College Football Gameday event for Saturday, October 10, and karaoke for Wednesday, October 14, 2026.
Opening, and renovating, during construction
Oak Hill Social wasn't the only business that treated construction as a reason to start. Once Upon A Child, a children's resale shop on SH 71, opened at the Y shortly after work began. In the June KXAN report, owners Karly and Jim English described growth tied directly to the road's progress:
"Every time the traffic hits a milestone and things improve a little bit, traffic patterns get a little bit better, we grow."
The same story laid out what that growth was up against. U-turns to reach the shopping center at SH 71 and US 290 had only just opened that week. The road connecting the two halves of Oak Hill Plaza across SH 71 was closed, and TxDOT said it would stay closed until substantial completion. Westbound SH 71 near Fletcher Lane was down to one lane, with no firm date for a second lane to reopen. The owners said they used social media to keep customers posted on each change.
Via 313 made a quieter version of the same bet. Community Impact reported that the Detroit-style pizza shop at 6705 Hwy. 290, Ste. 503 closed in April 2025 to redo its kitchen, bar and dining room. It reopened in time to mark ten years in Oak Hill on June 27. That's a full renovation, with the downtime it brings, scheduled about a year before the highway outside was finished. Via 313's location page currently shows both hours and an "Opening Soon!" label, so check it before you go.
The newest arrivals set up on SH 71
The latest openings are on SH 71, the leg the new flyovers now carry over the Y. A March 2026 TxDOT construction photo shows flyover bridge beams going up between Oak Hill Plaza and Center of the Hills.
Southern Steer Butcher opened its Oak Hill shop at 8701 W. Hwy. 71, Ste. 100 on October 18, 2025. Community Impact described it as the owner's second Austin-area shop. The store's location page lists hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Up the road at 7101 W. SH 71, Ste. D1, The Picklr was previewed in July 2025 with a spring 2026 target. No published report gives its exact opening day. By September, The Picklr's Oak Hill page was offering memberships and court reservations, open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Both arrived on a stretch with a long-standing anchor. Jack Allen's Kitchen has been at 7720 W. Highway 71 since 2009, according to Eater Austin's Oak Hill guide. It's still posting daily hours, ordering and reservations on its Oak Hill location page this month. That puts a restaurant from 2009, a butcher from 2025 and a pickleball club from 2026 on the same short run of highway frontage.
One more name may be coming. A July 2026 Community Impact roundup cited a project filing for Hao-Hao Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant at 4301 W. William Cannon Drive, Ste. B108, in Arbor Trails. So far that's a filing, not an opening.
The work still on the calendar
The ribbon is cut, but crews are still on site. Fluor says landscaping, paving and striping will continue, with final completion expected by the end of 2026. Community Impact's September update also says crews will keep working through the end of the year.
Overnight closures are still posted this week. TxDOT's alert page lists restrictions through October 15, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. During those hours, William Cannon Drive drops to one lane in each direction between the US 290 frontage roads, the US 290 exits to William Cannon are closed, and the westbound bypass for Convict Hill Road is closed. TxDOT notes that closures can change with the weather.
The piece Oak Hill has had the least of so far is walking and biking. TxDOT's project FAQ lists 14 miles of shared-use path and 1.5 miles of sidewalk along the corridor. TxDOT hasn't published which segments are finished, and Community Impact's July summary still listed path improvements among the remaining work. Until TxDOT posts a list of open segments, a walk to Southern Steer or The Picklr is easier to plan by checking the alert page than by trusting the map.
If you'd like to talk through what the finished corridor means for a property near the Y, from access along the new frontage roads to how the SH 71 stretch is filling in, Bridget Ramey is happy to share what she's seeing. Schedule a private consultation.