Ranch to Market Road 1431

Ranch to Market Road 1431
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length:	66.702 mi[1] (107.346 km)
Existed:	1951[1] – present
Major junctions
West end:	SH 261 near Lake Buchanan
	SH 29 US 281 in Marble Falls US 183 in Cedar Park
East end:	I-35 in Round Rock
Location
Counties:	Llano, Burnet, Travis, Williamson
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs Park Rec FM ← FM 1430 FM 1432 →

Ranch to Market Road 1431 (RM 1431) is a 66.702-mile (107.346 km) ranch to market road that connects Austin, Texas to rural areas of Central Texas.^[1]

Route description

The western terminus of RM 1431 is in Llano County, at an intersection with SH 261 along the southwestern shore of Lake Buchanan.^[2] The roadway initially travels to the southwest, crossing SH 29, before turning to the south and into Kingsland.^[3] After crossing into Burnet County, RM 1431 takes a more southeasterly path through Granite Shoals and Marble Falls, where it crosses US 281. The highway continues east and roughly parallels Lake Travis to its south, crossing into Travis County and through the cities of Lago Vista and Jonestown.^[4] RM 1431 then enters Cedar Park in Williamson County, where it has intersections with US 183 and the 183A Toll Road at the current end of that route's tolled segment. The roadway heads east into Round Rock, Texas, where it reaches its eastern terminus at Interstate 35's Exit #256. While state maintenance ends here, the roadway continues into Round Rock as University Boulevard and ends in Taylor as Chandler Road.

History

FM 1431 was originally designated in Starr County in 1949, on a route from FM 755 eastward to La Reforma near the Hidalgo County line. That designation was canceled the same year and the route was combined with FM 1017.^[1]

The current route was first designated in 1951 as FM 1431, and ran from US 281 in Marble Falls to the community of Smithwick approximately 11 miles to the east. The designation was changed to RM 1431 in 1956. The route was extended westward into Llano County and to SH 29 in 1957, and further eastward to US 183 in White Stone (now part of Cedar Park) in 1959, replacing RM 1328 which started at Travis Peak Road. RM 1431 was extended to its current western terminus at SH 261 in 1973, and to its current eastern terminus at Interstate 35 in 1978.^[1]

Officially, a 1.1-mile (1.8 km) segment of the route along Whitestone Blvd. in Cedar Park was transferred to the jurisdiction of the city. The section is still signed as RM 1431.^[1]

In 2015, a major alteration to the road began at the intersection of RM 1431 and I-35. This construction is reported by the Texas Department of Transportation to address an alleged "traffic situation" at the highly used intersection. Rather than being of benefit, the project has actually proven to be a major issue for residents who live off of 1431, many of whom rely on the intersection with I-35 to commute in the mornings. The project eliminated several lanes from the road, reducing it from 4 (3 straight, 1 right turn off) to 2 (1 straight, 1 straight+right turn off). Residents from surrounding the Sendero Springs and Preserve at Stone Oak communities have indicated that the perceived improvements have actually caused a significant and crippling traffic situation where there had never been one previously. Some residents, through use of social media or town hall meetings, have complained that the change to the roadway has exponentially increased the amount of time it takes to commute to work, adding as much as 30 - 40 minutes on top of their existing commute time. Residents have also indicated it takes upwards of 25 minutes or longer to drive the 2 mile stretch from their communities to I-35, where the drive had previously taken less than 10 minutes in previous years.

Business route

RM 1431 has one auxiliary route, Business FM 1431-J, designated along a former alignment of RM 1431 in Burnet County east of Marble Falls.^[3][4] The 0.5-mile (0.8 km) business route was created in 2010^[6] and serves the Waterford subdivision and golf club on Lake Travis.^[5] The road is named as a Farm to Market business route even though its parent route is a Ranch to Market Road, although the distinction is inconsequential since the words Farm and Ranch are replaced with Business on business route shields. The route was created when RM 1431 was aligned along a more direct path from west to east bypassing the business route's more southerly dip.^[5] The business route intersects no other numbered state highways between its termini with RM 1431.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[7]	km	Destinations	Notes
Llano		0.0	0.0	SH 261	Western terminus
		2.1	3.4	SH 29 – Llano, Burnet
		5.4	8.7	RM 3404
	Kingsland	7.0	11.3	RM 2545
		7.6	12.2	RM 2900
Burnet		8.8	14.2	RM 2342 – Longhorn Cavern State Park
		17.9	28.8	FM 1980
	Marble Falls	20.3	32.7	US 281 – Johnson City, Burnet
		30.2	48.6	Bus. FM 1431 east
		30.6	49.2	Bus. FM 1431 west
		32.6	52.5	RM 1174 – Bertram, Balcones Canyonlands N.W.R.
Travis			No major intersections
Williamson	Cedar Park	58.1	93.5	US 183 (Bell Blvd.) – Austin, Leander
		59.0	95.0	183A Toll Road – Austin, Leander
		61.1	98.3	FM 734 (Parmer Ln.) / Ronald Reagan Blvd.
	Round Rock	66.7	107.3	I-35 – Austin, Waco	Eastern terminus, continues as University Blvd.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References