In 1974, Oak Hill Elementary School was getting ready to move out of its limestone schoolhouse on Hwy. 290. A local article ran with a hope: "We hope that the old building will be preserved and used in some way so that we may keep it as one of our many historical landmarks." Fifty-two years later the building is a restaurant. It opened in September, the same month TxDOT held a ribbon-cutting for a highway that carries through traffic past it without stopping.
Those two events landing together explain Oak Hill this fall. The Oak Hill Parkway set out to move cars through the Y, and it does. The shops and restaurants along the corridor were built on the old idea that every one of those cars had to stop at a light.
What the Parkway Actually Changed
Community Impact reported in late October that the project was substantially complete. Planning started nearly 40 years ago, and construction ran five years. The $677 million job turned a seven-mile, four-lane undivided road into a six-lane divided highway with new frontage roads. Cross streets now pass over or under at bridge intersections at Convict Hill Road, RM 1826, Scenic Brook Drive and Circle Drive. Flyovers at the Y carry Hwy. 71 and Hwy. 290 traffic over the old intersection.
The pieces opened in stages over 2026. KXAN reported that by May 1, mainlane drivers could skip the signals at William Cannon, SH 71, Convict Hill and RM 1826. The two Y flyovers opened that same month. TxDOT held its ribbon-cutting on Sept. 24.
Oak Hill was a real bottleneck, not just a familiar complaint. In 2025, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute ranked Oak Hill Parkway 45th on its list of the state's Top 100 Congested Road Segments. TxDOT spokesperson Antonio Luján told Community Impact that splitting local traffic from through traffic with the bypass lanes means "there is an observable difference when you drive through Oak Hill."
The project works by keeping through traffic away from local traffic. Each commuter who now stays on the mainlanes from MoPac to Circle Drive is someone who used to sit at a red light looking at a bakery sign.
The Parking Lots Feel the Difference
The same Community Impact story asked the businesses along the corridor how things were going. The general manager of Sweet Treets in Oak Hill Centre said the bakery had added coffee to bring in more foot traffic, which is still below where it was before construction. She also said the William Cannon bottleneck has improved, but she expects lower foot traffic to be a long-term effect of the project. "Our retail traffic, it's still pretty severely impacted now that it's a [thruway] ... we aren't seeing as many customers as we used to see," she said.
At Tucci's Southside Subs, the shop changed its point-of-sale system after construction began so it could take orders from every delivery service. A shift leader told the outlet that revenue went up but third-party app fees cut into the margins. In June, the owners of Once Upon A Child told KXAN that getting through the construction zone had been hard on customers, that they used social media to keep people updated on changing access, and that the traffic improvements had helped the store grow.
These businesses haven't left. They've adjusted to a road that has split in two. Through trips use the mainlanes. The frontage road now carries drivers who are heading to a stop in Oak Hill.
The Frontage Road Is the Neighborhood's Street Now
If the mainlanes are for passing through, the frontage roads and cross streets work as Oak Hill's main street. They also move more easily than they have in years. These are named stops along the corridor, with addresses, so you know where to exit:
| Stop | Where | Why it's worth the exit |
|---|---|---|
| Escuela | 6240 W. Hwy. 290 | Farm-to-table Tex-Mex in the restored 1923 Oak Hill Elementary schoolhouse |
| Sweet Treets | Oak Hill Centre | Bakery that recently added coffee |
| Tucci's Southside Subs | 7101 W. Hwy. 71 | Oak Hill sub shop, also on delivery apps |
| Oak Hill Social | 8600 Hwy. 290 W. | Coffee and cocktail bar with food and events |
| Southern Steer Butcher | 8701 W. Hwy. 71, Ste. 100 | Butcher shop that opened in October 2025 |
Oak Hill Social has been through this before. When it opened in 2024, in the middle of construction, it posted directions to its gravel parking lot so customers could find their way in. Today its website advertises food, events and private party bookings.
The Schoolhouse Is the Clearest Case
Escuela is the newest reason to exit. It also shows most plainly what Oak Hill looked like before the highway.
The property history on Escuela's site says the area's first school was a log cabin in the late 1800s. Oak Hill Elementary opened as the first formal schoolhouse in 1923, on land donated by James Andrew Patton, who served on the Board of School Trustees for about 40 years. His house next door still stands on the property. The original three-room limestone building grew with additions in 1933 and 1954. The site says you can still see the three kinds of limestone used across those building phases. In the early days the school sat among open pasture, and staff had to shoo chickens and goats off the road so the buses could get through.
Tribeza reported that the five-acre property is run by the Austin family behind Cabo Bob's. Inside, the schoolhouse keeps its exposed limestone walls and original wood beams, with black-and-white photos of former students and teachers. The restaurant grows its own produce on site using organic and regenerative practices. Its heritage live oaks fit the town's name, and the site says some of them are more than 200 years old.
There are two concepts:
- Escuela Fino is in the schoolhouse and on the patio. It serves farm-driven Tex-Mex Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m., is closed Sunday and Monday, and takes online reservations for parties of up to six.
- Escuela Campo is a more casual, family-friendly Tex-Mex barbecue concept with garden dining under the oaks. Seating is first-come, first-served walk-in.
A restaurant you have to visit on purpose fits the new corridor well. Escuela doesn't need anyone to be stuck at a light, because the old schoolhouse is the reason people come.
The Corridor Is Still Being Finished
On publish day, TxDOT crews are still out there. Luján told Community Impact that the last items, which include shared-use paths, landscaping and painting, would continue through November. Here's what that means for anyone getting around Oak Hill this month:
- Overnight and midday closures continue. In early November, TxDOT posted nighttime lane reductions on US 290, the frontage roads and William Cannon, along with daytime ramp and U-turn closures at spots like Scenic Brook Drive and Center of the Hills. The current list is on the project's construction alerts page.
- The paths are the part residents will get the most use from. TxDOT's project FAQ lists 14 miles of shared-use paths and 1.5 miles of sidewalks along the corridor. The paths are built for walking and biking.
- The paths may connect to more later. The City of Austin's Urban Trails Plan puts the Oak Hill Parkway together with the YBC Trail in a proposed Barton Corridor. When complete, the plan says, that corridor would connect much of Oak Hill and Barton Creek to downtown.
The paths also help the frontage businesses. A neighbor walking or biking along the corridor goes right past Oak Hill Centre at the speed of a pedestrian, which is a pace the mainlanes no longer allow.
The Tucci's shift leader told Community Impact he expects business to pick up over the long run and new commercial development to come to Oak Hill. He also had some advice for anyone who's been staying away: "I would say if [people] haven't been over here lately, come check it out because it's a lot easier to get around."
Josh Friedman has worked in Austin real estate since 1994, and Friedman Real Estate is based here in southwest Austin, so we've spent years waiting at the same Y as our neighbors. If you're wondering what the new Parkway means for a home, a lot or a commercial space along the corridor, we're glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
