WATCH: Plane takes off after toll road landing

A line of orange cones and a narrow concrete median are all that separated traffic on the 130-Toll Tuesday afternoon from a single engine, fixed wing Cessna.

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KVUE's Jessica Vess reports

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The Texas Department of Transportation says Patrick Romil owns the plane. A spokesperson says Romil hired, Lindsey Moreland, 24, a contract pilot, to fly the plane from Austin into Georgetown for maintenance.

During the flight, around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, the engine failed.

"According to Moreland it suffered a complete, catastrophic engine failure," said John Hurt of TxDOT.

Moreland was over the 130-Toll near the Gattis School Road exit in Hutto. It's where she made an emergency landing.

"It was actually an excellent choice if you had to have an emergency landing," said Hurt.

Some drivers stopped in the middle of their drive to watch. Others took pictures and video. DPS troopers shut down the toll road while it tried to clear the plane from the lanes.

"We got quite a lot of calls along with all the other emergency groups. I think everybody wasn't quite sure what to do with an airplane on a roadway," said Hurt.

Moreland, who was the only one on board, helped refuel the plane.

DPS says the plane still wouldn't start. It was pushed off to one lane so that traffic could flow again.

By 11 a.m. on Tuesday, after a mechanic discovered engine repairs would be needed, the plane was pushed even further from the toll road to a wide shoulder on an unused portion of the toll road’s access lanes.

"They towed it -- it was about 1000 feet from where it originally landed where it is now," said Hurt.

From there a mechanic was able to complete repairs. It took until 4 p.m., after a maintenance certification was filed to the FAA, before the plane had clearance to fly again.