TxDOT is trying to sugarcoat the historic widening of I-35 before getting a green light from the federal government.
The I-35 expansion through Central Austin is undergoing significant revisions as local officials try to negotiate improvements to the $4.5 billion project, aimed at widening the highway that's cut through downtown Austin since it opened in 1962.
TxDOT's transformation plans include lowering the main lanes for much of the distance between Oltorf Street and Airport Boulevard. The City of Austin hopes to cover these lowered portions of the highway with"caps" — basically large decks — that could support buildings at least two stories tall. TxDOT won't pay for the caps, but will engineer the highway to allow for their installation.
TxDOT insists there can't be a cap over the entire stretch from 32nd Street to Airport Boulevard, because EMS vehicles need ramps to access St. David's Medical Center at 32nd Street. TxDOT also has plans to build a $25 million boardwalk along Lady Bird Lake between South First Street and South Congress Avenue. The project is proposed as a replacement for the loss of other parkland protected by federal law. The Trail Conservancy has been working on the project for months with TxDOT and Austin's Parks and Recreation Department.on the I-35 frontage road in South Austin near Mariposa Drive.
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