TRANSPORTATION
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TxDOT announces preference for downtown I 35 project
I 35 Capital Express Central Project
The Texas Department of Transportation released its preferred alternative for the renovation of I-35 through downtown Austin in December.
On Jan. 4, the Texas Department of Transportation released its preferred alternative for the $4.5 billion I-35 Capital Express Central Project—an endeavor that would widen 8 miles of I-35 in the heart of Austin. The favored plan—known as Modi ed-Build Alternative 3—would develop 42 acres of land and displace 107 homes and businesses, leading to over 600 jobs lost if the businesses do not relocate, accord- ing to TxDOT. The competing plan, Alternative 2, would displace 291 homes and businesses, amounting to 1,125 jobs lost, according to TxDOT documents. “The last expansion of I-35 in this area of any substance was in the mid- 1970s; and as you can imagine, the population has grown since then and will continue to grow in the future,” TXDOT Austin District Engineer BY KATY MCAFEE & DARCY SPRAGUE
Tucker Ferguson said. In each direction, much of the project includes two high-occupan- cy-vehicle lanes, several main lanes and one-to-four frontage lanes. From Dean Keeton Street to 15th Street, the frontage road going in both directions would sit east of the rest of the project, then those lanes would shift to the west side from 15th Street to Cesar Chavez. The project would sink the main lanes from Airport Boulevard to Lady Bird Lake and Riverside Drive to Oltorf Street underground, remove the upper decks, and widen east-west cross-street bridges, according to TxDOT. The project would allow for some sections of the sunken highway to be covered in “caps and stitches,” also known as decks and bridges, if other entities, such as The University of Texas at Austin, fund the work.
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MOPAC
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$4.5 billion transportation project
107 homes and businesses displaced
8 miles of road widened and 42 acres of work
SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION COMMUNITY IMPACT
Austin residents can submit public comments concerning the project to TxDOT until March 7 via email, voicemail, mail or online. More info
can be found at www.my35capex. com. Construction will begin as early as mid-2024, Ferguson said.
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