Georgetown Edition | September 2023

Transportation

COMPILED BY KATY MCAFEE & ERIC WEILBACHER

Upcoming projects

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Austin-area drivers will notice billions of dollars worth of improvements along I-35 over the next decade. While many projects are still in the planning stages, drivers are already seeing the traffic impact to their commute as TxDOT adds lanes, reconstructs bridges and makes mobility improvements to over 100 miles of road from Georgetown to San Antonio.

1 I-35 Capital Express Central project Project: This Central Austin project received environmental clearance Aug. 21 and is expected to break ground in mid-2024. Update: The project will add two high-occupancy vehicle lanes in each direction on the inner sections of the highway and widen the corridor from a range of 11-18 lanes in either direction to 17-22 lanes when accounting for frontage, bypass and auxiliary roads, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Timeline: mid-2024-32 Cost: $4.5 billion Funding source: TxDOT

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Georgetown

35

183

79

Round Rock

3

45 TOLL

281

4

130 TOLL

290

1

Johnson City

Austin

130 TOLL

Ongoing projects

5

290

71

2 Williams Drive diverging diamond Project: Crews are adding a diverging diamond intersection, or DDI, on the Williams Drive bridge over I-35 in Georgetown. Update: The south portion of the Williams Drive bridge is closed and will reopen when construction is complete by the end of 2023. Timeline: October 2020-end of 2023 Cost: $61.7 million Funding source: TxDOT 3 I-35 southbound project Project: The project will add an auxiliary lane on the southbound I-35 main lanes between Hwy. 79 and Hesters Crossing in Round Rock. Update: TxDOT is in the final stages of the project and is installing new lighting. Timeline: March 2022-fall 2023 Cost: $8.4 million Funding source: TxDOT 4 I-35 Capital Express North project Project: This will add one high-occupancy vehicle lane in each direction between SH 45 N and Hwy. 290 East, reconstruct several bridges, add a DDI at Wells Branch Parkway, and add pedestrian and bicycle paths. Update: Crews are in the early stages and working on paving frontage roads, utilities and drainage. Timeline: March 2023-26 Cost: $606 million Funding source: TxDOT 5 I-35 Capital Express South project Project: This involves the reconstruction of bridges, relocation of ramps and the addition of two HOV- managed lanes in each direction between Hwy. 71/Ben White Boulevard and SH 45 SE. Update: Crews are working on building elevated HOV- managed lanes in the median south of Ben White. A long-term traffic shift is in effect south of Ben White near Stassney Lane. Timeline: November 2022-28 Cost: $548 million

183

Buda

45

281

San Marcos

130

6

80

46

New Braunfels

123

377

7

10

46

35

10

8

1604

Seguin

San Antonio

410

10

123

MAP NOT TO SCALE N

Funding source: TxDOT

retaining wall design and the contractor. Timeline: June 2022-March 2024 Cost: $6 million Funding source: Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization 8 I-35 Northeast Expansion Central Project Project: The project will add 9.5 miles of elevated lanes with three lanes in each direction. Crews closed the left lane of the southbound frontage road from Arcadia Drive to the bridge of Olympia Parkway to build elevated structures. Update: During the construction, the right lane will remain open. Timeline: May 2022-TBD Cost: $1.5 billion Funding source: TxDOT

6 I-35 at Hwy. 123 Project: TxDOT is widening the I-35 bridge over Hwy. 123. Update: TxDOT is also working on reversing and relocating several ramps along the main lanes and frontage roads between Hwy. 80 and RR 12. Timeline: August 2021-early 2025 Cost: $107 million Funding source: TxDOT 7 FM 725 turnaround at I-35 Project: TxDOT is in the process of making operational improvements at the intersection of FM 725 and I-35. Update: The original completion date was in September, but it was pushed back to March due to changes in the

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GEORGETOWN EDITION

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