South Central Austin Edition | September 2023

Real estate

Transportation

BY KATY MCAFEE

TxDOT clears last hurdle for Central Austin I35 widening plan

August average home sales price

Residential market data

August home prices in multiple Central Austin ZIP codes increased with homes in 78752 seeing the biggest jump at 38.27% year over year, according to data from the Austin Board of Realtors.

2022

2023

2022

2023

78701

78723

-34.8%

+8.43%

$610K

$935K

$562.5K

A roughly 8-mile stretch of I-35 that runs through downtown Austin is on track to be widened and reconstructed after the Texas Depart- ment of Transportation issued its environmental impact statement and record of decision Aug. 21. What’s happening? The documents paved the way for TxDOT to begin construction on the highway in mid-2024. The project will be split into six phases over the next decade, the rst of which will go to bid around March, TxDOT Austin District Engineer Tucker Ferguson said. Crews will begin reconstruction of the Lady Bird Lake and the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard bridges. A closer look The documents also revealed several changes TxDOT made after collaborating with Mayor Kirk Watson earlier this summer.

TxDOT will create a construction warning app for drivers to use during the duration of the project and a permanent construction noise barrier for the community garden near Festival Beach. TxDOT ocials are proposing to construct stormwater treatment ponds at the US 183 interchange at Cesar Chavez Street to treat stormwater before discharg- ing to the Colorado River. TxDOT has also committed an additional $100 million to “aesthetic treatments” along the project with an emphasis on east-to-west crossings. What’s next While TxDOT’s widening plan moves forward, a separate but related plan led by the city to add caps, or large land bridges, and stitches, or bridges, above the sunken roadway remains unfunded. The city will need to secure funding for the project, which could cost upward of $800 million, by December 2024 for the cap and stitch project to be realized, according to TxDOT.

78702

78731

-7.8%

-4.86%

$680K

$939.5K

$737.5K

$987.5K

360

MOPAC

78703

78751

+3.96%

+3.85%

$946K

$675K

$910K

$650K

183

290

78704

78752

-1%

+38.27%

$955.3K

$560.0K

$965K

$405.0K

78701

78702 78722

78703

78704

78705

78723

78731

78751

78752

78756 78757

78705

78756

+5.51%

-11.76%

$335K

$750K

$317.5K

$850K

MARKET DATA PROVIDED BY AUSTIN BOARD OF REALTORS 5124547636 WWW.ABOR.COM

The I35 widening project will add ve lanes over Airport Boulevard.

78722

78757

+17.46%

-7.28%

$750K

$700K

$638.5K

$755K

RENDERING COURTESY TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

BRODIE LANE 4970 Hwy 290 W (512) 366-8260 SOUTHPARK MEADOWS 9900 IH-35 Service Road S (512) 280-7400