South Central Austin Edition | February 2023

STRETCH The 8-mile

TxDOT’s preferred plan for widening I-35 includes sinking the main lanes approximately 25 feet underground, adding two high-occupancy vehicle, or HOV, lanes in each direction and shifting the frontage lanes. Business being displaced Construction zone Key

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The preferred plan reduced the number of businesses that will be displaced by almost a third, and avoided demolishing a 70-unit aordable housing complex. TxDOT will also potentially spare historic restaurant Whip In, as the owner of the building met with TxDOT in January to create a plan to stay in place. However, community members have raised concerns over the eectiveness of the plan and the 106 businesses that were not saved. Jimmy Baltierra, the owner of Jimmy’s Barber Shop at 2000 S. I-35 in South Central Austin, said he was shocked when he heard about the plans to demolish his business. “I put all my money into this. It’s been two years, and we’ve built a lot of clientele since we’ve been here,” Baltierra said. Despite the criticism the plan has received, many ocials, including Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, have expressed support for a plan to revamp the stretch of I-35, which is the most-congested roadway in Central Texas and has not been updated since the mid-1970s. An average of 200,000 cars drive that portion of I-35 each day. “The Austin region is expected to double in population by 2045,” TxDOT Senior Communications O cer Bradley Wheelis said. “If something isn’t done to mitigate congestion, the problem will get worse.” Explaining the plan TxDOT’s plan would sink the main highway lanes between Airport Boulevard and Lady Bird Lake and Riverside Drive and Oltorf Street about 25 feet underground, remove the upper decks, and widen east-west cross-street bridges. The plan would also add two high-occupancy vehicle lanes—lanes for buses, emergency vehicles and vehicles with multiple passengers—in each direction on the inner sections of the highway. The project would shift all the frontage roads to the east side of I-35 between Dean Keeton and 15th Street and to the west side of I-35 from 15th Street to Cesar Chavez, creating “boulevard-style” segments. Construction for the project is expected to take about eight years and begin in mid-2024. TxDOT has already identied funds for the $4.5 billion endeavor without directly impacting taxpayers. The project would be funded through

COMPILED BY KATY MCAFEE DESIGNED BY DON GRABOWSKI

100+ businesses displaced

$4.5 billion cost

8 years to build

290

Main lanes

HOV lanes

Cap and stitch Frontage lanes

Key

Bypass lanes

Number of lanes X

MOPAC

CAPITAL METRORAIL LINE

DKR TEXAS MEMORIAL STADIUM

A Airport Boulevard over I35 Current total lanes: 13 | Projected total lanes: 18

Main lanes

HOV lanes

Frontage lanes

Key

HOV LANES A vehicle occupied by two or more people or a motorcyclist may use high-occupancy vehicle, or HOV, lanes. BYPASS LANES Bypass lanes allow trac to ow without going through intersections or main lanes. SHARED PATHS Paths for pedestrians, bikers, and other non-car travelers.

Bypass lanes

Number of lanes X

Shared path

MOODY CENTER

2 2

3 3

B Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard over I-35 Current total lanes: 18 | Projected total lanes: 22

ST. EDWARD'S UNIVERSITY

Main lanes

HOV lanes

Frontage lanes

Key

Cap and stitch foundation

Number of lanes X

CAP AND STITCH • A cap is a large deck that covers a sunken highway. A stitch is a widened bridge with lanes for cars, bikers and walkers. • Caps and stitches are separate from the overall widening plan and will not be funded by TxDOT.

CAPITAL METRORAIL LINE

3 3

4 3 4

2 4 2 2 4 2

C Downtown cap and stitch foundation over I-35 Current total lanes: 12 | Projected total lanes: 18

MAPS NOT TO SCALE

SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATIONCOMMUNITY IMPACT

COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM