The state’s contentious plan to make the biggest road in Central Texas even bigger has cleared a major bureaucratic hurdle, paving the way for the historic expansion of Interstate 35 from Ben White Boulevard to U.S. Highway 290 East. The Texas Department of Transportation issued a final environmental impact statement and record of decision on […]
TxDOT
The transportation agency for the State of Texas.
Posted inRoads
Extreme heat bakes Austin’s streets, making them warp and crack
Austin roads are taking a beating this summer. An extended heat wave that could be the most severe on record is warping highways and cracking streets. But the pavement is shriveling so slowly, it can be hard to notice. One of the most catastrophic – and fortunately, most rare – road failures blamed on heat […]
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Austin’s I-35 plans revised to include new cap and a $25 million boardwalk
Lee esta historia en español The Interstate 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 since it opened in 1962. Adjustments to the once-in-a-generation project include the possibility of covering larger sections of […]
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TxDOT could put a four-lane road where Austin is building a trail
The Texas Department of Transportation is studying whether to build a four-lane highway along the same stretch of land where Austin is planning to break ground next year on a 12-foot-wide concrete trail. Both projects fall within part of an old railroad route that shut down almost half a century ago. The 28-mile MoKan Corridor […]
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TxDOT to seize part of Waller Beach Park for I-35 construction
Interstate 35 in Central Austin is on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation change as the Texas Department of Transportation gears up for an almost $5 billion transformation of the highway that slices through the city’s core. Before the state’s contractors start eight years of construction, residents got a chance to weigh in on the sweeping […]
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Travis County pushes TxDOT to modify I-35 plan to reduce land seizures, add crossings
Travis County commissioners are doing the same thing City Council did last week: asking Texas to tweak its gargantuan Interstate 35 expansion plan. The five-member panel of elected officials – led on this issue by Precinct 2 Commissioner Brigid Shea – echoed calls from Council members to allow for more east-west connections across the highway, […]
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City Council demands changes to I-35 plan
Austin City Council wants Interstate 35 to have more crossings and fewer semitrucks, among other changes, as the Texas Department of Transportation gears up for a sweeping expansion of the highway through Travis County. But the list of City Council demands approved on a 10-1 vote Thursday – with only Mayor Kirk Watson opposed – […]
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Vela urges TxDOT to cap parts of I-35 through Austin
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” Council Member Chito Vela told his colleagues at Tuesday’s City Council work session, referring to cap-and-stitch opportunities for an expanded Interstate 35 through Austin. Vela had prepared a slideshow for an earlier meeting that was canceled, but he put it to good use on Tuesday, impressing Mayor Kirk Watson, who […]
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City looks for silver lining in TxDOT’s I-35 expansion
With the Texas Department of Transportation circling in on finalized plans for Interstate 35, city staffers are racing to seize opportunity of a number of cap-and-stitch projects that could come to be a silver lining in the largely unpopular interstate expansion. In a biannual update Jan. 19, Corridor Program Office Director Mike Trimble caught City […]
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City working to maximize cap-and-stitch opportunities in final I-35 plan
As the Texas Department of Transportation proceeds with its Interstate 35 Capital Express project, the city’s cap-and-stitch program is working to maximize the amount of open space and other community amenities included in the final plan. At its Jan. 10 meeting, the Urban Transportation Commission heard an update on the city’s cap-and-stitch planning process. Acknowledging […]
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TxDOT’s I-35 plans for Austin are out. You had questions, and we have answers.
The Texas Department of Transportation is getting ready to expand the busiest section of the busiest highway in Central Texas. Interstate 35 from Ben White Boulevard to U.S. Highway 290 East in Austin will get two high-occupancy vehicle lanes in each direction along with a raft of other changes under the state’s preferred plan, now open for […]
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TxDOT narrows options for widening I-35 through Austin
Lee esta historia en español. The Texas Department of Transportation has released the most detailed description yet of plans to widen Interstate 35 through the core of Austin, explaining how the agency believes its multibillion-dollar highway expansion could affect everything from parks to pollution. As part of a 7,000-plus page draft environmental impact statement – required under federal […]