Central I-35 Designs Updated to Include Boardwalk and Additional Cap and Stitch

Two renderings for a potential additional cap and stitch between 32nd St. and Airport Blvd. courtesy of TxDOT

Earlier this spring, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) revealed the designs for the $4.5 billion I-35 Capital Express Central project, which will renovate and widen sections that run through Central Austin. TxDOT has agreed to make some changes to the plans as expressed to community advocates in a July letter from the City of Austin. These changes include:

• The potential for an additional $200 million cap and stitch near the Cherrywood neighborhood in north Austin
• A $25 million boardwalk on the northside of Lady Bird Lake between South First Street and South Congress Avenue
• Nearly $500 million in stormwater drainage systems from Airport Boulevard to Lady Bird Lake
• Additional updates for a connection at the Tech Ridge bus terminal, sound walls near the City of Austin community garden, and spaces for bats under the new Lady Bird Lake bridge

While TxDOT wouldn’t pay for the additional cap and stitch, they would engineer the cap to have a stitch attached in the future once funding is determined. Construction on the I-35 Capital Express Central project is expected to begin early 2024 and take eight years to complete.

TxDOT is not expected to take more land to accommodate these design changes.

Resources:

• KUT Article – “Austin’s I-35 plans revised to include new cap and a $25 million boardwalk”