I-35 expansion project: TxDOT expects to break ground this week
AUSTIN, Texas - TxDOT is expected to break ground this week on a massive I-35 expansion. The years-long construction will impact drivers through much of north, downtown and south Austin.
Protesters are still trying to stop the project from moving forward.
"Wednesday is really about TxDOT having a party at the top of a parking garage while they have been destroying homes and businesses in the area. So, you know they are celebrating this disastrous project. We are suing them in court," says Rethink35 board member Miriam Schoenfield.
Rethink 35 says it has taken two different legal actions against the Texas Department of Transportation for the I-35 Capital Express Central Project.
"One is we have filed a civil rights complaint with the US Department of Transportation and that is being reviewed right now. We have also filed a lawsuit based on NEPA, which is the federal law that requires rigorous environmental studies to be done for any project of this size," says Schoenfield.
The $4.5 billion revamp is nearly eight miles. It stretches along Interstate 35 from 290 East to Highway 71 near Ben White Boulevard.
TxDOT plans to remove the existing I-35 decks, lower the roadway, and add two non-tolled lanes in each direction.
"In many cases where you widen a freeway through a city you end up with worst traffic levels than you did before. That is exactly what happened in Houston, when they widened the Katy freeway to 26 lanes, peak commute times increased by about 40 percent," says Schoenfield.
TxDOT says the project will also reconstruct east-west cross-street bridges, add pedestrian and bicycle paths, and make additional safety and mobility improvements.
Last year, TxDOT spokesperson Brad Wheelis explained the driving force behind the project.
"Right now, I-35 just isn't meeting the demand. People are in congestion day after day, so we need to do something to improve mobility and safety along the corridor," said Wheelis.
"It is not just that it is ineffective. It is also extremely damaging, so in this project, in particular, they have been destroying homes and businesses for the project. It is horrible for our air quality, it interferes with transit and other ways in which we are trying to encourage other modes of transportation," says Schoenfield.
According to TxDOT, it is a Texas Clear Lanes project addressing the gridlock for Texas drivers statewide.
In 2023, TxDOT also released a statement backing the research put into the revamp, stating in part, "all I-35 capital express projects are the result of thorough environmental studies and extensive public input.
TxDOT looks forward to bringing safety and mobility improvements to the corridor through these critical projects."
"It is a project that has lots of things going against it and nothing going for it," says Schoenfield.
Construction starts this week, and the project is expected to be completed around 2028.