TxDOT Wants Your Opinion on I-35 Improvements

By THC Staff | September 22, 2016

 

Between US 183 and Riverside Drive in Austin runs the notorious traffic-filled Interstate 35. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) wants to do something about this seven-mile section to make it less painful for commuters.

TxDOT has come up with three solutions and is hoping to get feedback from community members via a “virtual open house” available here.

One option is called the Central 7-mile Comprehensive Plan. It calls for an addition of an express lane going north and south and requiring a toll. A second option calls for an “express lane which would have direct transit access to the express lanes with two design options in downtown Austin,” and the third alternative is to do nothing at all.

The Central 7-mile Comprehensive Plan includes several other improvements on I-35 including work on the upper and lower deck near MLK. The plan also involves work on Cesar Chavez. Read more about the project here.

According to KXAN, “TxDOT says construction on the Central 7 project would start in 2020. The project should be finished by 2025, but it all depends on funding for the projects which has yet to be identified.”

Austinites who frequently travel on I-35 have the perfect opportunity to weigh in on what they believe would best benefit the city.