Austin, TX
Texas set to widen heavily traveled Interstate through downtown Austin
Interstate 35, which cuts through the heart of downtown Austin, Texas, is set to undergo a major expansion that state transportation officials say is necessary to bring relief to one of the state’s most clogged highways that will only get more congested as the population continues to grow.
Austin has seen its population double every 20 to 25 years, and last year it
To keep pace with the traffic that’s come along with new residents, the Texas Department of Transportation has launched a $5 billion, four-lane expansion of I-35 through the downtown area, the largest expansion since the highway opened in 1962. It’s the third part of the three-pronged I-35
Texas Department of Transportation
Opponents, who filed a lawsuit seeking to block the central Capital Express project in January, warn the expansion will worsen I-35’s historic role as the city’s racial dividing line. The city of Austin has crafted a plan to try to diminish the barrier with a series of bridges and caps covering the highway, but it remains uncertain whether the city can meet the roughly $900 million price tag.
The federal lawsuit also warns of environmental harms from construction and a widened highway, saying the state and U.S. Department of Transportation failed to follow National Environmental Policy Act, and point to an existing state highway that swings around the city as a better alternative.
The Austin project is part of the state’s larger
“With that economic growth comes a demand for more transportation infrastructure,” Williams said. “The work will never conclude on Interstate 35 between Austin and San Antonio, I can say that pretty definitively.”
TxDOT currently has nearly $40 billion worth of construction projects on tap, compared to California’s $14 billion, according to Williams. The department’s
Williams said the Lone Star state recently topped 30 million and sees 1,300 new residents arrive daily, with the San Antonio to Austin region projected to grow from 5.2 million to 8.3 million people by 2050. TxDOT’s duty is to “really to keep pace,” Williams said.
Center for American Progress
The I-35 central expansion will add four high occupancy vehicle lanes through downtown, which the state says is needed to ease congestion and increase safety.
But research shows that highways typically reach capacity again within three to five years after an expansion, said Kevin DeGood, director of infrastructure policy at the progressive think tank Center for American Progress.
“Travel demand is not a fixed quantity,” DeGood said. “The worse the congestion is, the faster that road is going to fill up.”
Houston’s Katy I-10 Freeway is a good example, he said. The road has been widened “multiple times” — at its widest, it’s 26 lanes across — while overall delay and performance has gotten worse,” he said. “The idea that a highway expansion is going to provide long-term congestion relief is just false.”
The only tool that’s shown to actually reduce traffic jams, DeGood added, are variably priced toll lanes. Texas lawmakers have essentially banned any new toll roads or lanes.
TxDOT has already broken ground on the smaller two projects that make up the Capital Express program. The north project, which will add one managed lane in each direction, carries a $600 million price tag. The south project, which features two managed lanes in each direction, is estimated to cost $550 million.
The central portion will include eight miles across downtown Austin at a cost of $4.9 billion. The Texas Transportation Commission, a five-member board that oversees TxDOT and is
Improvements include removing existing upper decks of the highway, lowering the roadway, reconstructing bridges and adding two high-occupancy vehicle lanes in each direction.
“We have this massive highway cutting through the heart of the city and through the most valuable land in the state,” said Miriam Schoenfield, a board member with ReThink 35, one of several plaintiffs that filed the
In a statement responding to the lawsuit, Williams said the state “carefully followed and even exceeded the environmental and legal requirements to advance this project.”
The Austin area is set to see $10 billion of economic activity in the next 30 years, and improvements to I-35 are “critical,” he said. “The traffic demand is here and will continue to grow as more people move to the Austin area to take advantage of the booming job market and quality of life that Central Texas offers.”
Bloomberg News
Neither the state, U.S. DOT or Federal Highways Administration have filed responses yet to the lawsuit.
The Austin City Council has also registered its opposition to the project with a pair of resolutions, most
Assuming that the project is going forward, the city has crafted a “cap and stitch” plan called
The state has included some of the features on its renderings, but has told the city it needs to come up with the money. Funding options include bonds — which would require a bond election — as well as tax increment financing, federals grants and a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan.
“City staff are discussing funding options holistically and continue to touch base with City Council members to discuss various funding scenarios,” a spokesperson for the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department said in an email.
Almost one year ago today, the Texas Longhorns found themselves in the losers’ bracket of their own regional, falling to the No. 3 seed UTSA Roadrunners in the 2025 Austin Regional.
For just a brief moment, it looked as if history was going to repeat itself once again, as the No. 3-seeded Tarleton State Texans got another chance at an upset, beating the Longhorns back in the regular season, 6-1, at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.
But today, history was not going to repeat itself — the team that the Texans saw in the regular season was a different animal than the iteration in the winners’ bracket. Under another furious day at the plate for Texas, and an outstanding night on the mound for Dylan Volantis, Texas was not going to fall into the losers’ bracket for a second consecutive year.
“Obviously that guy on the mound, he’s one of the best pitchers, if not the best pitcher in college baseball for a reason,” said Tarleton State head coach Fuller Smith about Volantis. “We didn’t do a very good job, and I don’t know if we would beat anybody tonight, to be honest.”
Longhorns Look Unstoppable
If the past two days proved anything, Texas is playing its best baseball at the most crucial time of the season — in all three fronts of the game.
After a poor showing in the Southeastern Conference tournament by the Longhorns’ top three hitters. Aiden Robbins, Carson Tinney, and Anthony Pack Jr. have carried the brunt of the Texas offense in the postseason.
In the second inning alone, the trio rocketed three straight home runs to put the Texans down an early 6-0 hole, a deficit they would not come out of.
“I remember when I stepped on home plate [Anthony] Pack Jr. greeted me at home,” Tinney said. I looked at him, I was like, ‘It’s your turn now.’ And then two pitches later, he sent one out.”
Defensively, the Longhorns’ outfield, which struggled trying to find the right combination, has finally found the right grouping in Robbins, Pack Jr., and Dariyan Pendergrass.
Robbins and Pendergrass both were able to come up with deep fly ball grabs in the past two games. In the infield, missing core member Ethan Mendoza at second base, nonetheless, has yet to skip a beat.
“Pendergrass is a pretty veteran player, he’s been around the block a few times in college baseball,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Aiden has been a great teammate — Pack [Jr.] has improved greatly over the course of time.”
However, the real star of the regional so far has been the dominance on the mound from starters Luke Harrison and Volantis.
In the regional defining game, Volantis had no issue tossing up the Tarleton State order, who found great success against UC-Santa Barbara in the opening game. The sophomore pitcher lasted 6.2 innings, tossing seven strikeouts and allowing just three hits on the night.
With the giant lead by the time Volantis was pulled in the sixth inning, the Longhorns still have not used any of their premier relief arms in this regional.
“Those two innings were definitely helpful [in the SEC Tournament],” Volnatis said. “I definitely could have done the same without those two innings today.”
Texas now awaits a third rematch with Tarleton State or UC Santa Barbara and will not have to face either of their premier arms — notably Guachos pitcher Jackson Flora, a surefire first-round selection in this year’s MLB Draft.
The Longhorns will roll with Ruger Riojas tomorrow night and likely unload its best arms who have not seen action since the final regular season series against Missouri to seal up their first regional victory in three seasons.
“It’s always good to stay in the winner’s bracket and avoid those moments, but we haven’t won anything yet. We won two games,” Schlossnagle said. “I’m certainly excited about how we played to this point and yes, I’m glad we don’t have to play two tomorrow, but the tournament’s not over.”
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AUSTIN, Texas — One person is dead but has not been identified after the Austin Police Department responded to the scene of a deceased person call in South Austin Saturday afternoon.
According to officials, a deceased person was located in a parking lot just at around 12:25 p.m. at the 4400 Block of Pack Saddle Pass after officers responded to a check welfare urgent call.
The victim was pronounced deceased at 12:36 p.m. The incident is being investigated as a suspicious death, it is not being investigated as a homicide.
ALSO: I-35 frontage road at Williams Drive reopens after rollover crash with serious injuries
The identity of the victim is still unknown, and the age and sex of the victim has not been released.
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Anyone with information that could help the investigation is encouraged to call the APD homicide unit at 512-477-3588 or APD Crimestoppers at 512-472-8477.
A possible state takeover continues to loom over the Austin Independent School District after the Texas Education Agency denied the district’s request for an accountability pause for three middle schools.
The denial also affects money that would have gone toward Burnet, Dobie and Webb middle schools, which have each received “F” ratings four times since 2019. A fifth “F” rating would open the district up to a state takeover.
Austin ISD schools expect to see their accountability scores, or grades, later this summer. If Burnet, Dobie, and Webb middle schools receive a fifth “F” each — all in the last seven years — the district could face a state takeover.
Houston ISD was taken over by the state in the 2023-2024 school year, and it has been reported as a rocky ride for teachers and families.
Toni Templeton, a senior research scientist at the University of Houston Education Research Center, said, “Generally, what we’re seeing is a large exodus of both teachers and students from the district.” Templeton and two colleagues released the first part of an ongoing study into the Houston takeover in January. Templeton said, “What that signals to us is that parents are choosing to put students in a different schooling option,” including a neighboring district or charter schools.
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Austin ISD has not been taken over, and the district’s future hinges on the next set of ratings. Asked whether Austin ISD is in a vulnerable place and how likely a takeover is, a district spokesperson provided a statement released by Superintendent Matias Segura on Thursday, saying in part, “Over the last two years, student outcomes have continued to improve across Austin ISD.”
Ken Zarifis, president of Education Austin, also pointed to improvement while raising concerns about the state’s authority. “I think the state will take over a school district if it wants to, and I think that’s a problem, but what we’ve got here is we’ve got some information that I think that is hopeful that we’ve got to produce as far as test scores,” Zarifis said.
He added, “Yeah, I think it’s really important to see what they’re doing now? Not, what are they doing in 2022? What are they doing today? What have they been doing the last few years? And there’s been an improvement, and they’re very hopeful for at least two of the schools.”
A Texas Education Agency spokesperson said that because accountability ratings come out in August, it is too soon to speculate.
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