I-35 Congestion: $4.3B Cash Infusion To Add Lanes, Frontage Roads

AUSTIN, TX — State officials are poised this week to provide details on a plan that would add new lanes along Interstate 35 via a $4.3 billion cash infusion — bringing the total investment to revamp the key artery to $7.5 billion, officials announced on Wednesday.

The windfall adds money previously announced by Transportation Commission Chairman J. Bruce Bugg Jr. as part of the Capital Express Project. "With the new funding TxDOT and its partners will be able to move forward, adding two continuous non-tolled managed lanes in each direction along I-35 from US 290 East to US 290 West & State Highway 71," officials wrote in a press advisory.

The funding will enable the Texas Department of Transportation and its partners to move forward, officials said, adding two continuous non-tolled managed lanes in each direction along the 7.9 mile section on I-35 from US 290 East to US 290 West/SH71. Moreover, officials said, additional auxiliary lanes in various places and frontage roads would also be built.

Full funding for the central segment of the I-35 Capital Express Project is contingent on three additional funding decisions, officials noted. They are:

• The first source is about $3.4 billion in discretionary funding the transportation commission is scheduled to discuss on Thursday, officials said.
• Agency officials said the second needed source of funding would be more than $600 million from Texas Department of Transportation funds previously allocated to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), which would need to be re-prioritized from planned projects that have not yet gone into the procurement process, officials said. Agency officials added the I-35 Capital Express Project is CAMPO's top priority for the region.
• The third component of the funding is about $300 million to be considered by the commission when it votes on the 2021 Unified Transportation Program in August 2020, according to state officials. Agency officials noted the new funding is the result of years of planning and discussions with Gov. Greg Abbott, regional transportation planners and stakeholders.

Related stories:

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• Texas Traffic Officials' Advice For I-35 Motorists: Stay Home

Abbott commented on the plans, saying the project would help mitigate traffic congestion amid the brisk growth being seen in Austin and surrounding communities.

“Chairman Bruce Bugg and the Texas Transportation Commission have made tremendous progress to fully fund and deliver the I-35 Capital Express Project as a non-tolled project,” Abbott said in a prepared statement. “This project will relieve traffic congestion for all those who travel on I-35 through Austin, while helping our capital city meet the needs of a growing population. I thank Chairman Bugg, Commissioners Laura Ryan, Alvin New, and Robert Vaughn, and all the key stakeholders for working collaboratively to secure this important funding, and look forward to working with them to address our transportation needs across the state.”

For his part, Bugg wrote of the broad implications upgrades would have — not just on Austin, but the state as a whole: “In recent years, I-35 through Austin has repeatedly been one of the worst choke points for drivers in Austin and Texas and the source for understandable frustration,” he said in a prepared statement. “The I-35 Capital Express Project is a statewide strategic priority project, not just for Austin, but the State of Texas. If Austin wants to continue to be a beacon for business and a wonderful quality of life, then work on I-35 Capital Express needs to happen as soon as possible. I am delighted and honored to work with my fellow Commissioners and key transportation leaders to secure this funding for the top priority project through Austin.”

Sen. Kirk Watson was gratified the plan buttresses the priority that I-35 upgrades are: “I-35 through downtown Austin is a state and regional strategic priority," Watson said. "It must be. This proposal to invest an additional $4.3 billion in funds to address I-35 is the kind of bold investment we need. I'm very proud to have worked for years on the plan for making I-35 more functional, more transit friendly and less of a scar through our community."

Watson thanked the key players involved in the project's launch: "This is an enormous step forward. I thank Gov. Abbott and Chairman Bugg for working closely with me, seeing this stretch of road as a priority and for being willing to make such a bold investment.”

Officials noted the funding pulled together for I-35 in Austin will not have any impact on projects in the area currently already in the procurement process, including U.S. 183 North and the Oak Hill Parkway project. To emphasize the point, officials noted there are regional projects that will continue totaling an additional $267 million; $107 million are funded by local funds, and $160 million are funded TxDOT funds.

The new construction should be well underway as additional traffic on I-35 through Austin is expected, officials said. Between 2016 and 2040, projections call for an additional 116,000 vehicles per day on I-35 — bringing the key Austin corridor more pressure and congestion than ever before. Given such projections, Bugg said: “Any further delay in funding improvements to I-35 is simply unacceptable.”

For the past three years, I-35 in Austin has ranked second or third of the state’s Top 100 Most Congested Road Segments (2019-#2, 2018-#3, 2017-#2). Addressing this congestion issue is a statewide strategic priority project, not only for Austin, but for the state of Texas and the nation.
“It’s finally time to address Austin’s worse congestion choke point once and for all,” Bugg said.

The I-35 Capital Express Project is among the key projects that is part of a statewide congestion relief effort called Texas Clear Lanes. More about this initiative can be found at TexasClearLanes.com

State transportation officials are scheduled to provide further details related to the plan on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 9 a.m. Patch will update when more information is known. The public comment period to approve funding for the central segment will open on March 13, with the earliest the commission could vote on this item set for April 30.

Austin civic leaders heap praise on I-35 plans

The Austin Chamber applauded the move in a statement released on Thursday:

"On behalf of Opportunity Austin and our investors, thank you for your action today in seeing that all of the IH 35 Capital Expressway project is funded and ready to proceed," the chamber wrote in a prepared statement. "The inclusion of all sections is a clear indication that this is a high priority project for the state and reaffirms strong statements of commitment to this project recently and publicly expressed by Chairman Bugg and members of the commission. Additionally, we are most thankful for Gov. Abbott’s active involvement with you in the effort to secure this funding solution for IH 35 Capital Expressway."

The revamp is needed in light of the powerful economic engine spurring the local economy, the chamber added: “The economic success of the Central Texas region has been well documented. We have retained our status as one of the fastest-growing regions in the country for the past several years. And we have worked hard to gain and sustain that distinction. Though Opportunity Austin we have helped to add almost 425,000 jobs to the region since 2004.

"But with that success comes challenges, and one of those is severe congestion on our roadways. And the roadway most affected is the IH 35 Corridor, also known as “NAFTA highway,” which is critical not only to continued regional mobility and economic health but also to that of Texas statewide and the country.

“The IH 35 Capital Expressway is the top priority of our region and stakeholders from along this corridor have come together to support this project. Additionally, our members and volunteers have worked diligently for years to see this project through."

De Peart, president and CEO of the Downtown Austin Alliance, also voiced support of the funding plans for construction of I-35 Express through Central Austin.

"Our mobility challenges are big, and we need big investments to make progress," Peart said in a prepared statement. "The Downtown Austin Alliance fully supports the Texas Transportation Commission’s approval to prioritize and fund the transformation of I-35 through central Austin via state and federal taxes."

Peart singled out some key players with gratitude for setting the funding process in motion: "We thank not only the commission members for their leadership and ability to find a solution to this problem, but also Sen. Kirk Watson for his persistence and commitment to this effort. It is critical to begin improving the highway while planning for future design and mobility options that will benefit all Austinites and better our city for generations to come.

The group's support was secured even while the plan excludes the use of of toll roads espoused by the Downtown Alliance, Peart noted: "The Downtown Alliance supports this plan because of the overwhelming need for improvement on I-35 through central Austin. Although this plan does not call for tolled or managed lanes, which the Downtown Alliance supports to ensure reliable transit service long-term, it does not preclude the use of these scenarios in the future."

Independent of the state's plans, the Downtown Austin Alliance previously revealed its own vision for the redesign of the land and streetscape surrounding the same stretch of highway running through central Austin. The group on Friday will present advisory panel analysis and preliminary recommendations related to that effort from the Urban Land Institute it tasked with the plans (see related story above).