What could I-35's proposed expansion look like?
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- With a decision expected this summer on the future of the Texas Department of Transportation's I-35 Capital Express Central project, the state transportation agency has released additional renderings on what the proposed expansion could look like.
TxDOT submitted the project's environmental impact statement document this spring for federal consideration and approval, with a decision expected by the end of August.
The $4.5 billion, eight-mile project stretches from U.S. Hwy. 290 East to SH 71 and Ben White Boulevard and will add additional through and non-tolled high-occupancy vehicle lanes, remove the existing I-35 upper decks, lower the roadway and add east-west cross-street bridges, pedestrian and bicycle paths.
If approved as proposed, TxDOT officials said the project is expected to begin construction in mid-2024.
Some of the conceptual renderings feature caps, or deck plazas above sunken portions of the highway that can host green space and other community amenities. The cost to add caps to the I-35 expansion proposal isn't incorporated in TxDOT's $4.5 billion project budget, with the City of Austin required to bear those costs.
To feature caps in the project's buildout, TxDOT confirmed to KXAN in February the City of Austin has until fall 2024 to identify $350 million in funding sources. Otherwise, the project will move ahead sans caps.
While the city is required to identify the main project funds by fall 2024, TxDOT officials said the city could raise funds for amenities that will go on top of the deck plazas after that deadline.
Mike Trimble, director of the city's Corridor Program Office, told KXAN in February the city is working with federal partners to identifying possible funding sources. That national collaboration is part of an Emerging Projects Agreement signed by the city in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Build America Bureau.
“What we’re trying to do is see how we can minimize the impact on taxpayers by looking at other funding options, seeing what other things might work,” Trimble said at the time.