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Check out the latest updates on upcoming, ongoing and completed transportation projects across the Austin metro.
Upcoming projects
Project: The city of Cedar Park's transportation master plan includes plans for a citywide network of shared-use paths.
Update: Per city officials, after conducting a feasibility study, city staff recommended shifting a planned shared-use path from West Park Street to Buttercup Creek Boulevard.
Austin’s I-35 cap-and-stitch vision faces uncertain funding future
The outlook for Austin's ambitious plans to cover stretches of the redesigned I-35 with public amenity decks remains unclear due to the high costs of constructing the project, which city staff advised not to fund as of this spring.
Since outlines for larger caps and smaller stitches were first developed years ago, cost projections climbed while the amount of proposed deck coverage was scaled back. The city also lost a more than $100 million federal grant that was expected to support its largest proposed cap downtown.
Austin officials now hope to see nearly 14 acres of decks added in the future, including:
City Council committed last year to pay the Texas Department of Transportation $104 million to add structural supports along I-35, which are needed for any future decks to be built. But no funding has yet been set aside for the development of caps and stitches or public amenities. That main portion now exceeds $600 million, and the structures are also expected to cost about $9 million annually to maintain once they're in place.
Ongoing projects
Project: Blakey Lane in Bastrop will be extended from Edward Burleson Lane to a proposed street called Reed Way, south from Reed Way to an intersection at Old Austin Highway, with roundabout options.
Update: Per city officials, the planning stage is 56% complete.
Project: The city of Round Rock is reconstructing Greenlawn Boulevard from an existing four-lane divided roadway to a six-lane divided urban roadway with pedestrian and lighting improvements.
Update: Construction began in January, per city officials.
Contractor notified to repair defective work on Austin Avenue Bridge Rehabilitation
Georgetown City Council authorized officials to send a notice of default to contractor Cekra Inc. for defective work on the Austin Avenue Bridge Rehabilitation project and demand repairs, according to a city update March 26.
Georgetown officials discovered water pooling on the Austin Avenue vehicular bridge as a result of poor contractor work, the update states.
The project engineer outlined the corrective actions needed for the contractor to review, but the contractor did not offer a solution in a “timely manner,” according to the city.
Completed projects
Flint Rock Road/Wild Cherry Drive light
Project: The city project involves the installation of a new light at the intersection of Wild Cherry Drive and Flint Rock Road in Lakeway.
Update: The project was completed in March, according to city officials.
