Photo by Kelli WeldonSen. Kirk Watson speaks about the I-35 Capital Area Improvement Program at a media workshop June 3 at the Texas Department of Transportation office at 7901 N. I-35.
Southwest Austin residents can provide feedback on proposed efforts to help alleviate traffic on I-35 at an open house at Akins High School on June 4.
Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, told media June 3 it is important for members of the local community to participate in the process.
"Particularly in Southwest Austin, there are some great needs that need to be addressed down there," he said. "It has been an area that has grown, and it has been an area where there has not been a lack of controversy on what might go in the area, so it's very important for people to come out and let folks know a.) what it is they would like to see and b.) how they would like to see it done."
The Texas Department of Transportation is presenting several improvement concepts for I-35. Watson chaired the Central Texas Working Group including the city of Austin, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Capital Metro, and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, that first allocated funding and resources toward finding a solution. He said he hopes the regional effort will provide some relief.
"It's not an overnight process—in part because, in my opinion, the state has failed to put the money into projects that it needs to, but we're making progress in that regard," he said.
Terry McCoy, TxDOT Austin District's deputy district engineer, said transportation authorities will continue to develop the concepts so that they will be ready as funding becomes available.
Proposed I-35 improvements stretch as far south as SH 45 SE. One project involves building collector distributors, which are new lanes between frontage roads and main lanes, at Riverside Drive to add capacity for commuters coming from South Austin toward downtown. Other improvements include adding auxiliary lanes between ramps and rebuilding ramps on I-35 at Oltorf St. and adding auxiliary lanes at intersections with Stassney Lane and William Cannon Drive.
TxDOT is focusing efforts on I-35 in the Austin area because the segment from Hwy. 71 to US 183 ranked No. 1 on the state's most congested roadways list for 2013, according to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
Part of the plan is to add two lanes to I-35 in Travis County, one in each direction between SH 45 N and SH 45 SE. TxDOT aims to complete a Planning and Environmental Linkages, or PEL, study on those lanes by the end of 2014.
The open house takes place at Akins High School, 10701 S. First St., from 5–7:30 p.m. A virtual open house is available online from June 5–15 at www.mobility35.org. More details about TxDOT's I-35 plans are available at this website.
