AUSTIN, Texas — The City of Austin will add more money to the already $4.5 billion plans to revamp Interstate 35 and parts of Downtown Austin.
On Thursday, the Austin City Council voted on several resolutions to increase funding for the "cap and stitch" project along the highway.
The Downtown Austin Alliance describes the caps as "a large deck plaza that runs north/south over portions of a sunken freeway that can be designed to support soil, trees, people and buildings." The caps are designed to improve connectivity between the highway and the city.
The stitches are described as a "widened bridge over a lowered highway that runs east to west with wide sidewalks, bike lanes, seating areas, and supportive green space that reduces noise and sound pollution and makes crossing safe and inviting.”
One of the resolutions on Thursday’s agenda was for an advance funding agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) of about $1.8 million for an engineering and design study of cap and stitch improvements. According to OurFuture35’s project timeline, that process is set to start in mid-2024.
The other resolution will create another funding agreement with TxDOT that says the City will contribute $15.4 million for 30% of the design and costs of the cap and stitch project. That $15 million would come from the 2023-24 Transportation and Public Works Capital Budget.
The construction of the cap and stitch project is set to start in 2026 and will take several years to complete.
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