AUSTIN, Texas — Plans to expand Interstate 35 through Central Austin are moving ahead as planned, after a proposal to slow the project failed.
On Monday, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) voted against an amendment from the city of Austin. That group is made up of elected officials from Bastrop, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties.
On Monday, Austin City Council members proposed halting CAMPO's funding for the I-35 expansion until they get the results of environmental impact studies going on now.
"Again and again, we have heard that air quality is a major concern," Austin Councilmember Alison Alter said. "We believe that we need to make fully informed decisions."
But others voted against the delay, saying they need to expand the highway sooner rather than later.
"For a huge swath of our region, this is the best bet to get people out of their cars and give them real commuting actions," Cedar Park Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin said.
Miriam Schoenfield, a board member with Rethink 35, a nonprofit organization that has been vocal about stopping the project, agrees with Austin’s council members, saying that even though TxDOT has done some studies, it needs to do more.
“All of the problems we see, the safety problems, the environmental problems, are just going to get worse as a result of this,” Schoefield said.
One of Rethink 35’s major concerns with the project is how it will affect air quality. Schoenfield said the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already said this region is above the levels considered safe for a pollutant called PM2.5.
“This expansion doubles the size of the highway, and so it would add way more of this pollutant into our atmosphere,” Schoenfield said.
Schoenfield also said TxDOT data already shows that communities near the highway suffer from higher rates of asthma and cardiovascular and lung conditions. Her hope is that TxDOT can address highway congestion, while also keeping Austinites safe.
“Everyone agrees that something needs to be done,” Schoenfield said. “It can’t keep going forward as is, but TxDOT’s plan is about doubling that mess.”
The nearly $5 billion expansion project is expected to take about eight years. TxDOT engineers say there's still time to incorporate feedback from those environmental studies.
Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.