City of Austin works to finalize designs for northern stitches in $104M I-35 rebuild
Austin finalizing northern stitches for I-35 project
The City of Austin's cap and stitch project is intended to address challenges that have come with the area's growth, including traffic congestion, public safety and quality of life.
AUSTIN - The City of Austin held an open house for their cap and stitch project on Saturday.
The City of Austin's cap and stitch project is intended to address challenges that have come with the area's growth, including traffic congestion, public safety and quality of life.
I-35 Cap and Stitch project
The backstory:
The project is taking place alongside the Texas Department of Transportation's I-35 Capital Express Project to modernize and improve the highway.
TxDOT's project will lower lanes between Lady Bird Lake and Airport Boulevard, allowing the city the opportunity to build land bridges, also referred to as caps and stitches, across the highway corridor.
These spaces are intended to improve connectivity, allow for more open spaces in the city's urban environment and foster economic redevelopment, opening the door for businesses to move in adjacent to or along these spaces.
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"There are examples all across the United States where if the city invests some local dollars into enhancing or beautifying a highway corridor, the economic opportunity for the adjacent redevelopment sites can thrive," said Brianna Frey, Program Director for the City of Austin's Transportation and Public Works department.
Austin City Council approved $104 million in funding for the cap and stitch project in May. $24 million of that has been allocated for the Northern Stitches, which will connect areas across the highway between 41st Street and the Red Line Commuter Rail.
Austin Cap and Stitch project update
What's new:
City staff are working to finalize locations and design plans for the Northern Stitches by December. The team is currently considering four potential paths.
The first two options concern where a stitch allowing for a crossing would be placed, with an option to have an enhanced 400-foot path along the Red Line Commuter Rail that would be landscaped and car-free or to have a floating cap somewhere in the middle of the corridor between 41st Street and the Red Line, with connection via a potential pedestrian bridge or east side crossing.
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The second two options concern what type of stitch would go at 41st Street, with the option for one larger stitch north of 41st or two smaller stitches split midway on both the southern and northern sides.
Work on the project has been underway for the past eight months, and city staff offered the opportunity for members of the public to provide feedback on the designs at an open house on Saturday, before the team presents it to city council next month.
"We have to make a quick turnaround on a decision next month on which one of these alternatives is going to go forward," said Frey.
What's next:
City staff emphasize that all the proposals currently under consideration stay within the $24 million budget allocated for this project and will not require the city of Austin to take on any additional debt.
The Source: Information in this update came from FOX 7 coverage at a City of Austin open house event.