San Jacinto Center employees concerned utility project will make traffic 'untenable'

AUSTIN, Texas - Downtown employees who work in the San Jacinto Center are worried a utility project is going to make getting out of their parking garage even worse than it already is.

The backstory:

The City of Austin will be installing underground cable for the Waller Beach Duct Bank Upgrade. They'll use most of Brazos Street south of Cesar Chavez to place materials. 

A notice sent to San Jacinto Center employees says the area will be down to one lane each direction. The project was scheduled to start this week and go on for a year, according to the notice, but the city says construction will begin by the end of the month.

Downtown Austin employees speak out

Local perspective:

Mary Mendoza works at the San Jacinto Center, which is at Cesar Chavez and Brazos. 

"The street is usually completely blocked at rush hour, resulting in sitting through four or five light cycles before we can even make a turn and try to get to either I-35 or Mopac or any other street," she said.

Now, with an upcoming utility project, she and other employees are worried about how they'll be able to get out of their parking garage. This is also a block from the construction at the Convention Center.

"We're all really concerned that a bad traffic situation is going to become absolutely untenable, especially in rush hour on work days," Mendoza said.

Mendoza says she wants more coordination and consideration from the city. 

"We'd really like the city to look at what they can do to mitigate our issues. Surely there are other places that they can find to stage some of their equipment to minimize the impacts and the reduction in the lanes that we have to get out of our garage. In addition, they could make changes to signal and traffic timing so that we can get out of our garage easier. They can also add police officers at rush hour on work days to help us exit safely onto Cesar Chavez," she said.

She also says employees weren't able to give their input before the project was planned.

"We think it would have been a lot easier on them had they asked us during their planning process, but we're certainly trying to let them understand that we think that the traffic impact should have been an integral part of their planning process for this project and for every project," she said.

City of Austin's response

In response, the city provided the following statement:

"Austin Capital Delivery Services will begin construction on the Waller Beach Duct Bank Upgrade by the end of this month (April 2026). This project will route circuits from the Rainey Street substation underneath parkland along Lady Bird Lake between Brazos Street and Trinity Street to the downtown network.  Much of this work will occur 40–50 feet below ground using micro-tunneling to minimize surface disruption.

This is a critical infrastructure investment designed to strengthen long-term electrical reliability for downtown Austin and surrounding areas as demand continues to grow.

We recognize that construction of this scale brings temporary impacts, particularly related to traffic and access. Work will begin in the Brazos Street cul-de-sac, where one of the primary construction zones will be located.  While access to parking garages and loading areas will be maintained, there will be changes to traffic patterns, including the temporary removal of street parking on Brazos Street south of Cesar Chavez.

We understand concerns raised by nearby employees regarding congestion and garage egress. Based on stakeholder feedback, the project team is actively reevaluating the traffic control plan. The project manager and design engineer will be onsite this week to assess adjustments, including maintaining existing lane configurations where feasible and coordinating with Transportation and Public Works to optimize signal timing.

At this time, traffic officers are not planned for daily operations. However, we will continue to evaluate mitigation strategies as construction progresses and remain responsive to observed conditions on the ground.

We also want to acknowledge concerns about stakeholder coordination. The project team conducted community outreach with local businesses and residents and will continue working with stakeholders to address access, safety, and traffic flow throughout construction.

We appreciate the community’s patience as we complete this important work and remain committed to minimizing disruption while delivering infrastructure that supports Austin’s long-term growth and reliability."