Austin: IH 35 rebuild

[MaxConcrete]

Article about UT-Austin's desire for a deck over the freeway from 15th street to Dean Keeton, which is about 1 mile. I think UT-Austin has the financial strength to pay for it, so this may actually happen.
https://www.kut.org/transportation/2023-08-30/ut-austin-wants-to-cover-i-35-from-dean-keeton-to-15th-street

The FEIS schematic (page 14) shows only part of the section between MLK and 15th as being a potential deck.
https://my35capex.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/APPROVED-FEIS-ROD_Appendix-B-Design-Schematics_2023-08-14-1.pdf

University of Texas officials are hoping to cover I-35 from 15th Street to Dean Keeton once the main lanes of the highway are lowered and upper decks demolished as part of TxDOT's interstate expansion plan.

Covering the sunken highway would create more than 17 acres of new campus space at ground level. UT facilities like UFCU Disch-Falk Field and DKR Texas Memorial Stadium would be separated by a six-lane frontage road instead of the giant highway trench planned through Central Austin.

The so-called capping project "has a lot of support at the highest levels of the university," said Dan Allen, UT Austin's executive director overseeing real estate planning.

Allen wouldn't provide a cost estimate for UT's caps, saying the plan was in the early stages as university officials collaborate on the design with TxDOT engineers.

"We don't feel any stop signs, just a lot of question marks that we're still working through together," Allen said.

But TxDOT estimates the cost of building UT's three caps between 15th and MLK at almost $400 million. That doesn't include more than $10 million in annual maintenance costs.

[The Ghostbuster]

Another smaller location for a deck along Interstate 35 that could be considered is one between E. 11th St. and E. 12th St.

[Bobby5280]

How long can a park or other kind of cap over a freeway run before the covered freeway needs the same kinds of ventilation and drainage systems as a tunnel?

The $10 million annual maintenance cost estimate for this proposed cap is a little surprising. I'm not surprised by the $400 million cost estimate of the cap. Materials alone will cost a bunch. I imagine some creative design/engineering work will have to be done to make the cap work with I-35 on/off ramps for Dean Keaton St, MLK and the 15th/12th Street zone.

[J N Winkler]

How long can a park or other kind of cap over a freeway run before the covered freeway needs the same kinds of ventilation and drainage systems as a tunnel?

I suspect the need for the former is determined through air quality modelling as part of the design process and varies somewhat due to site-specific factors.  However, as a reality check, the Hance Deck Park tunnel in Phoenix is just half a mile long and does have fans for ventilation.

[TXtoNJ]

How long can a park or other kind of cap over a freeway run before the covered freeway needs the same kinds of ventilation and drainage systems as a tunnel?

The $10 million annual maintenance cost estimate for this proposed cap is a little surprising. I'm not surprised by the $400 million cost estimate of the cap. Materials alone will cost a bunch. I imagine some creative design/engineering work will have to be done to make the cap work with I-35 on/off ramps for Dean Keaton St, MLK and the 15th/12th Street zone.

You can also include vent towers as design elements in the park itself.

[rte66man]

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/new-details-revealed-on-austins-plan-to-cover-i-35-through-downtown

New details revealed on Austin's plan to cover I-35 through downtown

By John Krinjak
Published September 19, 2023 10:30PMDowntownFOX 7 Austin

AUSTIN, Texas - Nearly a month after the eight-mile-long Capital Express Central project got federal approval, Austin City Council members were briefed Tuesday on TxDOT's $4.5 billion revamp of I-36 through Austin, as well as the city-funded plan to make the most of it.

"I think we're all very interested in if this highway is moving forward, that we're doing so in a way that helps protect our community," said Austin Mayor Pro-tem Paige Ellis

The "cap-and-stitch" approach would cover lowered sections of the freeway.

"I think it's really important for us to look at opportunities where we can utilize these spaces for low rise construction," said District 5 Council Member Ryan Alter.

What are caps and stitches? A cap is a large deck over a stretch of highway that could be covered by parks or even buildings, while a stitch is essentially a widened bridge with extra landscaping, bike and pedestrian space.

"In terms of the caps, I think they kind of speak for themselves in terms of usefulness," said District 4 Council Member Jose "Chito" Vela. "I just don't see somebody kind of reading a book on the stitch, you know, above I-35 and watching the traffic."

Under the plan, 14 caps and stitches would be paid for by the city, and one covered by the University of Texas. One cap is slated for construction next year, the rest in 2026. The city is hoping a $105 million federal grant will help defray the cost of one of the larger decks between Cesar Chavez and 4th Streets.

"This section also includes the only portion of the caps that create a whole land bridge, so you don't have to step on the asphalt to get from downtown to the East Side," said Austin Interim Director for Transportation & Public Works Richard Mendoza.

"The financing is obviously still a pretty big question," said Ellis.

In total, the caps and stitches are estimated to cost between $600 million and $800 million. In order to build them in coordination with TxDOT, the city would have to pay the state by December of next year.

"I'm really worried that we could be in a really tight position where TXDOT ready to move forward. And, you know, we're not quite ready there," said Ellis.

"I think it'll be much better to get it all done in one shot, both from a cost perspective and from inconvenience to the public perspective," said Vela.

As for that federal grant, the city will vote Thursday, Sept. 21 on whether to apply for it. The larger I-35 overhaul is slated to be done in 2032.

[The Ghostbuster]

The story calls the roadway Interstate 36 in the first paragraph, then correctly calls it Interstate 35 in two subsequent paragraphs. A minor error.

[bwana39]

Anti-highway piece.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/residents-outraged-over-approval-controversial-110000710.html

[The Ghostbuster]

Damn NIMBYS. If they were in charge, nothing would ever be constructed. On the other hand, if I was directly impacted by this project, I might feel differently. I believe the project should go forward, but every precaution should be taken to keep right-of-way impacts to a minimum, as well as to try to lessen the barrier the reconstructed roadway poses on the surrounding communities.

[thisdj78]

Displaced I-35 businesses given 90-day notice to pack up and move

https://www.kxan.com/news/displaced-i-35-businesses-given-90-day-notice-to-pack-up-and-move/

[Rothman]

Displaced I-35 businesses given 90-day notice to pack up and move

https://www.kxan.com/news/displaced-i-35-businesses-given-90-day-notice-to-pack-up-and-move/

Something seems amiss with the article since there's no mention of how the associated monetary compensation for eminent domain takings and relocations works in Texas.

[Bobby5280]

It sounds like the property owners are being compensated for the building removals. As for the tenants renting the space? It sounds like they're on their own.

[bwana39]

It sounds like the property owners are being compensated for the building removals. As for the tenants renting the space? It sounds like they're on their own.

These properties may have been bought or optioned by TxDOT before the current tenants even moved in. You have to pay residential tenants to move or move them out on a lease expiration. In most cases, commercial lessees get nothing not directly stipulated in the written lease.

The way renters are dealt with by the lessors is the whole problem in highway construction. upgrades.  The absentee (or commercial) owners take their money and run. There is no equivalent housing available and it is just "TOUGH"

[bwana39]

More urbanist crap

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/residents-outraged-over-approval-of-controversial-massive-highway-expansion-in-major-city-everyone-needs-to-get-involved/ar-AA1hUUvn?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=b9ae076dae2c4a3b9c162a3e7a8fb515&ei=12

[Bobby5280]

Oh yeah, it's more "freeway expansions don't work" crap. They leave out the very important factor of enormous population growth. That's one reason why traffic jams can still occur in locations such as the gigantic Katy Freeway in Houston. There are more vehicles on the damned road! The Houston metro's population numbers are still surging.

These "experts" also leave out the other little tid bit of what would actually happen if a highway like Katy Freeway was not expanded. The traffic jams would get far worse. The gridlock would become so bad it would negatively affect many businesses nearby. Many people would just avoid that area if they could do so.

Let's not forget about another very important factor: the interface between the freeway and surface streets. In the Houston area many traffic jams can actually start down on the surface street level. Gridlock doesn't just happen on freeways. It's called "gridlock" because the term was coined about surface street traffic jams. Large volumes of vehicles trying to take a certain freeway exit can't get thru the off ramp. Then the traffic backs up onto the main lanes of the freeway.

These New Urbanist types need to fix their gaze on more important issues, such as the extreme crisis of housing affordability. Their wishes for everyone to move to the urban core are flagrantly out of touch due to the housing prices. But that could change. There is also an emerging crisis in commercial real estate. Vacancies are surging due to a rapidly growing number of workers either working remotely online or taking jobs at offices in smaller cities and towns where the living costs aren't so fucking insane. Either way, those douchebag high housing prices are going have more and more people living farther away from urban centers. They'll have to drive to get to those urban centers. That translates to needing to build better roads.

[Anthony_JK]

ReThink35, who wants to convert I-35 in Austin to a four-lane boulevard. Figures.

[Bobby5280]

Not only do they want to turn I-35 into a surface street. But the real scam is repurposing the former highway real estate into property on which to build more luxury housing for the upper class and global investors. That's the real motivation.

[bwana39]

Not only do they want to turn I-35 into a surface street. But the real scam is repurposing the former highway real estate into property on which to build more luxury housing for the upper class and global investors. That's the real motivation.

Yes, this is especially notable with the Pierce Elevated section of I-45 in Houston. WIthin a decade of its removal, there will be a neat line of new high rises on the west side of Pierce.

So get rid of the highway and you create new swaths of land right in the middle of downtown.

I will add one idea. The border that the freeway creates is NOT a border that keeps the development outside the freeway from having worth. The problem is that the building outside the freeway may make the "old" part INSIDE the freeway less valuable. The developers are discouraged from creating something that you can divide somehow or another as the old and new.

[Plutonic Panda]

Austin approved $15 million for design work on the freeway caps for the central project: https://www.kxan.com/traffic/traffic-projects/i-35-expansion-project/austin-approves-more-than-15m-to-kickstart-i-35-cap-and-stitch-design-work/

[The Ghostbuster]

Capping the rebuilt freeway makes a lot more sense than turning Interstate 35 into a boulevard or leaving the freeway in its existing configuration.

[Bobby5280]

I think a busy urban surface boulevard is actually a lot more dangerous to pedestrians and bicyclists than a freeway. That especially goes for our current times where far too many people are driving without keeping their damned eyes on the road. Pedestrian deaths are up significantly. Motorists will blow through a red light while reading their phones. -BOOM- "What was that?"

There is a pretty wide variety of ways how pathways for pedestrians and bicyclists can be built over or under super highways. Deck parks are one of the biggest and most expensive methods. Traditional surface street crossings over or under freeways can be enhanced to include pedestrian/bicycle access and even be dressed up to hide the freeway from the surface street view.

[Bobby5280]

You say this as if feeder roads don't exist.

No, that's your strawman talking.

Only a fraction of a freeway's traffic is on the frontage roads. The thru traffic is staying on the main travel lanes isolated away from any pedestrians or bicyclists.

Yeah trying to beautify an overpass/underpass is like putting lipstick on a pig.

Overpasses like these would beg to differ:
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.5895262,-122.2376706,3a,75y,351.45h,89.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSl-FGMPRTVacRa5rIiR7rA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9741927,-83.0029206,3a,75y,184.45h,87t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sBLe8H85u38CtACw9-tiFkw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.0072604,-94.554855,3a,75y,113.56h,80.01t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sCV3TuOXtRFYbBwkoUDejPA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DCV3TuOXtRFYbBwkoUDejPA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D85.25515%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu

[kphoger]

a snarling freeway

I prefer to think of it as a "reverberant throughway" or "sonorous thoroughfare".

Also, I prefer to think of it as "treating a porcine companion to a makeover".

[sprjus4]

No, that's your strawman talking.

Only a fraction of a freeway's traffic is on the frontage roads. The thru traffic is staying on the main travel lanes isolated away from any pedestrians or bicyclists.

Highways don't have to interact with pedestrians and bicyclists, but the traffic going through the feeder road still does.

"Only a fraction of a freeway's traffic is on the frontage roads"... compared to, if you demolish the freeway and force all the traffic on surface streets, now that highway traffic is also interacting with pedestrians. Not sure what your point here is.

[kphoger]

you still have to deal with people barreling down the exit ramp

Who has to deal with them?