Austin: IH 35 rebuild

[MaxConcrete]

This news report says that Austin is seeking a loan up to $193 million for an I-35 deck park.

According to the report, Austin has already secured a $105.2 million grant for the work, which is the cap on the south side of downtown from Cesar Chavez to 4th Street. The total cost is estimated at $600 million to $900 million, so more money will be needed. It isn't clear if the cost estimate is for all the caps or just this first cap.

Austin eyes $193M loan request to 'cap and stitch' I-35
Request comes after city secured millions in federal funds

With I-35 expansion efforts in the works near downtown, Austin City Council is eyeing a $193 million state loan request to support highway coverings through the city's "Cap and Stitch" program.

"Our Future 35" is the city initiative behind the cap and stitch program, which seeks to cover sunken portions of the expanded I-35 with deck plazas. Those caps can house green space, small buildings, art displays and other community amenities.

On March 21, Austin City Council will consider asking the city manager to submit a loan application with the State Infrastructure Bank, which is overseen by the Texas Department of Transportation. The request is not to exceed $193 million, per council documents.

[Echostatic]

The $600M-ish figure is for all the caps.

[Bobby5280]

If the cost gets any higher it won't be much different than just deep boring some tunnels.

[armadillo speedbump]

The caps only benefit the city of Austin, therefore the city of Austin should pay 100% of the cost of the caps.  It is the wealthiest per capita metro in the state, why should the rest of us pay for a purely aesthetic and snob appeal amenity for them?  Same for any freeway cap, those are solely of very local benefit.  The vast majority of the population would benefit more from those limited tax dollars being spent on expanding and improving the regional road network.

[Echostatic]

Demolition of properties in Central Austin has begun.

The former office of the Austin Chronicle was taken down today.
https://x.com/daustinsanders/status/1819058937418699115

Other properties on the east side of the highway have already been razed.

Photo from MySA.

Across the corridor, over 50 homes and nearly as many businesses will be demolished. The Lady Bird Lake (Ben White to Holly Street), Drainage Tunnel, and MLK Bridge project sub-sections are set to begin construction this year. The larger project sub-sections requiring the most demolition and site prep work, Downtown and University, aren't planned to begin until 2026.

[Plutonic Panda]

I'm glad to see this moving forward.

[Plutonic Panda]

Article on the first phase of construction in downtown is about to begin: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/i-35-reconstruction-austin-fall

[MaxConcrete]

Bids were opened today for the first major project for I-35 in Austin, the south section from Holly Street just north of the lake to SH 71. This is the comparatively easy and inexpensive part of the overall project compared to the downtown work.

It's another budget buster. There were four bidders and two competitive bidders, but the low bid of $746 million is 32% over the estimate. In Houston, yesterday's bid opening for the first section of NHHIP was estimated at $616 million and had only one serious bidder, and it was 13% over estimate at $696 million.

County:    TRAVIS    Let Date:    09/06/24
Type:    WIDEN ROAD - ADD LANES    Seq No:    3201
Time:    2452 WORKING DAYS    Project ID:    F 2024(833)
Highway:    IH 35    Contract #:    09243201
Length:    0.000    CCSJ:    0015-13-428
Limits:   
From:    HOLLY STREET    Check:    $100,000
To:    US 290 / SH 71    Misc Cost:   
Estimate    $564,497,404.26    % Over/Under    Company
Bidder 1    $746,387,730.84    +32.22%    BALFOUR BEATTY INFRASTRUCTURE, INC.
Bidder 2    $747,746,999.80    +32.46%    FLUOR HEAVY CIVIL, LLC
Bidder 3    $895,227,169.33    +58.59%    WEBBER, LLC
Bidder 4    $1126331944.86    +99.53%    PULICE CONSTRUCTION, INC.

[MaxConcrete]

Photos of work in progress south of SH 71 in south Austin. These piers are for the elevated express lanes. Photos taken October 13, 2024.

[DenverBrian]

So they're building even MORE double deckers? I thought they were trying to get away from that.

[Bobby5280]

There isn't enough space to just spread outward. And it costs too damned much to dig tunnels.

[MaxConcrete]

Bids were opened today for the first major project in the downtown area: the drainage tunnel.

Yikes, it's expensive, but of course building tunnels is obscenely expensive in the United States. This bid is an A+B bid, with the B component an administrative cost for time used. Looking at the bid, it appears that the administrative cost is $120,000 per day, which is $146 million for the 1217 days in the job, which means the construction cost for the winning bid is probably around $738 million.

The tunnel has a 22 foot-wide (6.7m) inner diameter and 25 foot-wide (7.6m) outer diameter. It is around 6 miles long, following the freeway from Airport Blvd to Cesar Chavez, then going east under Cesar Chavez to US 183, where it is routed into the river. Earlier plans terminated the tunnel just east of the Lake Lady Bird dam, so it appears that the tunnel had to be extended 1 mile east. Plans show the depth varying between 74 and 171 feet.

Looking at the item cost, there are two tunnel boring machines. The winning bidder is listed at $30 million each, which is much lower than the other two bidders ($100 million and $73 million).

County:   TRAVIS   Let Date:   12/04/24
Type:   DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS   Seq No:   3201
Time:   0 X   Project ID:   STP 2B24(253)MM
Highway:   IH 35   Contract #:   12243201
Length:   0.000   CCSJ:   0015-13-433
Limits:   
From:   SOUTH OF 51ST STREET   Check:   $100,000
To:   NORTH OF HOLLY STREET   Misc Cost:   
Estimate   $770,020,724.75   % Over/Under   Company
Bidder 1   $844,040,714.50   +9.61%   SAK CONSTRUCTION, LLC
J.F. SHEA CONSTRUCTION, INC.
Bidder 2   $998,889,999.98   +29.72%   DRAGADOS USA, INC.
Bidder 3   $1181639750.06   +53.46%   FERROVIAL CONSTRUCTION US CORP.
WEBBER, LLC

[BJ59]

That's so expensive they might as well build tunnels to carry more traffic at this point  . Just joking but seriously that is a shockingly high cost, and this cost doesn't even add lanes/ construct more roadway

[longhorn]

https://www.kut.org/transportation/2024-12-04/your-ultimate-guide-to-the-i-35-expansion-through-north-austin

Your ultimate guide to the I-35 expansion through North Austin