Legally powerless to stop TxDOT’s plans for freeway expansion, Austin city leaders hope to influence the agency to take some mitigation measures as it widens I-35.
The battle between local officials and the Texas Department of Transportation continues in Austin, where the city council voted 10 to 1 in support of a list of demands that calls for more crossings over Interstate 35, minimal displacement of homes and businesses in the project area, and other mitigation measures as part of TxDOT’s plan to expand the roadway through the capital.
As Nathan Bernier reports for KUT 90.5, “Some people who spoke during public comment Thursday told council members their demands didn't go far enough to reduce the harms caused by growing the highway's footprint by 42 acres.” The only opponent to the demands in local government is Austin’s mayor, Kirk Watson, who says the city can’t afford the items on the list and that the request to divert truck traffic would result in millions in lost toll revenue.
Although the city council is taking its demands to TxDOT through its public feedback process, city officials remain painfully aware of “an irritating political reality for opponents of the highway widening: Local government has limited power to slam the brakes.” Austin city officials and community groups have protested the expansion for years, but TxDOT has pushed ahead with its plans.
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In addition to new HOV lanes and a proposed boardwalk, TxDOT agreed to engineer the freeway for caps in some areas, but the city would have to fund their construction.
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