TxDOT Wages Quiet Battle to Acquire Properties for I-35 Expansion

The I-35 expansion in Austin has drawn loud and extensive opposition from locals, including multiple lawsuits against the Texas Department of Transportation aimed at stopping the project. But TxDOT is in the early stages of waging a legal battle of its own, according to an article in local news outlet KXAN. Kelsey Thompson reports that an Austin-based attorney representing more than a dozen property owners has confirmed TxDOT is suing several of his clients over property acquisitions.

“More than 100 residences and businesses along the eight-mile project corridor — running along I-35 from U.S. Highway 290 East to State Highway 71 and Ben White Boulevard — were marked for displacement due to the planned expansions,” Thompson writes. Property owners began receiving initial offers from TxDOT last year as part of the eminent domain process (when the government exercises its constitutional right to take private property for public use, with just compensation). That catch, according to property owners? The properties are worth more than TxDOT is offering, which violates their Fifth Amendment rights and constitute an illegal taking.

“TxDOT has previously told KXAN it works with an independent appraiser to assess the market value of properties it’s looking to buy as part of a planned project,” Thompson writes. But property owners' attorney says those assessments don’t include dramatic increases in Austin property values in recent years, including changes to Austin’s development code like removal of minimum parking requirements, new zoning overlays, and opportunity for denser development. Property owners also contend that they can’t find comparable areas or properties to relocate with the amount of money TxDOT is offering. Their attorney told KXAN he "expects many of the jury trials related to the I-35 Capital Express Central project will come sometime in 2025 or later on."