Highway Expansion Moves Forward in Austin Despite Local Opposition

A new double-decker highway segment will radically alter the look of Interstate 35 in Austin, where, in spite of protests from community groups and local officials, the Texas Department of Transportation plans to move forward with the highway expansion project. Nathan Bernier reports on the project for KUT.

Despite decades of evidence that expanding road capacity leads to more gridlock—a phenomenon known as induced demand—TxDOT is lauding the project as an important milestone for the city’s commuters. According to TxDOT Austin District Engineer Tucker Ferguson, “We're expected to double in population over the next 20 years or so, so the demand is here whether this project gets built or not.”

The city councilmembers representing the affected area did not attend a groundbreaking ceremony this week, signaling their continued opposition to the project, but have no official decisionmaking power. Meanwhile, “A federal lawsuit filed by Rethink35, the Texas Public Interest Research Group and Environment Texas alleges TxDOT improperly split the I-35 expansion in Travis County into three smaller parts — South, Central and North — in a bureaucratic sleight of hand to avoid a more rigorous environmental review than a single 28-mile project would require.”