CONFIRMED90% CONFIDENCETxDOT's[1] own newsroom item, dated Oct. 31, 2024, announces that it "breaks ground on transformational I-35 Capital Express Central project".
- Start
- Oct 31, 202490% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
TxDOT Breaks Ground on the I-35 Capital Express Central Rebuild
TxDOT started the rebuild of eight miles of I-35 through central Austin, which lowers the mainlanes, removes the 1970s upper decks and adds two non-tolled high-occupancy-vehicle managed lanes in each direction from US 290 East to SH 71/Ben White Boulevard. First work was the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard bridge; the corridor is not finished until 2033.
- TxDOT broke ground on the I-35 Capital Express Central project in Austin, joined by Texas Transportation Commission Chairman J. Bruce Bugg, Jr., Commissioner Robert Vaughn and Sen. Judith Zaffirini[1]
- The project adds "two non-tolled high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) managed lanes in each direction from US 290 East to SH 71/Ben White Boulevard" as a Texas Clear Lanes scheme[1]
- It will "lower the mainlanes from Airport Boulevard to Lady Bird Lake, remove the upper decks, provide opportunities for deck plazas, improve transit connections, add boulevard-style segments through downtown and enhance pedestrian and bicycle paths along the corridor" - the release describes the lowered section by its endpoints rather than as the pin's eight miles[1]
- It also includes more than 19 miles of new shared-use paths, widened and enhanced east-west crossings, and new bicycle-pedestrian crossings at 3rd Street, 15th Street and 41st Street[1]
- Chairman Bugg put the cost at $5.6 billion, a week after breaking ground on Houston's $13 billion NHHIP, bringing TxDOT's construction and planned projects to $71.6 billion against over $53 billion already under construction statewide[1]
- "Construction on the Central project started in October 2024 with the reconstruction of the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Bridge", by contractor Harper Brothers, LLC[1]
- The next segment, at Lady Bird Lake from Holly Street to SH 71/Ben White Boulevard, was to start in early 2025 under Balfour Beatty[1]
- "Construction along the entire corridor is expected to be complete in 2033, weather permitting", matching the pin[1]
- Sen. Zaffirini said the impact "will be statewide, nationwide, and international" as well as local, relieving congestion and improving safety and drainage; Commissioner Vaughn stressed the bicycle and pedestrian paths "helping to accommodate all modes of transportation"[1]
Cost $5.6B
References 190% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%txdot.gov/about/newsroom/local/austin/txdot-breaks-ground-on-transformational-i35-capital-express-central-project.htmltxdot.gov· Posted Sep 20, 2026· Starts Oct 31, 2024 ✓· 100% of score
TxDOT's own newsroom item, dated Oct. 31, 2024, announces that it "breaks ground on transformational I-35 Capital Express Central project".
Suggest a correction
Something missing or wrong? Say it in your own words: a link that backs this pin up, a different start or end date and why, or a fact it lacks or gets wrong. The AI checks it against this pin's sources, searches for better ones, and adds any page that backs you up. The pin's own sources still count most.
