Express Central News Today

Austin community members will have opportunities this spring and summer to weigh in on the city's "Cap and Stitch" program, or highway coverings on top of the soon-to-be-expanded Interstate 35.

As construction ramps up to expand I-35 through Austin, TxDOT is now eyeing the freeway between Austin and San Antonio for a possible expansion.

As plans to expand I-35 get underway, businesses to the east and west of the freeway are facing a harsh reality. 7 On Your Side reporter Carissa Lehmkuhl has the details.

The goal is to provide more space for homeless residents who may be displaced by upcoming construction on I-35.

In response to a lawsuit brought by Rethink35 and other opponents of the I-35 Capital Express Central project, TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams signaled the agency plans to vigorously defend the much-needed project.[San Marcos, TX] [Hays County news] News San Marcos News, San Marcos Record [Texas State]

The I-35 Capital Express Central project would impact an 8-mile area between US 290 East and SH 71/Ben White Boulevard.

In a statement over the weekend, TxDOT said it would "vigorously defend" the highway expansion project and the process that informed it.

The group Rethink 35 is suing TxDOT over the I-35 Capital Express Central Project. Critics say the $4.5 billion expansion will only increase congestion on the freeway rather than alleviate it.

Rethink 35 and several other Austin organizations have filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Transportation over its I-35 Capital Express Central project, which will widen eight miles of the interstate from U.S. 290 East to Ben White Boulevard and SH 71.

With construction on Interstate 35's downtown expansion poised to begin later this year, state and local transportation experts gave an update to come on the cap and stitch program, a city-led effort to improve connectivity between downtown Austin and the eastside.