Pump the brakes on the I-35 caps
What else could a billion dollars buy?
Maybe City Council should just accept that the I-35 expansion is bad and efforts to make it less bad will just cause greater problems.
KUT's Nathan Bernier reports on the news that we all knew was coming:
Austin’s transformational plan to cover parts of Interstate 35 with parks and public spaces, intended to bridge the divide between east and west neighborhoods, is facing a financial reckoning as estimated costs soar and city staff warn the project could drain cash from other priorities.
Refined plans show the estimated price tag of the full 26-acre build ballooning from $868 million to $1.4 billion — an increase of 61%. These designs outline more detail than earlier schematics and were completed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). $15 million in city funds paid for the updated plans.
TxDOT says it needs an answer by Dec. 12. Yikes.
Building decks on top of the highway could be nice. But consider what else that money could buy. And then consider what the city has promised and, whether due to factors in its control or beyond its control, has failed to deliver.
