AUSTIN, Texas – TxDOT is expected to break ground on a massive widening of I-35 this week. Years of construction will affect drivers in much of north, downtown and south Austin.

Protesters are still trying to stop the project from moving forward.

“Wednesday is really about TxDOT throwing a party on top of a parking lot while destroying homes and businesses in the area. So you know they’re celebrating this disastrous project. We’re taking them to court,” says the Rethink35 board. member Miriam Schoenfield.

Rethink 35 says it has taken two separate legal actions against the Texas Department of Transportation over the I-35 Capital Express Central Project.

“One of them is that we have filed a civil rights complaint with the US Department of Transportation and that is being reviewed right now. We also filed a lawsuit based on NEPA, which is the federal law that requires rigorous environmental studies to be done on any project. of this size,” says Schoenfield.

The $4.5 billion renovation is nearly eight miles long. It stretches along Interstate 35 from 290 East to Highway 71 near Ben White Boulevard.

TxDOT plans to remove existing bridges on I-35, lower the roadway and add two toll lanes in each direction.

“In many cases, when you widen a freeway through a city, you end up with worse traffic than before. That’s exactly what happened in Houston, when they widened the Katy Expressway to 26 lanes, rush hour increased by about 40 percent. says Schoenfield.

TxDOT says the project will also rebuild east-west cross bridges, add pedestrian and bicycle paths and make additional safety and mobility improvements.

Last year, TxDOT spokesman Brad Wheelis explained the driving force behind the project.

“Right now, I-35 just doesn’t meet the demand. People are in traffic every day, so we need to do something to improve mobility and safety along the corridor,” Wheelis said.

“It’s not just that it’s ineffective. It’s also extremely harmful, so in this project in particular, homes and businesses were destroyed for the project. It’s horrible for our air quality, it interferes with transit and other ways. in that we’re trying to encourage other modes of transportation,” says Schoenfield.

According to TxDOT, it’s a Texas Clear Lanes project that addresses gridlock for Texas drivers across the state.

In 2023, TxDOT also released a statement supporting the research put into the reorganization, stating in part: “All I-35 Capital Express projects are the result of thorough environmental studies and extensive public input.

TxDOT looks forward to bringing safety and mobility improvements to the corridor through these critical projects.”

“It’s a project that has a lot going against it and nothing going for it,” says Schoenfield.

Construction begins this week, and the project is expected to be completed around 2028.