Council Set to Ask TxDOT to Pause I-35 Expansion Until Regional Climate Plans Done

Photo by Jana Birchum

Item 45 at the Oct. 19 City Council meeting, if approved, will be the strongest stance the city of Austin has taken on the I-35 expansion to date. The resolution, recommended by the Mobility Committee last week, essentially uses the Texas Department of Transportation's own self-approved final environmental impact statement/record of decision to prove that the project would increase greenhouse gas emissions. It then asserts that that is "unacceptable and out of step when the Central Texas region is pulling together to reduce those emissions" and asks TxDOT and the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization to delay funding for construction until after CAMPO's and Austin's regional climate plans are done. Those plans are set to apply for federal funding that would help Austin cover the approximately $700 million in caps, stitches, and other improvements to the highway expansion that TxDOT refuses to pay for but requires by December 2024.

Generally, if the expansion moves forward without caps, "that is an absolute worst-case scenario for Austin," says Council Member Chito Vela. TxDOT's environmental impact statement – approved by TxDOT itself – explains that the I-35 expansion would increase emissions by more than 50,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. This is not surprising, since the project more than doubles the miles of existing highway – but TxDOT has also claimed that the expansion will only increase driving-related greenhouse gas emissions by 7%. Many have pointed out the flaws in TxDOT's logic – the Center for American Progress wrote last week that by approving its own plans, TxDOT is using "a loophole in federal law that allows the fox to guard the henhouse." And Travis County and Council have both noted that TxDOT hasn't conducted requested studies on the public health and environmental effects of the project.

The city has already applied for a competitive federal grant for $105 million to fund caps and stitches, but it's unclear where the rest of the $700 million will come from. Another item that was pulled from the agenda this week exemplifies the kind of decisions Council will have to make without significant federal funding: whether to put a $14 million chunk of the remaining 2020 Mobility Bond funds toward a 300-foot-wide bridge (or "stitch") over the highway at Woodland Avenue south of the river. Council Member Paige Ellis had concerns, saying, "I'd like to protect my $460 million bond for city projects," and noting that she's "never seen a voter-approved bond get promised to a project and then backfilled later." Plus, Woodland Avenue might not be the best location for such an investment: "We absolutely have to have a 70- to 75-foot-wide pedestrian/bicycle crossing," said Vela. "Do we need a 300-foot-wide mini pocket park on top of the highway there?"

If borrowing from another bond isn't the best idea, there are other options, like creating a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone to collect property taxes from development on top of the caps and stitches or around them. But it's unclear how much funding would really come from a TIRZ – so another option is asking the voters to approve a new bond, which Vela said he would support in The Austin Politics Newsletter last week. "If, at the end of the day, we've gone through all those sources, and we're still short $250 million, $350 million," he would support a new bond, he said; but it may not go over well, as a majority of Austinites have come out against the project as a whole. Ultimately, "it's absurd and deeply unfair that TxDOT is putting the city of Austin in this situation of having to clean up TxDOT's mess," said Rethink35's Adam Greenfield.

Which is why these regional plans present a promising opportunity for the feds to help out. The Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area Climate Plan, which brings together CAMPO, Austin, Buda, Kyle, Round Rock, and more surrounding cities and counties in a regionwide climate action plan, is the first step to become eligible for $4.3 billion in federal Climate Pollution Reduction grants in 2024. The plan must be finished by March of next year – when I-35 construction is set to begin – and applications submitted by April. CAMPO is also currently developing a Regional Mobile Emission Reduction Plan, funded by the Federal Highway Administration.

"City Council believes reconstruction of I-35 is a generational project, and its design should not be finalized until informed by the timely regional GHG-reduction planning initiatives," reads the resolution. Council asks TxDOT to meet as soon as possible with the Office of Sustainability and any other interested Austin MSA Climate Plan partners to collaborate on greenhouse gas reduction strategies for the project.