With a gloomy financial forecast top of mind, City Council is preparing to take one of the most consequential infrastructure votes of our era.
By May 31, Council will decide whether or not to put a down payment toward a future in which a portion of I-35 is covered with amenities including a park, non-car transportation infrastructure, and small buildings. The underlying project – the addition of four lanes to the city’s central and most congested highway – will worsen the effects of climate change while doing little to alleviate traffic. But paving the way for useful amenities on top of the expanded highway is really the only option Council has to wring some public benefit out of what is widely perceived as a harmful project.
But the investment will be costly. Engineers with the Texas Department of Transportation estimate that “capping” the full length of the expanded highway with decks (from Holly Street to Airport Boulevard) would cost close to $700 million – all of which the city must pay for without help from the state. And that’s an estimate that TxDOT has said will increase as design on the project advances – the cost could even double to exceed $1.4 billion.
And now, per Mayor Kirk Watson, the project will be even costlier, because Republicans in Congress are contemplating a spending bill that would cut a $105 million federal grant that would help pay for a chunk of the caps that run through Downtown. The spending bill is still being drafted and it faces a number of hurdles, but Watson wrote to Council in a message board post that they should assume the grant will be rescinded.
Based on public statements, it seems likely Council will support some version of funding for the project. The question now is how much of the project? Council and staff are in agreement that the most vital sections to fund are Downtown (specifically, Cesar Chavez to Fourth Street, but also possibly north to 12th Street). The city had been banking on that $105 million federal grant for the CC-Fourth section, but now they will have to contemplate paying for the project without it.
“I am not thinking about my children being able to use these caps. They certainly won’t be able to, but their children might.” – Council Member Ryan Alter
Capping the portions of the highway north of Downtown would certainly be beneficial for the neighborhoods like Cherrywood and Hancock that surround that part of I-35. Organizers within those communities argue that it would support the whole city, as capping the highway could open the door for redevelopment of surrounding properties that would generate tax revenue for the city. But TxDOT estimates that capping these portions of the highway would cost nearly twice as much as the Downtown part of I-35.
The project is truly generational, not just because of its cost, but because Council declining to fund the caps now would prevent future councils from building them until 2050 at the earliest. That’s why CMs have told us repeatedly that it’s one of the most important decisions they are facing this year – and perhaps one of the most consequential they will ever take.
“I am not thinking about my children being able to use these caps,” CM Ryan Alter said at an April 8 Council work session. “They certainly won’t be able to, but their children might.”
But city staff have also told Council that such a sizable investment will have short- and long-term financial consequences. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent on “capping” I-35 could not be spent on other infrastructure projects (like those that would lessen the impacts of climate change). The investment will also likely worsen the city’s credit rating, which will make it harder to borrow money to fund projects in the future.
That concern has been top of mind for CM Mike Siegel, who pointed to a bond that will go before voters in 2026 to fund as-of-now unspecified infrastructure projects. “I like this idea of a once-in-a-generation investment opportunity for a cap and stitch,” Siegel said at the April 8 work session. “But there might be other once-in-a-generation opportunities … [like] housing, fixing leaky pipes, or other necessary capital projects.”
This article appears in May 2 • 2025.