Billions of dollars in Austin transportation projects to advance in 2025

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- As billions of dollars in transportation projects ramp up or continue work in Austin, residents and visitors alike will be navigating a whole host of traffic snags and congestion. Here's a breakdown of some of the changes to come with the city's biggest transportation projects, and how to plan your routes and travels accordingly.

Austin's Journey With AUS program

As Austin soars into 2025, so, too is its airport's Journey With AUS program. Work will continue into the new year on the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport's West Gate expansion project and West Infill expansion project, AUS' Deputy Chief Communications Officer Sam Haynes confirmed.

Downstairs at AUS in the baggage claims area, Haynes added guests will soon see construction walls up and renovations underway on the domestic baggage claim space -- all to transform it for future international baggage claims use.

Alongside continuing work on active projects, AUS will also kickstart construction on several new ones in 2025, she said. Next year, the airport will break ground on its new parking garage.

"This will replace the Red Garage, which is set to be removed to make way for an even bigger terminal expansion," Haynes said.

Back in the fall, Austin City Council approved professional services contracts for both AUS' midfield concourse project and the arrivals and departures hall project. With those contracts greenlit, AUS is continuing work onboarding firms to help design, engineer and later construct those two projects.

"Right now, it's a lot of work behind the scenes to onboard those firms, get them up to speed on the expansion program, what we want from these projects, what the community wants from these projects. And moving into 2025, both of those projects will be undergoing the design phase," Haynes said. "So in 2025, we hope we can share some new design renderings of these projects, but we're still a little ways away from actually breaking ground and starting construction."

With that construction in mind, AUS is asking guests to arrive at least two-and-a-half hours before domestic flights and three hours before international flights, in light of demand levels paired with construction impacts. As AUS is now considered a large hub airport, Haynes said airport officials are continually advising guests to keep that in mind.

"We hope that folks can look to us and in the same vein that is looking at other large airports across the country, like Atlanta, DFW," she said. "No, we're not as big as those guys and we probably never will be, but we are considered a large hub airport just like they are, and so we need folks to go ahead and come early."

Typically, AUS' busiest travel times are before 8 a.m. However, Haynes stressed data from the Transportation Security Administration's screenings found peaks in the late morning, early afternoon and late afternoon -- meaning those best practices are crucial regardless of when your departure time is scheduled.

Aside from construction developments, AUS is also debuting new destinations along with increased frequencies to current destinations in the new year. British Airways will be offering a twice daily nonstop flight to London, with new services from Delta and Frontier Airlines to popular destinations like San Francisco and Tampa Bay.

Downtown Austin Alliance, city leaders weighs in on billions in transportation infrastructure projects

Austin is currently home to roughly $25 billion in transportation infrastructure investment projects, from the Interstate 35 expansion near downtown Austin to Project Connect, the AUS overhaul and city-led initiatives. Matthew Geske, the Downtown Austin Alliance's vice president of public affairs, said these projects speak to excitement and opportunity burgeoning in the Texas capital.

I-35 Cap and Stitch program

"To have I-35 be redesigned going through central Austin, I think for the first time in 50 years, and our opportunity to cap major portions of the highway is very exciting for us, as well as having Project Connect with the light rail coming through downtown," he said. "For Austinites and visitors, it's going to enhance the vibrancy of downtown. We've grown from a small, sleepy college town to a major international city, and these -- I'll call them amenities for people -- are going to bring us into the next 30, 40 years of global travel."

In March, Austin City Council is set to vote on funding commitments for those highway cappings. It's an effort years in the making, helmed by city transportation leaders along with the DAA and envisioned in tandem with the Texas Department of Transportation.

That funding commitment vote was originally set to take place Dec. 12, prior to TxDOT extending that deadline. Come spring, council leaders will solidify the breadth of those caps, in turn kickstarting work on designing them.

"In the spring, we have a really great opportunity for city council to approve funding to support those caps. And so we're really excited for that opportunity," Geske said. "We're hoping that we get through this milestone, and if city council does decide to support these caps, we're going to be moving into the next two to three years of designing these caps that are going to, as I mentioned, remake downtown Austin and really provide opportunities for us to create those new spaces in Austin's image."

Project Connect

Elsewhere in Austin's mobility network, Project Connect leaders are expected to release a draft environmental impact statement in the coming weeks outlining the scope and totality of social, cultural and environmental impacts of the first phase of light rail. Beginning in mid-January, Austin Transit Partnership will begin hosting community engagement events for community members to weigh in on that draft EIS, prior to a final one being issued -- tentatively in late 2025.

"Light rail is something that has alluded Austin for at least 24, going on 24 years now, and we truly see that as sort of a missing piece for our mobility network," Geske said, adding: "I think it's a reminder for people that these projects take time, and the opportunities for the community to come and learn about the project and provide their feedback is monumentally important."

Congress Avenue revamp

Other projects proposed include a reimagined Congress Avenue, featuring a community plaza along with a series of potential improvements between Cesar Chavez Street and 11th Street. The Congress Avenue Urban Design Initiative proposes a full revamp of the mainstay downtown corridor, with a full scope running between Riverside Drive and 11th Street and a potential cost around $130 million.

As part of the proposal, vehicular access along Congress Avenue would terminate just north of Seventh Street, but east-west cross traffic would still continue on Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, 10th and 11th streets. The proposed improvements would prioritize reconstructing the blocks between Ninth and 11th Streets first and adding interim treatments to the areas between Seventh and Ninth Streets.

The first phase’s focus is on opening up space along Congress Avenue to walk, dine, shop and host other street life opportunities. This proposed design change would lead to 94 fewer parking spaces available for use out of approximately 71,500 spaces in the downtown area, per the project details. Any existing ADA-compliant parking spots would remain or be relocated to a nearby area.

"I think it's vitally important for that northern end of Congress Avenue, especially, to be better connected and seamless with the Capitol complex," Geske said. "Especially during when the legislature is in town, you see a lot of foot traffic back and forth, and what we really want to see is the retail and restaurant and other activity going on in that area, because it's just a natural progression for folks to go visit the Capitol and come back down Congress."

Richard Mendoza, director of the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department, added the city has been working closely with the state to enhance the public space.

"Congress Avenue, we like to call it the Main Street of Texas," Mendoza said. "And so we've been working very closely with the state on making improvements to that corridor that give it justice. And so you're going to see a lot more improvements in terms of the public space, safe pathways for bicycles and perhaps even a quasi-pedestrian mall south of the Capitol."

Work on that project is anticipated to begin in 2025, Mendoza confirmed.

Longhorn Dam Multimodal Improvements Project

The city of Austin began construction in 2024 on its Longhorn Dam Multimodal Improvements Project, which is constructed a new, "wishbone" pedestrian and cyclist bridge across Lady Bird Lake to link the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. That project aims to address a "pinch point" near the Longhorn Dam and Pleasant Valley Road, alleviating the need for trail users to cross up the dam before linking to the trail on the north side of the lake.

"We're coming up with a whole separate facility now, similar to the boardwalk. You can see construction ongoing now," Mendoza said. "We were very fortunate to receive earmark funding from Representative [Greg] Casar, and so you're going to see substantial completion on the Longhorn Dam project [in 2025]. It's going to be a great celebration for our community."

Interstate 35's expansion near downtown

TxDOT began work on its I-35 Capital Express Central expansion in the full, a $4.5 billion, eight-mile corridor that'll be under construction for roughly a decade. Up first among a series of six phases is the reconstruction of the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Bridge.

Brad Wheelis, spokesperson for TxDOT, told KXAN this project will substantially ramp up in early 2025. To reconstruct the bridge, TxDOT will need to demolish it in stages, in order to keep traffic moving in both directions across the bridge amid the construction process.

"What you're going to see [in 2025], and we're starting to see some of this now, are some nightly lane closures," he said. "The bypass lanes northbound and southbound that bypass MLK on the frontage road, those have long-term closures in effect right now as we gear up to do this construction."

Along with early work on the MLK portion, Wheelis said crews will begin construction on the Lady Bird Lake segment in mid-to-late 2025.

"The good news is there's a large segment of that area that has already been widened and can accommodate those new [high-occupancy vehicle lanes] that we're going to be putting in," he said. "So as far as work on the main lanes of 35, that will be a little more limited down in that area as opposed to the downtown area and up near Airport Boulevard, where we're going to see some really significant changes with the main lanes of I-35."

Divvying up the work into six phases means the thick of construction is still some ways off. Wheelis said most of the Central project is in the final stages of design, with final touches being made.

Once TxDOT gets closer to each of those subsequent segments, there will be more specific details available on planned lane closures and details. Throughout the construction period, TxDOT expects to maintain three main lanes of travel in each direction to minimize disruptions as much as possible, Wheelis said.

"We don't want to sugarcoat this. We want people to know that this is a major construction project, and once those other segments get underway and we are fully under construction, you are going to see some impacts, some delays," he said. "You need to prepare for that. Leave more time, know before you go, find out where those impacts are and maybe consider alternate routes."

In the meantime, Wheelis added TxDOT continues to coordinate with the city of Austin, CapMetro, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and other agencies on their projects to try and minimize disruptions and crossovers as much as possible. Those interested in tracking those updates can follow TxDOT's X account, visit the I-35 Capital Express Central project's page and check out drivetexas.org for real-time updates.