I-35 Underground In The Future?

   On Wednesday, August 7, CKernan wrote an interesting Articleon the “Cut and Cap” plan in Austin.  A plan by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) that plans on to sink I-35 underground  to help ease traffic congestion on the Interstate in downtown Austin.  I agree with Ckernan that this plan to extend I-35 in order to decongest traffic in Austin is a great one but I feel like this is a plan that needs to be reconsider before being acted upon.

   I believe that if the plan is passed it will make Austin more congested, especially during the construction stage. I- 35 is one of the main highways drivers use to travel in and out of Austin. I mean yes, there is Mopac express way and 183 but they do not direct go through I-35 like I- 35 does. I feel like once I- 35 is closed down for construction for the “Cut and Cap”, traffic on these other highways and city streets that are already crowded will be overcrowded. Also the cost of the project is an issue I see with this idea. It will cost about $550 million to build. My question is where is this money coming from? Will it come all from the government?  Will come from the taxpayers or will it be a mixture of both? I do know, if some of the money comes from the taxpayers that the working and lower socioeconomic classes will feel the most effect from it as lower classes tend to be taxed heavier than the upper class. This could be stressful for the citizens of Austin, particularly the citizens on the east side of Austin. 

   Overall, I am glad that the city of Austin knows they have a problem this traffic in their city and are trying to fix it but I do not think this should be the master plan and should edit it. Maybe they should have a highway that loops around the city like cities such as, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.  But does property and geography stop this? What if TxDOT intended the upper deck on I-35? Will it cost more than going underground or will not be possible to do? There are so many questions about this issue but there is so little time to find a solution with a constant Austin population that continues to grow. 

Link to Article: http://txgovt2013.blogspot.com/2013/08/proposal-to-sink-i-35.html