AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Some Austin City Council members are taking a second look at a proposal to add caps and stitches to Interstate 35 through downtown Austin, as questions continue to grow of where the money will come from.
During a Tuesday work session, city staff advised against committing further municipal funds to Phase 2 of the project, which involves the design and construction of decks over the interstate.
Council members have already committed $104 million to building support structures for the full project buildout. Now, the council has to figure out how many of those structures it wants to complete, and where that money - as much as $600 million - could come from.
Two major pillars of the original financial picture have crumbled: a $105 million federal grant was recently eliminated by the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act", and no private or philanthropic partners have stepped forward to fill the gap as some city leaders had hoped for.
The financial uncertainty has divided council members. District 10's Marc Duchen warned of the "worst outcome" — spending $104 million only to be unable to finish the project. Conversely, Council Member Ryan Alter urged a long-term view, framing the decks as a "100-year investment" to reconnect communities.
With a May deadline to finalize deck locations with TxDOT and a November deadline to identify funding sources, the city must soon decide whether to stay the course or scale back its ambitions.
