28-05-2025
TxDOT plans drainage tunnel to prevent flooding in Austin
Editor's Note: The video above is a conceptual model of the I-35 Capital Express Central project provided by TxDOT.
AUSTIN (KXAN) –To prevent flooding in Austin, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) plans to create a drainage tunnel and pump station, the agency said in a news release.
The reconstruction plan is called the Texas Clear Lanes project, according to TxDOT. According to TxDOT, the system will run from Airport Boulevard and Holly Street and along Cesar Chavez Street from I-35 to U.S. 183.
The agency said 'a pump station and access shafts will also be added along the corridor.' Additionally, TxDOT 'will use two tunnel boring machines to drill the drainage tunnels.'
This is one of the next steps in advancing the I-35 Capital Express Central Project.
'The Central project is more than the improvements you will see at street level,' said TxDOT Austin District Engineer Tucker Ferguson in the release. 'TxDOT will install a drainage system 200-feet below the roadway to prevent flooding of the new lowered I-35 main lanes while the pump station will remove trash and some sediment to improve water quality.'
The combined construction for the drainage tunnel and pump station segment will cost $1.1 billion, according to TxDOT.
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