Construction progress on the I-35 Capital Express South Project, pictured in May 2026.
Courtesy of the Texas Department of Transportation
One of Texas’ most congested roadways is advancing billions of dollars’ worth of projects this year — so Texans better pack their patience the next time they hit the road.
Interstate 35 is undergoing a massive overhaul in Texas’ capital city, with a three-tiered approach toward expanding the interstate in the hopes of alleviating congestion and improving mobility. Incorporated into the Texas Department of Transportation’s MyMobility35 program, those three endeavors include the I-35 Capital Express North, Capital Express South and Capital Express Central projects, with a combined investment estimated around $5.65 billion.
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With construction slated to run along portions of the I-35 corridor through the early 2030s, here’s a breakdown of all the progress made so far this year and what’s to come in the remainder of 2026.
I-35 Capital Express North
Since January, crews have finished all of the required Austin Energy utility relocations needed for this project, as well as built the southbound I-35 frontage road bypass bridge at Wells Branch Parkway. That bypass bridge will be available for through traffic during future construction phases, a TxDOT spokesperson confirmed to MySA.
Next on deck is the completion of all other utility relocations as well as widening the I-35 frontage road along the corridor, as well as constructing the northbound I-35 frontage road bypass bridge at Rundberg Lane.
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Progress along I-35 at Howard Lane, pictured in May 2026.
Courtesy of the Texas Department of Transportation
I-35 Capital Express Central
The most expensive component of the MyMobility35 program is the I-35 Capital Express Central Project, with its 8-mile corridor nestled near downtown Austin and coming with an estimated price of $4.5 billion. Crews wrapped reconstruction work on the northside of the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard bridge back in March, reconfiguring traffic on that newly completed roadway before closing the southside of the bridge.
Construction teams began demolition and reconstruction work on the bridge’s southside in April, which is nearing completion, a TxDOT spokesperson noted.
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“The southside of the bridge is nearing completion with the deck pour expected to happen in July,” the spokesperson said in an email to MySA. “It is anticipated that the bridge will be fully opened in its final configuration in August 2026.”
Remaining work on that bridge segment to come will include paving the northbound and southbound I-35 frontage roads along that intersection, as well as both eastbound and westbound Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard once the bridge work is done.
For the Lady Bird Lake portion of the project, crews relocated traffic on the northbound I-35 frontage road north of Riverside Drive back at the start of the year before kickstarting demolition work of the bridge and construction of the highway’s new east pedestrian bridge.
“To date, the project team has completed a partial demolition of the bridge and installed columns and caps for the onshore bridge structures,” TxDOT’s spokesperson noted. “Additionally, foundational work will begin on a new pedestrian bridge at Lady Bird Lake with construction taking place from a barge.”
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Conceptual rendering of the new I-35 bridge planned over Lady Bird Lake.
Courtesy of the Texas Department of Transportation
That pedestrian bridge is anticipated to wrap work in mid-2027 and offer links to Austin’s existing trail network. Over at Riverside Drive, crews are slated to begin major reconstruction work of the cross-street bridge at I-35 later in July. Temporary signals have been installed for both drivers and pedestrians to utilize the cross-bridge amid the construction process.
With the project’s drainage tunnel and pump station, all nine drop shafts needed for that segment are under construction. Crews finalized excavation work for the pump station back in the spring and have started pouring the concrete foundation and related structures needed for the facility, while tunnel boring machines are expected to begin their segment of work in the fall.
I-35 Capital Express South
Crews are continuing construction work on the new elevated managed lanes planned between State Highway 71 and State Highway 45 Southeast, with ongoing work underway at the Stassney Lane and William Cannon Drive bridges to install the necessary deck panels needed for final paving of those elevated managed lanes.
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Construction progress along I-35 at William Cannon Drive, pictured in May 2026.
Courtesy of the Texas Department of Transportation
With the Onion Creek Bridge, construction teams removed the I-35 northbound frontage road over Onion Creek back in April and added all the necessary columns and caps needed for that new bridge. Crews are expected to begin placing the beams to formally construct that new bridge before the end of the month.
Coming up, southbound I-35 traffic over Onion Creek will shift to accommodate the removal of the I-35 southbound main lanes, while the I-35 southbound frontage road over the creek is expected to be removed by spring 2027.