Search Results for: I-35 makeover

I-35 Makeover Construction Progress – LOOKING GOOD

Jude Galligan | November 10, 2010 |

We’ve been covering the I-35 makeover for years, and it’s exciting to see it taking shape. It’s more impressive in real life than it did as a rendered concept. The polished inverted arches are huge – the size of these things needs to be seen up close.

I35 - Perspective (Day) — I-35 Makeover, Day Perspective

Architect Phillip Reed of COTERA+REED ARCHITECTS explains to us the expected construction schedule. “…work will complete on the north block – roughly around Thanksgiving – and then start on the south block, which will complete around the middle of February.”

According to Reed, an artist is currently working on some programs for the lighting – which will be attached to the bottom of the stitches. “When only the north block is open, it will only have a very neutral light quality, but when both blocks are open the lighting will be programmed to change,” Reed says.

Thanks to downtown Austin entrepreneur and purveyor of rave supplies, Neville Medhora @ nevblog.com, for his pics and video (taken yesterday)!

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Friday June 25th: I-35 Makeover Groundbreaking Ceremony

Jude Galligan | June 17, 2010 |

PROJECT BACKGROUND & FACT SHEET

In 2004, a diverse group of citizens, businesses, and neighborhood leaders formed the I-35 Makeover Coalition to help transform this area into a public asset. They began working for a safe, clean and attractive gateway reconnecting downtown to East Austin. This area was a broad boulevard called Eastside Drive until postwar era, when IH-35 was built over it in a series of elevated and buried sections.

The Makeover Coalition provided the support necessary to improve this connection between downtown and the east side of Austin. The coalition obtained a grant of $250,000 from Keep Austin Beautiful (KAB) to help fund the landscape portion.

City Council approved two funding sources for this project. They first approved a resolution in March, 2005 explicitly supporting the use of parking revenue from the City-managed IH-35 parking lots for the IH-35 Makeover Project. In March of 2007, City Council passed a resolution setting aside $1.5 million to be provided by the future issuance of non-tax supported certificates of obligation.

These funding sources have allowed the City to move forward with the IH-35 Makeover Project, which will include reconstructing the parking lot areas, with curb and gutters to improve drainage in the area. The concrete will be cleaned, signs removed and replaced, and specialty lighting fixtures will enhance the safety, comfort, and aesthetics of the area.

The lighting project will be done through the City’s Art in Public Places Program and will be programmed LED lights in arches over the parking lots. A computer-generated illumination will create a show as well as create safe lighting.

The project is expected to start in June and take approximately seven months, at which time TXDot will begin the landscape improvements funded through the KAB grant.

More of DAB’s coverage of the I-35 Makeover

I-35 Makeover Site Plan

Jude Galligan | June 10, 2010 |

WCCAC was just emailed a site plan for the I-35 Makeover. You’ll recall this project has been lingering for years, but was formally approved and funded this past April. We knew the parking layout would change, and now we have a better idea of what to expect.

Is this simply putting lipstick on a pig? Yes, and it’s about time. Any improvement that helps encourage the pedestrian connection between East Austin and downtown Austin is a worthy endeavor.

I-35 Makeover Project Approved & Funded

Jude Galligan | April 29, 2010 |

cross section of I35 showing soon-to-be-installed lighting

Downtown Austin’s stretch of I-35 will receive some much needed improvements, confirming our report from September of last year. Short of burying or capping I-35, these improvements are the best we can hope for. A grant from Keep Austin Beautiful (KAB) will contribute $250,000 towards the landscaping. City Council set aside $1.5MM in form of non-tax supported certificates of obligation (bonds, I guess?). Revenues from the parking underneath the freeway (which will be completely redesigned) will also fund the project.

The project is expected to start in June and take approximately seven months.

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Below is a photo of ~~Eastside Drive~~ East Avenue, the boulevard predecessor of I35.

For Real This Time: The I-35 Makeover Is Happening

Jude Galligan | September 14, 2009 |

In 2006, neighborhood associations on both sides of the interstate were empowered to develop a concept to enhance East-West pedestrian movement beneath I-35. The vision was to take what is the most trafficked overpass in Austin, and create a landscape that is lighter and smaller in scale than the one currently dominated by the car.

The downtown Austin segment of I-35 was constructed in 1962 and served to physically reinforce the racial divide that East Avenue had historically represented.

Now, the City of Austin leases from the State the land below the I-35 freeway. The area is uninviting to say the least. As part of the makeover, that area will remain parking, while the perimeter and sidewalks connecting East Side to downtown will get something closer to the “Great Streets” treatment including trees, wider sidewalks, and benches.

From Cotera+Reed Architects:

“Fourteen curved and tapered galvanized steel poles will be supported under the freeway deck, and area lighting is attached along the undersides. Individually, the shape of the poles resembles a suspension bridge – re-associating the spot with connecting. Connecting land masses, across an interruption of the landscape, proposing the idea of separation and connecting at the same time. It is intended to be a gesture – a handshake under the freeway.”

Construction is scheduled to begin as early as February 2010.

-Jude