Editor's note: The above video is from May 16, 2024 covering the UT System Board of Regents' approval of a $13.5 million design contract for highway coverings.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The University of Texas System Board of Regents is advancing work on capping the highway near UT Austin's campus, approving an estimated $106 million contract with the Texas Department of Transportation Wednesday.
Wednesday's vote authorized contracts that will cover the creation of a 100% plans, specifications and estimates (PS&E) package for highway coverings over Interstate 35 between East Dean Keeton Street and East 15th Street. The UT System will work in tandem with TxDOT to see those elements "integrated into the I-35 Capital Express Central Project," per Board of Regents agenda documents.
Through the now-approved contractual agreement, the UT System will capture 10 to 12 acres of land outside the new medical complex near downtown Austin. Chairman Kevin Eltife said Wednesday that while it won't be constructed for another eight to 10 years, the real estate in front of that medical complex is desperately needed to help future proof the area.
"This gives us the opportunity to cap that area to monetize it in terms of creating revenue from future buildings and medical facilities," Eltife said.
Both UT and the city of Austin have pursued their own iterations of highway cappings, which can support everything from commercial spaces to parkland and greenspace, art installations, event venues and trails or playscapes. Austin City Council is expected to vote on their funding commitment to TxDOT in March 2025, after an initial vote scheduled for Dec. 12 was postponed.
In a September 2023 interview with KXAN, Dan Allen — UT Austin's executive director of real estate planning and strategy — said the possibility of caps offered an exciting opportunity to reconnect the university's main and east campus facilities.
“We’re looking at a mixture of parkland and a sports and entertainment district that kind of connects and provides just a world class place for our students and the city,” he said in September 2023.
