Item #5 Draft Recommendation to Council- Cap and Stitch Funding — original pdf

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BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Downtown Commission Recommendation Number_________________________: Cap and Stitch Initial Funding Recommendation: WHEREAS the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)’s I-35 Capital Express Central project will lower the highway’s main lanes between Lady Bird Lake and Airport Boulevard; and WHEREAS the City of Austin has identified a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change the landscape of Central Austin through the construction of "caps" and "stitches" over the highway (“Caps and Stiches); and WHEREAS the City of Austin has undertaken the Our Future 35 Austin project which is a community-centered initiative to create public spaces along the I-35 corridor caps and stitches that will reconnect East and West Austin; and WHEREAS the Caps and Stitches, while being built and once completed, will directly impact the quality of life for those working and living in Downtown; and WHEREAS the City of Austin is in the process of developing plans for constructing the Caps and Stitches; and WHEREAS the City has identified phases of the Cap and Stitch Construction which are: • Ceasar Chavez to 4ht Street 4th Street to 7th Street • 11th Street to 12 street • 38th Street to Airport Blvd. (Northern Cap); and • WHEREAS I-35 from Lady Bird Lake to Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard marks the eastern boundary of the Downtown Commission’s jurisdiction; and WHEREAS the Downtown Commission supports the timely and efficient planning and construction of the Caps and Stitches; and WHEREAS the City of Austin is considering several funding and design options for the roadway elements of the Caps and Stitches; and WHEREAS City staff has presented funding scenarios to the City Council for consideration; and WHEREAS the Our Future 35 project has included years of stakeholder engagement and visioning for building out each full cap; and WHEREAS, the City of Austin has provided options for shortened (800’) caps along the I-35 corridor; and WHEREAS the 800’ shortened caps scenario does not support the design and vision of the Our Future 35 project; and WHEREAS neither funding scenario includes design and construction of the full-size caps envisioned in the Our Future 35 Austin project even though the intention is to someday finish the full caps; and WHEREAS: it is the considered opinion of the Downtown Commission that funding of the Our Future 35 roadway elements should include all full-size caps. NOW THEREFORE we, the Commissioners of the Austin Downtown Commission, do hereby strongly recommend and urge the Austin City Council to fully fund the roadway elements necessary to support the full caps, as designed, along the I-35 Capital Express Central project. Motioned By: ________________________ Seconded By: _______________________ Date of Approval: April 16, 2025 Vote: ___-___ For: Against: Abstain: Absent: Vacant: Attest: __________________________________________