Hold on to your butts because a massive construction project has started on 35 around the 183 area and it's going to succkkkkkkkk.
Highlights:
-Demo and rebuild half of the current 35NB to 183 NB Direct Connector. It'll be elongated so it has a more gradual slope so bigger trucks can take the ramp without slowing everyone else down.
-Build new direct connectors: 35SB to 183NB; 35SB to 183SB; 183NB to 35NB. The remaining direct connectors (183SB to 35 NB and 35 NB to 183SB) have to be a part of a bigger 183 project
-Demo and rebuild St Johns Bridge adding U turns in both directions to St Johns Bridge
-Build bypass lanes for cars traveling on the frontage rd who don't wish to turn at St Johns
-Move the entrance to NB 35 from the frontage Rd after the NB35 to NB183 ramp to stop the slowdown of cars entering 35 from passing through cars headed to 183. Unfortunately, until the next wave of 35 work (which was put on hold indefinitely) the last place to get access to 35 in order to get on the 183 ramps is between Airport and 51st.
The new ramps between the north section of 35 and south section of 183 will complement the increased usage of 183 as it finishes its transformation from a 4 lane road with lights to an expressway all the way to the airport. It'll take some burden of 35 until development in far east austin picks up.
The red in the image is the part of the current bridge being demolished and the green is where the new bridge is going to start.
You can see the detailed schematics in the spoiler section. The images are very very large.
Luckily, this was far enough along where it wasn't canceled. Unfortunately for Austin, the riverside area and overpass reconstruction wasn't. It was folded into Cap Express which was then shelved. This 183 project along with the current projects at Oltorf, WilliamCannon/Stassney, and 51st are the last projects along 35 you'll see for a while. Abbot and the ledge need to figure out in 2019 how to increase funding for highway projects now that they killed toll lane partnerships. I'm not pro toll, I'm pro building and if that is the only way to finance badly needed improvements then so be it. People think only in lanes and don't see all of the other work that is done to the roads with help of that money that improves traffic flow like the construction of new ramps, overpasses, merge lanes etc.