Ramp from I-35 north to 183 north closed for months
AUSTIN, Texas — A major closure is now in effect for two Austin highways.
Beginning Sunday at 10 P.M., the flyover connecting northbound I-35 to northbound US 183 will be closed until September, as crews demolish and rebuild portions of the ramp.
Drivers said this is a busy area, and are worried already bad traffic here will only get worse the next few months.
"It's already bad traffic on just a slow day. I mean that's going to be pretty bad. It's going to be really bad traffic, really really bad traffic," said Tymeria Gray, who drives through this section of I-35 and 183 often. "I'm not looking forward to it at all."
“I already had an alternate route planned," said Michelle Morrison, who uses this flyover to get to work. “I think tomorrow is going to be a nightmare, but I don’t know that everyone that uses that flyover knows it's closed, so it will be interesting to see what happens.”
This thoroughfare has been a traffic bottleneck for years, and the goal of this closure is to make a less steep ramp, so cars don't take so much time driving up to get to 183.
TxDOT spokesman Brad Wheelis said this project will make traffic here move more smoothly in the long run.
"When we get the existing flyover reopened, it's going to make a significant difference at this interchange," Wheelis said. "If you've ever been behind an 18-wheeler going up that ramp, you know it's really slow going. They're heavy, they're big, and the get bogged down. What we're going to do is take the first part of that ramp, the first few sections of that ramp, we're going to demolish them, and then we're going to rebuild them, so that the grade is lessened, that way you don't have as steep a grade to climb, and those 18-wheelers can get up there faster, and traffic doesn't back up."
Drivers wanting to go from north I-35 to north 183 will have to get off on the Rundberg exit to get on the frontage road, and make a U-turn at Rundberg Lane. This detour will not have any traffic lights, and will be closed to traffic on the other lanes of the frontage road.
This detour will work in conjunction with the new flyover they're opening in this area.
On Sunday at 11 P.M., one hour after the closure, TxDOT will open a new flyover connecting southbound I-35 to 183 in both directions.
"This is a big deal. Imagine all of that traffic heading heading southbound on I-35 wanting to get to US 183 in one direction or the other. They have to go through a signalized intersection there at the frontage road. They will now avoid that," Wheelis said. "If you're heading to the airport, for instance, from Pflugerville, or Round Rock, or north Austin, you get on that southbound-to-southbound flyover and you zip on down to the airport."
Drivers taking the detour will be taken right to this new flyover.
“I think it’s very inconvenient having now to go down to Rundberg and U-turn to get to 183. That takes a lot more time now out of your day to do that,” said Rosie Yabasa, who works in the area. “At least they’re giving us another option, instead of taking it down and having to take backroads now to 183.”
Here's why TxDOT had to wait until now to close the ramp connecting northbound I-35 to northbound 183, as opposed to taking on this project over the past year, when more commuters were working from home.
"If you're going to close that flyover, you have to have a good detour. Instead of putting folks on that frontage road and having them make a left on that signal, that's a lot of traffic, what we're going to do is have them exit Rundberg Lane, take the U-turn, head south, and take one of the new flyovers, that way they can get through this detail without having to go through a single signal," Wheelis said. "You can't have that detour until you finish the new flyover and open that to the public. That's one of the reasons it couldn't have been done the past year. That would have been ideal."
Michelle Morrison uses this flyover daily and has noticed traffic build up when 18-wheelers take the ramp.
“A lot of times trucks will go up there and they can’t go quickly, so it backs up all the way to Cameron basically and that’s dangerous,” Morrison said.
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Despite concerns of further congestion on I-35 north in this area, Gray and Morrison said they are optimistic this project will help their drive in the long-run.
"It's always slow going up that ramp. If they can change that, that would be cool. Hopefully it will be faster and not as much traffic," Gray said.
“If they make it better, I’m ok with that," Morrison said.