Austin Council Member Vela Says He Won't Back More City Money for I-35 Park Caps

Austin's plan to build parks over Interstate 35 appears to have lost one of the votes it would need to advance in the near term. Council Member José "Chito" Vela, who is serving as mayor pro tem, said he does not expect to support committing more city money to the project for now.

Vela spoke over the weekend during a live taping of The Big Dig Podcast at KUT Fest. "I wish we could. I wish we were in a different situation, but we're not," he said. "And the loss of that federal grant, I think, changes everything." The council is scheduled to vote this month on whether to commit additional funding, while city staff are urging members to slow down.

The city had won a $105 million federal grant under the Biden administration, but the Trump administration later canceled it. Vela described that award as "seed money" that could have helped Austin draw private donors, the state or future federal grants. Without it, he said, the city's role may be confined to keeping open the possibility of building caps at some point.

"My role on council was to future-proof," Vela said. He suggested a future council, 20 or 40 years from now and "hopefully with a better state and federal government," could take up the cost of the caps.

The comments mark a notable change for one of the council's more visible supporters of the project, known as "Cap and Stitch." In December, Vela told KUT News the downtown cap between Cesar Chavez and Seventh Streets could bring major economic benefits and become "one of the best downtown parks in Texas."

The proposal is linked to the Texas Department of Transportation's $4.5 billion expansion of I-35 through Central Austin. The state plans to lower the main lanes by up to 60 feet between Holly Street and Airport Boulevard, which would allow decks to be built over the highway. TxDOT will not pay for the decks, the park amenities or their ongoing maintenance.

Last year, the council committed $104 million for support structures that would make future caps possible from Cesar Chavez to Seventh Street and from 11th to 12th Streets. The city also agreed to pay for support columns for two smaller "stitches," near 41st Street and along the CapMetro Red Line next to the Hancock Center.

The decks themselves would cost far more. Current estimates put the bare caps at $371 million, and amenities such as grass, trees, sports fields, splash pads and performance spaces could add $258 million, for a total of about $604 million before annual maintenance. Fully built, the caps would create almost 14 acres of public space.

Council Member Mike Siegel, who opposed the earlier funding, argued the city should focus its limited resources on more immediate needs. "When I think about building a roof over the freeway, I'm thinking of all of the thousands of people that need a roof over their heads," he said. He also worried that even the cost of the support structures could grow, noting the city is "almost gun-to-the-head required to assign this so-called Advanced Funding Agreement in the next few weeks." That agreement, he said, does not protect against cost escalations, and TxDOT could send the city a larger bill when the full build-out happens, perhaps five years from now.

Vela maintained that an expanded, uncapped I-35 would be "a complete and total disaster" and called the caps a form of "harm reduction." Still, he said Austin should not add money unless major outside funding returns. The result is a scaled-down approach: the city has paid for the support structures that keep the option alive but appears ready to leave funding for the parks themselves to a later budget cycle, another council or perhaps another generation.