Austin’s Cap and Stitch project, Our Future 35, held an open house on Saturday to present concept highway caps and stitches to Austin residents. 

The research initiative, funded by the city of Austin, is working to create caps and stitches along  Interstate 35 as the Texas Department of Transportation works to expand the highway. Construction for North and South Austin has started and the Central Austin portion will begin later this year. Caps are large decks over land that was previously split by highway, and stitches are bridges that function as widened pathways for pedestrians. 

UT will cover 30% of design costs for the cap located above the redesigned North Interstate Highway 35 between East Dean Keeton Street and East 15th St., estimated to cost the University approximately $13.5 million. The University of Texas Board of Regents entered the funding agreement with the Transportation department in May.

Our Future 35 surveyed Austin residents earlier this summer to provide insight for the updated cap concepts at Saturday’s open house, according to Transportation and Public Works program manager Brianna Frey. Frey said there are diverse opportunities for amenities the Austin caps can house and for UT students to engage with, such as live bands and lounging spaces.

“There’s a lot of opportunities (for) what could be on these caps,” Frey said. “That’s really what we’ve been talking about with the community over the past six months.”

Kara Kockelman, professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering said the UT cap could connect the east and west sides of campus, but construction opportunities are limited. 

“(The cap) really just is there to extend the visual protection for those who are up above from seeing what is under there,” Kockelman said. “It’s very expensive, and it is not structurally sound from everything I’ve seen to put any real buildings up there.” 

Government and urban studies sophomore Lauren Maher said despite its controversy, caps and stitches are one of the more positive things to come out of the I-35 expansion, and community input is one of the main reasons a project like this could happen in the first place.

“I do think when it comes to the infrastructure of the University, students might not necessarily know the best thing to do, but their input could help the general idea and general purpose of it to benefit the students,” Maher said.