News

Texas Department of Transportation

Austin District
Public Affairs Office
P.O. Drawer 15426
Austin, Texas 78761-5426
512/832-7060
016-11-35 May
17, 2011

Interstate 35 to shut down this weekend

(AUSTIN) – Construction on new direct connection ramps at Interstate 35 and SH 71 (Ben White Fwy) will
necessitate the closure of north and southbound I-35 this weekend. The northbound main lanes will be closed at
10:00 PM Friday, while the southbound main lanes will not be shut down until 10:00 PM Saturday.
Northbound traffic will be reduced to two lanes and detoured to the interstate access road north of Stassney
Ln. It will then continue on the access road through the intersection at SH 71 and be returned to the freeway
through the entrance ramp north of Woodward St. Southbound traffic will be reduced to two lanes and detour to
the access road north of Woodward, continuing through the Ben White Freeway intersection and returning to the
interstate using a temporary ramp near Shelby Ln. Other closures will include:

Friday Night at approximately 8PM:

• The IH 35 northbound access road will be reduced to one lane and detoured to the eastbound SH 71
access road, Woodward Street, and the westbound access road.
• The eastbound SH 71 access roads will be detoured to the southbound IH 35 access road, Stassney Lane
and the northbound access road.
• The westbound SH 71 access road will be detoured to the northbound accesss road, Oltorf Street and the
southbound IH 35 access road.
• The westbound to northbound and the eastbound to northbound direct connectors will be closed.

Saturday Night at approximately 8PM:

• The southbound to westbound and southbound to eastbound direct connectors will be closed. Diagrams
of the detours may be found on our web site at:
http://www.txdot.gov/project_information/projects/austin/ben_white_i35/default.htm

In an effort to encourage traffic to use alternate routes, tolls will be waived on all toll road facilities east of I-
35 from 6:00 AM Saturday until 6:00 PM Sunday. Traffic on the interstate should be restored to normal late
Sunday night.

For Additional Information Contact:

John Hurt
Texas Dept of Transportation
Office of Public Affairs – Austin District
Vox: (512) 832-7060
Fax: (512) 478-8243
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TxDOTAustin