The I-35 is a major highway in Central US and runs cross-country from Laredo, Texas to Duluth, Minnesota. It passes through some of the major cities in Texas like San Antonio, Waco, Austin, etc. 

The I-35 North-East Expansion (NEX) South project in San Antonio is an almost $700 million design, construction, and maintenance project awarded by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). This project was awarded back in 2023.

I-35 is one of Texas's busiest roads, used by over 100,000 automobiles daily, and plays a pivotal role in the Texas economy. The number of vehicles using the I-35 will reach almost 400,000 in just two decades, as per TxDOT estimates. The I-35 NEX south project includes the design and construction of approximately four miles of elevated lanes with corresponding interchanges and transitions at each end of the project. 

The project scope also includes a five-year capital maintenance term, with options for two additional five-year term extensions.

This project is part of a six-phase I-35 NEX program under the Tx DOT and costs a total of $3 billion. It aims to turn I-35 into a double-decker freeway connecting JBSA-Fort Sam Houston to FM 1103 at Cibolo.

This project is being helmed by a Lone Star Constructors. It is joint venture between Fluor Corporation  and Austin Bridge & Road. The ground breaking ceremony happened on May of this year, and the project is estimated to be completed by 2028.

Construction, engineering and industry consulting firm AECOM was incharge of design-build phase of this project.

TxDOT has said in this $700 million project, there will be construction of two main lanes of four-miles each, and one high-occupancy lane or HOV above each direction over the existing I-35.

These upgrades will be happening between I-35's Loop 410 South and Loop 410 North interchanges on the Northeast Side.

J. Bruce Bugg, Jr., the chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission explained, “We are the eighth largest economy in the entire world, so we have to keep our transportation system up to standard”

The I-35 NEX program is part of an ambitious $40 billion Texas Clear Lane project that focuses on freeing up the traffic chokepoints in the state’s transportation network.