UK-headquartered Balfour Beatty has won a US$746 million contract from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to upgrade part of Interstate 35 (I-35) through Austin, Texas, USA.

The group will handle the reconstruction of a 2.5-mile segment within the eight-mile project corridor, focusing on the southern part of downtown. This involves building a new bridge over Lady Bird Lake, creating eight lanes for general use, a new Riverside Drive intersection, and enhanced access roads. The current bridge, built in 1956, will be replaced. Construction on this I-35 section is planned to start in 2025, with a targeted completion by 2033.

The Lady Bird Lake segment is one of six phases to be tackled under the I-35 Central project. The estimated US$4.5 billion project has been divided into sections, with work kicking off with the reconstruction of the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge. Other components include the planned drainage tunnel beneath I-35 at Cesar Chavez Street, CapMetro and Red Line bridges at Airport Boulevard and Fourth Street, The University of Texas at Austin area as well as the downtown segment. Other project features include over 19 miles worth of new shared-use paths and vehicle bypass lanes to circumvent traffic at 28 intersections. Other components include 13 connections to urban trails and bicycle networks.