After years of construction, the Skillman Street Bridge opened to traffic over the weekend following a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Skillman Bridge looking east.
The multi-year process, part of the wider $1.74 billion TXDoT 635 East project, reached a symbolic milestone in the early hours of Sept. 20 as the long-awaited Skillman Street Arch Bridge officially opened to traffic, albeit with only a few lanes open. Construction on the intersection began in 2020, with structural steel work beginning in the spring of 2023.
District 10 council member Kathy Stewart, former council member Adam McGough, Lake Highlands Public Improvement District Executive Director Vicky Taylor and City officials gathered at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning. Skillman Corridor Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District Chair Susan Morgan was recognized for her advocacy in the 20-year-long process. Morgan recently published a book, entitled Build a Bridge to Somewhere, which details the planning, lobbying efforts and compromises involved in bringing the project to fruition.
Spanning 295 feet, the bridge was built by Pegasus Link Constructors, a joint venture between the Fluor Corporation and Balfour Beatty Construction responsible for overseeing the entire 635 East Project.
The temporary overpass next to the newly constructed bridge will be removed in the coming months as finishing touches are made to the intersection. At the conclusion of the project, reconfigured intersections on both the north and south sides of I-635 will create a smoother and less confusing driving environment for neighbors. Additional access roads have also been added.
Neighbors have long argued for traffic improvements at the intersection, which our own Carol Toler described as “that bowl of spaghetti” as work began in 2020. Advocates like Morgan have pressed for improvements at Skillman and I-635 since at least the early 2000s. Morgan, along with then-District 10 council member Bill Blaydes and a small group of neighbors, officially began planning for improvements in 2006 as part of the formative stages of the 635 East Project.
Planning for 635 East began as early as 2001. Initial efforts were stunted by funding shortfalls following the 2008 recession. The project, which will completely rebuild I-635 from US 75 to I-30 and widen the road with additional lanes, was further stalled by a legislative fight in 2018 between City officials and Austin over funding and the number of free/toll lanes. At its conclusion, the project will add one lane in each direction on the 11-mile stretch of I-635, in addition to additional frontage roads.
Texas Transportation Commissioners finally voted to advance the project in 2019, with construction starting in 2020.
“It’s been 14 years since we had our first meeting with TXDOT,” Morgan told the Advocate at the time. “We asked ‘what do we have to do to fix this intersection?’”
The 635 East Project is expected to be substantially completed by late 2025, a year later than initially anticipated.
