Austin Traffic Tuesday PM: The SH 71 Flyovers to Southbound I-35 Close Again at 9 P.M. — and Friday Night the Southbound Mainlanes Shut Entirely

AUSTIN — The PM drive itself runs clear of any new TxDOT closure this afternoon, but the night work is already posted on the Texas Department of Transportation's Capital Express South project page, and south-side drivers should plan around it. Continuing intermittently through late 2026, the eastbound and westbound SH 71/Ben White Boulevard flyovers to southbound I-35 close nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. for bridge column work.

TxDOT posts the detours on the same page. Eastbound SH 71 drivers use the S. Congress Avenue exit and turn onto the frontage road to reach the I-35 mainlanes; westbound drivers use the Burleson Road/Woodward Street exit and the frontage road. The department's standing advice for the work zone is to remain alert, follow signs and expect delays.

Friday night is the bigger closure. The southbound I-35 mainlanes between William Cannon Drive and Slaughter Lane close on Friday, Nov. 13, from 11 p.m. to 9 a.m., for work on the elevated managed lanes. Southbound drivers will use the William Cannon Drive exit (228) to continue on the southbound frontage road and re-enter at the next available entrance ramp, TxDOT says.

The work is part of the $548 million Capital Express South project — funded by CAMPO and TxDOT, built by Fluor — which is adding two high-occupancy-vehicle managed lanes in each direction along I-35 between SH 71/Ben White and SH 45 Southeast, plus a southbound bypass lane at Stassney Lane and William Cannon Drive. Construction began in November 2022 and is anticipated to finish in late 2028, weather permitting — which is why the flyover closures are listed as continuing intermittently through late 2026 rather than ending with this week's nights.