Serious Crash Closes Eastbound SH 71 Near Caldwell Lane Early Monday; I-35 Night Closures Follow Downtown
Two people were injured in an early-morning crash on SH 71 near Circuit of the Americas that closed all eastbound lanes near Caldwell Lane - and tonight the work shifts to I-35, with nightly lane closures between Airport Boulevard and 12th Street through Thursday.
Monday's commute started with a closure in southeast Travis County. Two people were injured early Monday morning in a crash on SH 71 near Circuit of the Americas, and the Travis County Sheriff's Office was on the scene of a serious crash on SH 71 near Caldwell Lane with all eastbound lanes closed, KVUE reported live at 5:45 a.m. Drivers who work in Garfield or Bastrop were the ones KVUE warned first.
No reopening time for the eastbound lanes was confirmed in the reporting read by this desk on Monday morning, and the sheriff's office had released no further detail on the crash in that reporting. Drivers heading west toward Austin on SH 71 should expect the investigation to shape the morning and check conditions before leaving; eastbound drivers should plan an alternate route until the county clears the scene.
Tonight, the pinch moves downtown. TxDOT Austin alerts drivers that both directions of I-35 between Airport Boulevard and 12th Street will have varying nightly lane closures from Monday, October 26, through Thursday, October 29, between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., with multiple entrance and exit ramps closed for paving work. The MLK bridge and both frontage roads will also have varying nightly lane closures in the same window.
The south side has its own night work in the same stretch of nights: the eastbound and westbound SH 71 flyovers to southbound I-35 are closed nightly from Monday through Thursday, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., for bridge column work, and TxDOT directs drivers to use Ben White Boulevard to reach southbound I-35. The Traffic Desk will re-check both corridors before the evening drive file.
