Part 2: Exploring I-35: What is Cap and Stitch?
Written by: Ryan Saunders
Other articles in the series:
What is a cap?
A cap is a large deck that spans 300 feet or more in length over a highway, designed to accommodate structures or green space. Caps are also referred to as decks, land bridges or lids.
What is a Stitch?
A stitch is a platform spanning less than 300 feet in length over a highway, connecting local mobility networks. A stitch includes travel lanes for cars and protected paths for bicycles and pedestrians. Additional enhancements may include landscaping, shading, art and multimodal features.
Overview of what is being proposed:
If built out to full designed specs, the combination of caps and stitch will equal 26.5 acres of public space.
Holly Street Stitch
The approximately 300-foot Holly Stitch sits between the bustling entertainment district of Rainey Street and the East Cesar Chavez residential neighborhood to the east. It presents a unique opportunity to safely connect neighborhood residents with amenities to the west, such as the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican-American Cultural Center, the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-andBike Trail and Lady Bird Lake.
Cesar Chavez Street to Fourth Street Cap
The 5.3-acre Cesar Chavez Street to Fourth Street Cap presents an opportunity to connect the East Cesar Chavez Neighborhood to key destinations previously cut off from residents, including the Austin Convention Center, Palm Park and Palm School, and the Waterloo Greenway.
Fourth Street to Seventh Street Cap
The Fourth Street to Seventh Street Caps are located within the heart of downtown Austin. These caps will connect the active uses east and west along Fifth and Sixth streets, creating a new walkable connection across the highway. These caps will also provide a new connection at Fifth Street for the first time since the 1960s.
11th Street to 12th Street Caps
Northern Caps
More information on next blog release on the UT Cap: 40 Acres
Similar Projects either completed or in Progress
Atlanta Stitch Project
The Stitch is a transformational civic infrastructure investment needed to reconnect Downtown and Midtown Atlanta. Once implemented, the Stitch will create approximately 14 acres of urban greenspace and transportation enhancements atop a new, 3⁄4-mile platform spanning the Downtown Connector between Ted Turner Drive and Piedmont Avenue.
That’s a reference, in part, to downtown’s 14-acre Stitch project, which has succeeded in accumulating $158 million from the federal Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods program to fund a planning, design, and engineering phase that officially kicked off earlier this year.
The proposed Stitch master plan calls for a special tax district to help pay for the massive redevelopment project that will reconnect parts of downtown Atlanta cutoff by the interstate highways.
The Stitch is awarded grants from the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and USDOT, with match funding support from the City of Atlanta and ADID. In 2024, the Stitch was awarded an $158M grant from the USDOT Reconnecting Communities Grant Program. This funding will allow the team to complete project design and construct phase 1, scheduled to start in 2026.
Dallas, Texas
Opened in 2012, Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, TX is 5-acre deck park over an eight-lane freeway. The project cost was $110M and the surrounding area has seen over $300M in value creation as a result. Its success has catalyzed a 2-acre expansion of the park, currently in development.
South Loop Park Project
The South Loop Park project is advancing with remarkable speed, thanks to three (recent) significant developments: a transformative $31.4 million investment from the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), the approval by the Kansas City Council of the Clarkson Construction and JE Dunn contract as the Construction Management/General Contractor (CM/GC), and the commencement of pre-construction services
The South Loop Project is a sustainable urban park over I-670 linking adjacent communities, and a collaborative effort led by Port KC, the Downtown Council of Kansas City, and City of Kansas City.
Rondo Land Bridge
A land bridge is a “cap” or a “lid” over a freeway, recreating land that was once lost. The Rondo land bridge would cap Interstate 94 for several blocks, between Chatsworth Street and Grotto Street.
Rondo was one of 45 projects the U.S. Department of Transportation funded as part of its effort “to reconnect communities” torn apart by the building of the federal highway system and other transportation projects.
A project aimed at reconnecting St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood via a land bridge over Interstate 94 has gotten $6.2 million in funding from the Minnesota Legislature, making it more likely the proposal could move forward.
The proposed land bridge would be 12-21 acres that would cap I-94 in St. Paul, stretching between 2,600-3,200 linear feet.
Capitol Crossing, Washington DC
In Washington D.C., Capitol Crossing—a 2.2 million square-foot development build on a platform over the eight-lane Center Leg Freeway portion of I-395 between E Street and Massachusetts Avenue and between 2nd and 3rd Streets—mended the original street grid by creating three square blocks of real estate.
The Capitol Crossing project is privately funded, and is one of the largest ongoing private developments in DC. This 2.2 million square foot project covers a 7-acre site above I-395 and consists of 5 mixed use buildings: 200 Massachusetts, 250 Massachusetts, 200 F Street, 600 Second, and 201 F Street
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