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The bridge's history dates back to the 1920s, and it is still considered to be in fair condition.

AUSTIN, Texas — The future of one of Austin's oldest bridges has been decided.

The Barton Springs Bridge, which passes over Barton Creek and serves as a major thoroughfare in and out of Zilker Park, will be replaced.

The Austin City Council approved a plan to replace the nearly 100-year-old bridge, even though experts say it's in fair structural condition. The bridge was originally built in 1925 and does not meet current design standards, according to experts.

"There's definitely some safety and mobility improvements that are needed," Mayor Pro Tem Paige Ellis (District 8) said. "I appreciate everyone's perspective and trying to make sure that this bridge is not only visually appealing but adds to the aesthetic of Zilker Park, which we all know and love very much."

Recently, Capital Delivery Services director James Snow sent a memo sent to Mayor Kirk Watson and council members saying the Barton Springs Road Bridge needed either improvements or replacement. An engineering study found that while the bridge is structurally in fair condition, it's had significant degradation in the reinforcing steel in the bridge deck and structure.

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Each day, more than 20,000 vehicles and pedestrians use the bridge as a main access point to Zilker Park.

The rehabilitation option would've cost Austin as much as $38 million and would've replaced the bridge deck and widened pedestrian and bike lanes. Less than half of the original structure would've remained in place. Meanwhile, constructing a new bridge is expected to cost between $37 to $43 million.

An engineering team recommended the complete replacement with a three-span structure that has "Y-shaped" piers. Capital Delivery Services said a new bridge would be built in three phases.

Funding for the design is expected to come from a bond voters approved in 2020, but Austin leaders have not yet set aside funding for construction.

Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.

Austin is trying to make it easier for more families to be able to build additional homes in their backyards, or what are sometimes referred to as accessory dwelling units or ADUs. The prospect can be costly and daunting.

On Thursday, the Austin City Council took the first step in creating a financial assistance program to help low- and moderate-income residents with a down payment to build these homes.

Some residents have used backyard apartments for their parents or children. But the homes are also used to generate income for families as rentals.

Council Member José Velásquez told KUT that the need for more affordable housing is one of the city's most pressing issues. The hope is this program will help create more diverse and affordable options, therefore preventing displacement.

“I believe we as a dais can be pro-housing and anti-displacement and ensure that no one is left behind,” he said.

The move comes a week after the City Council voted to amend its land rules to create more middle-class housing. The changes have been coined HOME, or Home Options for Middle-Income Empowerment.

“I am very proud of the work this dais has accomplished and the sense of urgency we’ve moved to make Austin more affordable for all,” Velásquez said during the council meeting Thursday. “This is an ongoing effort and I will continue advocating for collaborative and innovative solutions to Austin's affordability crisis, because our city needs us.”

This is not the first time the city has looked at how it can reduce barriers for people who want to add another home on their property. In 2020, the city looked into giving families low-interest loans and tax breaks. It also called for streamlining the permit process.

Critics of the proposed financial assistance program say low-interest rates and tax breaks are really the key. Carmen Llanes, the executive director for Go Austin/Vamos Austin, said these incentives would help make sure the program truly creates affordable housing and prevents displacement.

“People who are property-tax burdened, they’re not in a position to incur a bunch of debt that they have to pay back right away,” she said, “and that certainly doesn't incentivize them to rent anything out for cheap.”

She said the program should also include a component that requires some type of affordable housing.

“Without that [affordability component] we shouldn’t even be talking about how this would create affordable housing,” Llanes said.

Thursday’s vote directs the city manager to come back in March with a plan for the program, including looking at the city’s previous efforts to offer low-interest loans and tax breaks, and streamline the permit process. A second vote is needed to make the program final.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin City Council approved Thursday millions of dollars in funding agreements with the Texas Department of Transportation for the city’s Our Future 35 “cap and stitch” program.

TxDOT is working toward its eight-mile I-35 Capital Expression Central project in downtown Austin, which features added lanes along with the removal of the upper decks and lowering of the highway. The cap and stitch program calls for the installation of caps — or deck plazas that can host community and green spaces, pavilions, public art or cultural facilities — on top of those sunken highway lanes.

During a Nov. 7 council work session, highlighted locations for caps included some running from Cesar Chavez to 4th streets, one from 4th to 7th streets, one over 11th and 12th streets along with a cap from 38th 1/2 Street to Airport Boulevard.

On Thursday, council approved an advance funding agreement with TxDOT “for engineering and design study” for the cap and stitch improvements, with an estimated cost of $1.8 million. Of that amount, city documents said the city’s share of the costs is anticipated to be more than $166,000.

Community project funding for the cap and stitch study was previously secured through a sponsorship from U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, which is to be administered by TxDOT, per city documents.

A second advance funding agreement approved between the city and TxDOT Thursday will lead to the city investing $15.4 million to cover 30% design costs and environmental review of the caps and stitch structures.

Next December, the city is expected to commit an additional $19 million to fund 100% final design costs.

Under current city estimates, the costs for both the roadway elements as well as the tunnels and caps amount to $509 million. That doesn’t include the estimated costs of amenities on top of the deck plazas, which are projected to cost around $338 million.

The city is slated to hear back from the U.S. Department of Transportation on its $105 million cap and stitch grant application in February. From there, officials said they will revisit the caps and prioritize which project components to approve.

Design work on the project is set to finish in spring 2026, the same year that TxDOT is on track to begin roadway construction on the I-35 expansion.

I ate hundreds of dishes at dozens of new restaurants in Central Texas this year. While you might think that those meals all blur together into one gluttonous feast in my mind by year’s end, there are some dishes that left a distinct mark in my brain.

They are the dishes that, in aggregate, form a collage of my year in dining and capture where the area’s restaurant scene is at this place in time. When I think back about new openings and developments, these are the dishes I will remember. Think of it as a culinary yearbook without the regrettable haircuts and ill-fitting tuxedos.

(For more on my favorite meals of the year, check out the 20 Best New Restaurants in Austin in this year's Austin360 Dining Guide.)

Sampler pizza at Allday Pizza

I have trouble choosing one specific pie as my favorite at the city’s best new pizzeria. Luckily for all of us, there is the sampler pie, featuring one of each slice served from the window at Flo’s Wine Bar & Bottle Shop at the northern edge of Tarrytown. That way, you snag a classic pepperoni slice, dive into the creamy clouds of stracciatella or pause in appreciation of the razor-thin slices of zucchini on a summer special. Nobody’s making New York-style pizza in Austin right now better than Townsend Smith and Daniel Sorg. (3111 W. 35th St.; allday.pizza)

Beef rib at Barbs B Q

I've never been a huge fan of the gargantuan beef rib (all apologies to the Mueller family). It's just too much of a muchness for me. And it's not a great value proposition (if you're into that whole thing). The ladies at Barbs in Lockhart made me a believer. Yes, there's the Instagram-ready axe handle of a bone and the cognitive dissonance of the gentle giant hunk of beef being as soft as warm butter, but it's the flavor profile of the rib that really did it for me: ground guajillo and chile de arbol peppers blending their mild fruitiness and earthiness into the traditional salt and black pepper rub. The ladies are changing the Lockhart smoked meat game in more ways than one. (102 E. Market St., Lockhart; barbsbq.com)

Restaurant review:Lockhart is reclaiming its crown for Barbecue Capital of Texas — 3 crowns, to be exact

Lox and bagel at Casper Fermentables

Kimchi, bagels and kombucha. May sound like a curious trio until you know a little about the backstory of Korean-American Jew and science-lover Ben Hollander, the chef who owns Casper Fermentables with his wife, Phoebe Raileanu. The Montreal-inspired bagels are at the heart of the bakery, and their size (not too tall), texture (a toasty snap with and feathery center) and flavor (the spice riot of the everything, with faint three-day-fermented sourdough notes) make them the best in town. (4715 S. Lamar Blvd., #101A; (512) 330-4935, casperfermentables.com)

Related:Austin's best bagel is actually in Sunset Valley (and that ain't all)

Chicken wings at Daiboku Ramen

Adding the words "and chicken wings" to Daiboku's name may make things a little clunky, but the fried bird is so good, it almost deserves the signage space. And that's even considering the ramen is top three in town, as well. The best wings I ate this year are crunchy, savory and juicy, with the twice-cooked shell coated in a spice blend that gets an umami rush from housemade tomato powder. (609 W. 29th St.; (512) 350-2789, daibokuramen.com)

Camarones "El Ricas" at Este

Clean lines, muted natural tones and understated casual elegance define the aesthetic at the Mexican seafood restaurant from owner Sam Hellman-Mass and executive chef Fermín Núñez. But that doesn't mean you still shouldn't get a little messy. And I don't mean the mezcal cocktails. The shell-on shrimp bathed in chile costeño butter is my favorite seafood dish in town. Between snapping up those slippery shells and swiping at all that chile butter with every last bite of sweet shrimp, you're gonna need an extra napkin. (2113 Manor Road; (512) 522-4047, esteatx.com)

Restaurant review:Este's bold flavors make it one of Austin's best seafood and Mexican restaurants

Smashed cucumbers at Ezov

When a restaurant opens with the kind of intense flavor profiles of Ezov and the dish that left the most lasting impression is a seemingly simple serving of cucumbers, you know those have to be some damn good cucumbers. Indeed. The brilliant green smashed cucumbers are laced with herbs and piqued with a bright pickling sauce and aromatic nigella seeds, all set atop the smoothest labneh you’ve ever tasted. (2708 E. Cesar Chavez St.; (51) 305-1118, ezovatx.com)

Backstory:Emmer & Rye group opening Israeli-inspired restaurant in East Austin

Breakfast burrito at Golden Hour

If every taco truck in town could make burritos like the one at Barclay Stratton’s much-more-than-a-coffee-shop coffee shop in far South Austin, breakfast tacos might not be long for this world. A butter toasted tortilla wraps a tumble of soft scrambled eggs, diced chives and crispy, cooked down potatoes, all held together with a homemade habanero aioli and heavy-handed swirl of melted queso Chihuahua. I don’t know a breakfast taco that can hang with it. (7731 Menchaca Road; goldenhouratx.com)

Related:Golden Hour cafe elevates dining scene in far South Austin

Pasta at Holiday on 7th

I dream of one day visiting a restaurant in Austin that does a small roster of fresh pasta dishes with one or two daily small plates or salads. Simple, direct culinary craftsmanship focused on one thing done well. As I sit and imagine such a place, I will be content to savor executive chef Peter Klein's rotating pasta dishes at this hybrid bar-restaurant. Whether it’s a ricotta cavatelli singing of summer with bursting cherry tomatoes in a Parmesan broth or one layered in the grounded richness of roasted mushrooms, the veteran of L'Oca d'Oro has proven with his pasta prowess that if I just need a plate of pasta and a glass of wine, Holiday's got me covered. (5020 E. Seventh St.; holidayon7th.com)

Corned beef sandwich at Mum Foods Smokehouse & Delicatessen

Geoffrey Ellis’s business has been drawing lines at farmers markets for more than a decade thanks to its exceptional brisket and perfumed pastrami. But late last year, the Austin-raised chef opened a full-size restaurant that serves, yes, the brisket and pastrami, but something maybe even better: corned beef. Stacked high, draped with the appropriate amount of Swiss cheese and served on a slightly malty and sweet housemade sourdough rye swiped with bright yellow mustard, the steamed, aromatic beef makes for the perfect sandwich. (5811 Manor Road; mumfoodsatx.com)

Shrimp po boy at Uptown Sports Club

When Aaron Franklin says he considers the gumbo he’s tinkered with for years to be his “liquid brisket,” you come to attention. And while the gumbo is great, and the debris po boy made with drippings from Franklin Barbecue is softer than a pillow after a night of drinking in the French Quarter, the shrimp po boy is what I go back to every time at Uptown Sports Club. The kitchen dips the plump Gulf shrimp in a quick bath of Rambler sparkling water before a second dredge of corn starch and baking soda. The mixture adds a touch of minerality and makes the shrimp fizz up and fry to a tempura-like shell. Stuff those big boys in a fully dressed Leidenheimer roll and let the good times roll.

In a move aimed at having a stronger footprint in Texas, Delta Air Lines is growing its offering at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) and adding two smaller-market Texas airports to its network.

AUS will become a connecting airport for Delta for the first time. “When we look at Texas, historically, that's been some white space on our route map,” Eric Beck, Delta’s managing director of domestic network planning, tells Aviation Week Network.

From April 22, 2024, Delta will start service from the Texas capital to both Midland International Air and Space Port in western Texas and McAllen International Airport in southern Texas. Both routes will be operated 3X-daily with dual-class regional jets.

“McAllen and Midland are the two largest metros in Texas not yet served by Delta,” Beck says. “We saw an opportunity to build out Austin and achieve a level of presence and critical mass so we’re able to efficiently add McAllen and Midland onto our route network, bring customers [from those markets] into Austin and then they can connect, whether it's to Atlanta, New York, Seattle, Amsterdam [served from AUS by Delta SkyTeam partner KLM] or beyond.”

Also on April 22, Delta will commence 3X-daily service between AUS and Tennessee's Nashville International Airport (BNA), also to be operated with a dual-class regional jet.

During its summer 2024 schedule, Delta plans to operate nearly 50 peak-day flights from AUS to 15 U.S. airports, including all of the carrier’s hubs. Taking into acocunt the new routes and added frequencies, Delta will offer 21% more capacity from AUS in July 2024 versus July 2023.

“You have access to our entire network from Austin,” Beck says. “It’s now becoming our gateway into smaller Texas communities. Obviously, not having a hub in Texas—unlike our competitors—we haven't served as many cities in Texas. When we looked at some of the largest cities that were not on the Delta route map, many of them are in Texas, and the two biggest were McAllen and Midland.”

Beck says AUS connects “to all of our hubs with good schedules and good level of frequencies.” He points to other key routes to non-hub leisure destinations such as Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida, adding: “We have enough critical mass of service to be able to use Austin to access interior Texas and then provide one-stop connectivity to all of our hubs and some other key cities around the country and around the world.”

Delta’s Austin push comes as rival American Airlines pulls back from what had been a post-pandemic push to make AUS a key network point with extensive nonstop connections. Now, 21 of 42 destinations (both year-round and seasonal) to which American has been flying from Austin will be dropped in early 2024.

Beck says Delta’s decision to boost AUS is “not about a competitor,” noting the carrier was moving to grow at AUS “prior to the pandemic … adding more and more cities over time. This has always been something that was in our plans and made sense for us.”

He says Delta views AUS as a growth market. “When we look at Austin and really across Texas, it's very favorable demographics,” Beck explains. “We see the amount of population shift into Austin, we see companies that are moving to Austin and expanding there. We see all that economic activity and as we've put in more and more service over time, we've been really pleased with the results.”