East Austin's transportation landscape is shifting this summer with a mix of newly completed service, active construction and upcoming projects in the pipeline.

What's done: CapMetro's Rapid 800 Pleasant Valley and Rapid 837 Expo Center lines reached full 10-minute peak frequency June 7, completing a transit expansion years in the making for corridors east of I-35.

What's happening: I-35 Capital Express Central construction is advancing on two fronts—bridge work over Lady Bird Lake and drainage tunnel construction beneath Cesar Chavez Street—with lane reductions and permanent closures now in effect near Riverside Drive and Woodland Avenue. Airport Boulevard corridor signal and pedestrian upgrades continue between I-35 and US 183.

What's next: Safety and multimodal improvements are in design for Cesar Chavez Street and Red Bluff Road, and the East 51st Street Mobility Project is entering the public design phase ahead of a 2027 construction start.

Austin ISD closed the 2025-26 school year with a projected $95 million shortfall—more than four times the $19.7 million shortfall the board adopted last June—as trustees questioned whether they could vote on a budget that may already be underpowered before it takes effect.

Some details: The district's fund balance is projected to fall to 10.1% of operating expenditures by the end of June, according to a June 11 Austin ISD board meeting presentation. That figure is half the 20% that the board's own policy requires and below even the temporary 15% floor trustees set in 2025. The fund balance acts as the district's savings account, covering payroll and expenses during the months before property tax revenue arrives each year, according to the presentation.

The district expects to need a short-term loan in September or October to cover payroll—a repeat of the $19 million it borrowed last year at a cost of approximately $250,000 in interest and fees, AISD's Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery said.

A Travis County-funded pilot program connecting violence victims and their families to social services at Austin's two Level 1 trauma centers is expiring this year with no confirmed funding source to continue it, according to a presentation by Ascension Seton staff to Travis County Commissioners on June 9.

What you need to know: The $500,000 contract with Ascension Seton for the Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program, or HVIP, will be fully expended by Aug. 31 with no other funding sources identified, according to county documents. Travis County Health and Human Services submitted a budget request for $250,000 annually in fiscal year 2026-27 to continue the program, a Travis County spokesperson confirmed.

The HVIP launched in October 2024 at Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas at Austin—the only Level 1 adult trauma center in Central Texas—and Dell Children's Medical Center, according to county documents.

A Crunch Fitness in Austin, an AutoZone in Lago Vista and the Plaza Saltillo Station Double Track and Trail Project are among the five most expensive projects filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the Austin metro this week.

1. Plaza Saltillo Station Double Track and Trail Project ($40.6 million): This project involves a change from single track to double track, building platforms and canopies for passenger waiting areas, and associated utility relocations and right-of-way flatwork.

2. Emergency Animal Hospital of Buda ($1.7 million): A new emergency animal hospital is coming to Buda, with construction set to begin in August.

3. Snack Time C-Store & Gas Station Building ($1.6 million): This project involves the construction of a single-story gas station building with a proposed deli.

4. Crunch Fitness ($1.5 million): A new Crunch Fitness location is coming to Austin. 

5. AutoZone ($1.2 million): A 6,800-square-foot AutoZone is coming to Lago Vista, with construction set to begin in December.