Lead piece
The Cap-and-Stitch Argument Over I-35
A highway redesign that everyone agreed Austin needed, and almost nothing else
Photo: Kindel Media / Pexels
Lake Travis, with the drought ring standing several feet above the water surface.
Photo: Wendelin Jacober / Pexels
Section 2 of 5
Roads, Rail, and What the Water Level Shows
What the city voted for, what it is building, and what the water level shows while it builds.
4 pieces in this section · every one with its own photograph
Voters Approved a Rail System, and Then the Estimate Went Up
Austin passed Project Connect in 2020 with a strong majority. By 2023, most of it was gone.
The Lakes Sat Low While the City Kept Growing
The bathtub ring around Lake Travis tells the story the growth statistics don't: a city doubling in population against a reservoir that cannot double its watershed.
Barton Springs Closes on Bacteria Counts, and the Salamander Is Still Listed
Barton Springs Pool shuts without drama — a sign goes up, the gates stay closed, and the water stays in the pool — but the numbers behind each closure trace a fault line that runs from Austin's streets through limestone and into a federal endangered-species listing that is now nearly three decades old.
Travis County and its neighbours, with the places named across this site: the lake at the top of the water record, the two towns the fab and the pits sit in, and the springs inside the city.
Geometry: project map kit