Between Valley Mills Drive and Irving Lee Street — home to campus’s closest H-E-B — the southbound I-35 frontage road has been cut down to one lane since mid-2025. Its completion, along with other parts of the project, such as a new intersection at Valley Mills, will improve the driving experience in the area. But for now, traffic has swelled on the street where students make their final right turn into the H-E-B parking lot.
Browsing: I-35 construction
Beginning in February 2025 and lasting until 2029, My35 Waco South works on the three-mile stretch of I-35 between 12th Street and South Loop 340. Along this stretch, crews will widen I-35 to eight lanes, reconstruct overpasses and bridges and complete various other work on sidewalks and on-ramps and off-ramps. Also, at Valley Mills Drive, the project will add a novel intersection design, according to Jacob Smith, Waco TxDOT public information officer.
Announced to Baylor students via newsflash email in the evening of Sept. 15, the closures begin with a full shutdown of the eastbound 18th Street, which will reopen by 7 a.m. Friday, Sept. 19. Following the removal of the 18th Street bridge, the email said that westbound 17th Street will be closed from Sept. 21-24. The highway itself will remain open throughout the removal of the bridges, the email stated.
