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The Texas Department of Transportation, or TxDOT, oversees Texas transportation and is headquartered in Austin. The Texas Legislature created the organization in 1917, although the agency has had several names throughout the past century.TxDOT is run by a five-member commission and an executive director selected by the commission. Commission members are appointed by the governor, with the advice of the Texas Senate, and serve overlapping six-year terms.The department is divided into 25 districts, each of which oversees construction and maintenance of state highways. Austin’s district includes Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Gillespie, Hays, Lee, Llano, Mason, Travis and Williamson counties.In Austin, the organization encompasses entities including Capital Metro; the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, known as CAMPO; the city’s transportation department; and the chamber of commerce. TxDOT organized the “Don’t Mess with Texas” anti-litter campaign, which began in 1986. Also, it runs the TxTag program, which bills drivers for highway tolls by scanning a sticker on the driver’s windshield at toll stations.

Bridge Demolition Will Shut I-35 Overnight in Buda

Bridge over I-35
Image courtesy splorp http://www.flickr.com/photos/splorp/
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TxDOT will begin demolishing a bridge over I-35 (not this one) tonight, and it means overnight shutdowns of I-35 near Buda.

Some crucial traffic information if you're planning on driving along I-35 in Hays County: The Texas Department of Transportation says it will close all northbound lanes near Buda exit 217 from 8 p.m. today until 6 a.m. Wednesday.  Traffic will be rerouted along access roads.

TxDOT says they'll repeat the whole procedure with the southbound lanes on Wednesday night during the same time frame. Northbound lanes will not close Wednesday night.

The reason? Bridge demolition. TxDOT is going to destroy the existing County Rd 210 Bridge and build a new five lane span.

Those hoping for an exciting demolition spectacle might be disappointed, according to TxDOT.

"No exciting explosion," spokesperson John Hurt told KUT News. "They actually saw the sections of the bridge off. It's attached to a crane, they will lift the sawed off section from the bridge, put it on the back of a truck and drive it off," Hurt said.

Here's how it looked in Texarkana, TX when they did blow up a bridge the exciting way earlier this year.

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.