Bringing imagination to life for I-35 construction

April 30, 2025

By Laura Lopez

SAN ANTONIO — From toy trucks to the real thing, kids in San Antonio recently got to see their imaginations come to life at TxDOT’s ‘Touch A Truck’ community event.

Youngsters got an up-close look at construction equipment used on the I-35 NEX project. The event included more than 20 stations where participants got to sit in a bulldozer, excavator, concrete mixer and dump trucks.

“This was a great way to show the next generation how we build roads and what goes into it,” said Charles Benavidez, TxDOT’s lead engineer in San Antonio. “It was also a great way to show how important safety is when it comes to working on roads.”

More than 300 people attended for the three-hour event. Visitors got to explore, interact and take photos with the equipment. They also had a chance to talk with TxDOT about the I-35 NEX project and learn about the types of equipment and materials used to build highways and elevated lanes on the project.

In addition, TxDOT gave free safety vests to the first 100 kids and 100 adults.

Every day, crews across Texas work to build and maintain the state's roads, sometimes separated from high-speed traffic by only a few feet. In recognition of National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 21-25, 2025, TxDOT calls on motorists to make driving safely a priority when passing through the state’s active work zones.

In 2024, nearly 28,000 traffic crashes occurred in work zones in Texas, resulting in 215 deaths and another 825 serious injuries.

Most of the people killed in work zone crashes are drivers and their passengers. They made up 81% of the fatalities in 2024. Speeding, driver inattention and unsafe lane changes were among the top contributing factors in work zone crashes.