Congress Avenue Historic District

Travis Heights neighborhood, the Texas School for the Deaf, and St. Edward's University

Interstate 35 was completed in the 1960s, Congress Avenue was the primary road to reach Austin from the south. Certain landmarks such as the Austin Motel

US 290/SH 71 freeway (locally called Ben White Boulevard) as it travels to the northeast. Continuing to the northeast, it passes by St. Edward's University and goes through the namesake South Congress district before crossing over Lady Bird Lake (Colorado River) by way of the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge. The street continues northeast through downtown Austin to 11th Street at the Texas State Capitol. At the Capitol, it splits into a one-way pair, with the northbound lanes going around the east side of the Capitol, and the southbound lanes going around the west side. (This portion of Congress between 11th and 15th Streets has been permanently closed to auto traffic since 2001.) The street merges back to a 2-way street northeast of the Capitol and continues heading to the northeast. It continues for several more blocks before coming to an end at the University of Texas at Austin campus at Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard.^[3]

Mexican Free-tailed Bats. The bats can be seen emerging by the thousands from under the bridge every evening throughout the summer, before they eventually migrate to Mexico for the winter.^[4]