AUSTIN, Texas — As Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) employees return to their Austin office following a mandate from Gov. Greg Abbott, they’ve reportedly been met with a lack of parking options.
Last week, a TxDOT worker filed a 311 complaint with the city after TxDOT reportedly permitted its employees to park in fire lanes and outside of garages at the department’s Central East Austin location, according to KUT.
The employee reported that there wasn’t a parking zone, and a Transportation and Public Works (TPW) Mobility Service officer examined the scene on April 1.
The complaint was closed after the officer reported “no problem found” at the campus, located at 6230 East Stassney Lane. According to TPW, the organization only regulates public parking spots and TxDOT is located on private property.
Amid the limited parking, TxDOT also reportedly allowed some employees to secure their vehicles near its parking garages because the department expected a potential overspill.
Many TxDOT employees were first allowed to work from home back in 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the U.S. Eventually, some workers moved to hybrid shifts.
But in March 2025, Gov. Abbott pushed for several state agencies – including TxDOT – to shift from online to in-person work. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission were also placed on the governor’s list, with the changes required to take place by March 31.
Last month, Ann Bishop, the executive director of the Texas Public Employees Association, told KVUE that the Austin TxDOT location was not constructed to house all of its workers in-person.