By: Jake Goodman
Some road projects in San Marcos are ahead of schedule, but others have fallen behind due to unforeseen delays.Construction completion on LBJ Drive has been delayed until the summer due to inclement weather and the addition of sewer and water lines to the Sessom Drive and LBJ intersection.
Shaun Condor, engineering manager for Engineering & Capital Improvements, oversees projects on North LBJ Drive and State Highway 123 (SH-123). He said the LBJ Drive construction project has been delayed, while the city’s section of SH-123 is moving ahead of schedule. Chris Bishop, public information officer for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), said the TxDOT side of the project will not be completed for two years.
Condor said LBJ Drive will be completed sometime this summer. The project was originally scheduled to be finished last March.
“I expect (completion) in July, assuming the weather cooperates,” Condor said. “We’ve had a lot of rain, which forces us to give more days to the contractors.”
Condor said the new sewer and waterlines at the intersection of LBJ and Sessom Drive were added to the project scope, delaying completion.
Condor said the waterline was scheduled to be a separate project, but it was added to the road renovation. Adding the waterline to the current project ensured crews did not have to come back and start at a later date.
“People don’t realize that underground projects take a lot longer than they should,” Condor said. “Anything where you have underground improvements, you just keep digging over and over.”
Condor said the city’s part of the SH-123 project is about two months ahead of schedule and will be completed within the next month. The road portion of the project will not be complete until the TxDOT share is finished.
“It’s TxDOT’s right of way,” Condor said. “We’re just moving in advance. My work is completed when my scope is completed.”
Bishop said the TxDOT project includes the construction of feeder roads and an overpass on top of SH-123. TxDOT officials require cities to relocate water and power lines before road projects can begin.
“We don’t allow utilities to move through the edge of the highway,” Bishop said. “That way it doesn’t affect traffic flow and puts it in one place that’s accessible.”
Bishop said barricades have been set up and the site is marked for construction.
“In this case, (TxDOT) opted to let the utility work finish and waited for better weather conditions to settle,” Bishop said. “Now we’re ready to get geared up and hit it a lick.”
Bishop said the first stage of the project is the construction of a diamond interchange and feeder roads. These features will allow traffic to flow during construction of the overpass.
“TxDOT’s top priority is safety for drivers on (SH-)123, and we want to make sure drivers can get through in a timely manner,” Bishop said.
The overpass will be complete sometime in late 2017, Bishop said.
Jake Goodman is a news reporter for the University Star where this story originally published, and reprinted here through a news partnership between the University Star and Corridor News.
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