A letter from the President, James Construction; a Summary of a recent TXDot meeting

Friends,

The following is a letter from the President of James Construction as well as a summary of a TXDOT meeting that Alderman Mike McDougal and Mr. Dave Swarthout, Chamber of Commerce, attended.

The letter:

Mayor Blancett,

Thank you for your early morning email.  

While you are correct that I do not live in Salado, I want to assure you that we do share the common goal of completing the I-35 construction as soon as possible.   Since returning to the role as President of James in February of this year, the Salado project has been one of our biggest areas of frustration and has become a major focus for our company.   The project has been a tough project from many perspectives and I think all of the stakeholders (Salado, TXDOT and James) are now fully aligned in trying to find ways to expedite the work.   I'm still learning of some of the earlier issues with the project, but obviously the extreme weather conditions have made progress very difficult since I got involved in February.   Hopefully, the bad weather is behind us and some of the changes we have made will result in progress that everyone can see.

Thanks,

Mike Killgore

Michael D. Killgore, P.E.
President – James Construction Group
SVP – Primoris Services Corporation



The Meeting Summary:

Timothy Wiggins - is the on the ground in Salado everyday as supervisor/project manager.
He is from Las Vegas and will be here for the next 6 months.

Mark Jones was asked:  "Has the change order been signed or will it be
signed by the July 10th date as requested by the General"?

ANSWER " NO IT HAS NOT BEEN SIGNED YET, BUT WILL BE BY THE 10TH" 
Rick Lewis, Area Manager, James Construction, replied that even though the
change order has not been signed, does not preclude James from initiating
the work as specified in the change order. That work has begun.

Salado Plaza Bridge - Work is scheduled to begin in the next 30 days. Both
TxDot and James are meeting on how to minimize the disruption of traffic
flow as much as possible. One thought is that they would keep the north
bound frontage road two way during the construction of the Bridge. Andy
Petter/TxDot will do a program to inform the community on the construction
and traffic pattern.

Andy Petter, TxDot, said they are working on signage for the village to
include, "Welcome to Salado" both at North and South ends of the village.
Other signage would be directional business signs to be placed at
intersection that may be confusing to direct visitors to the various
businesses. The digital sign on I35 will be changed from Salado exit 285 to read "Salado
next three exits"

Thomas Arnold road from the south frontage road to the school will be paved,
curb and sidewalk installed before school starts. As well as having the
sidewalk over the bridge open with the finishing of the guard rail. East
side to also be finished. There will also be safety lighting under all the
bridges.

TxDot to provide a copy of the construction plan in a simple to read
overview of the Salado portion of I35.

Note:

TxDoT and Village will have a Town Hall meeting.  A Date is being worked for early August.  TxDot will explain exactly what is happening and what is going to happen.

Many, many thanks to Alderman Mike McDougal and Mr. Swarthout for attending and reporting on this meeting.

VR/Skip