Friends,
During the TXDoT/James Construction meeting Tuesday, the following news was distributed:
1. The 50 MPH Speed limit signs are posted at the dangerous part of the Salado construction. TXDoT is requesting that a State Trooper be at future meetings and one frequently be present at the entrance and/or exit of that section.
2. The west side of the frontage road bridge over Salado Creek will be completed in February. Once that is done the west side frontage road from Thomas Arnold south will be open to traffic.
3. The new Salado Plaza Bridge will be completed by 15 March. Permanent I-35 Traffic will be going north and south by April. Once this is done, the north bound frontage road will be completed.
4. The Thomas Arnold Bridge will be completed by end of this year. However, the railing will have to be installed before the new part of the bridge will be opened.
5. Workers for the last two weeks in December will work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday they will have the opportunity to return to their home in Mexico. This is only for the weeks before Christmas and New Years. They will begin working a full schedule the first week in January. Last Christmas, 14 Dec, workers were off the entire week of December. This is a significant change from last year. There is also talk of bringing in an additional crew after the new year.
6. TXDoT is trying to not to have any lane closures from 23 Dec through 3 January. They want Holiday traffic to flow as smoothly as possible. With the new speed limits, hopefully, there will be no accidents.
7. Thomas Arnold bridge was hit by a truck carrying transformers. Fortunately, no damage was done the bridge. The truck did not have the proper permit and was stacked too high. Two transformers were displaced. Damage occurred to the transformers. AGAIN, DAMAGE WAS NOT DONE TO THOMAS ARNOLD BRIDGE.
8. Lighted box signs will be placed at the North and South side of Salado Village announcing that food, gas, and lodging are available at the next exits. This will encourage travelers to stop in Salado for their needs.
9. The major construction will end by May. Sixty day later complete clean-up will be completed and the total construction will be over. As anyone can see, much progress is being made. However, the project will be watched carefully and pressure will be applied when necessary.
VR/Skip
Messer,
ReplyDeleteI will try not to be bearer of bad news but by the looks of the progress since I was last in town, James Construction Group has gone backwards and has made more of mess of the site. Someone is telling you what you want to hear. Someone is not telling you reality. Someone is telling you a story hoping you believe it and pass that story along to us.
All we need to do is look at the conditions of their projects and their monthly progress payments on the TxDOT website to help understand what is being conveyed on the progress. The estimates say what is not occurring along the corridor and what isn’t occurring with their progress. TxDOT seems they will be left with no choice except to do what is best for the taxpayers and by the looks of the mess this company makes, TxDOT and their teams has their hands full.
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cmd/cserve/distinfo/cisrpts/001507065.pdf
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cmd/cserve/distinfo/cisrpts/001506071.pdf
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cmd/cserve/distinfo/cisrpts/001514091.pdf
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cmd/cserve/distinfo/cisrpts/001504067.pdf
ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cmd/cserve/distinfo/cisrpts/001502048.pdf
Using their historical data, we should not expect the project to be substantially complete before spring of 2017. This does not take into account removal and/or fixing the defective work that is rumored to exist throughout the south end of the project that could further delay the overall progress or lack thereof. This work seems not to be in forefront since we are still experiencing drainage issues.
This industry is very small when it comes to project issues, qualified managers, personal, and why projects and/or companies fail. Now that they have hired a new VP with roots deeply entrenched in the industry, we should be expecting great things to occur very soon but knowing the history, nothing will improve.