In late November, the Texas Transportation Commission is scheduled to "let" the big contract to build a new structure crossing the Neches River. Once the contract is selected and awarded, whomever is chosen will get to work on perhaps one of the most visible...and talked about...projects in our part of Texas.
The project is pretty straight-forward: rebuild the Neches River bridge. The execution of the job is what will be a challenge.
Built in the 1960's, and added to in the 70's, the bridge will be replaced with a segmental bridge. Somewhat similar to the two bridges recently completed at the Trinity River. But don't expect to see any dirt turning anytime soon.
The first six months of the project involved installing new high-mast lighting at the interchange. However, in the spring or early summer, the contractor will get to work on moving traffic and begin the process of building a new structure.
The good news: There will always be two lanes of traffic westbound and two lanes of traffic eastbound.
The bad news: There will still be some slowdowns, especially during the phases where the downtown exits are closed and traffic is re-routed.
The good news: There are incentives for the contractor to get those phases of the project open much quicker so those delays will be minimal.
In the meantime, we will keep you posted as to the progress and what is taking place during construction. Shoot us an email or leave a post if you have a question.
Marc S.
I work in downtown Beaumont and live on the east side of the bridge. They've only closed one lane so far, and already it's a mess at 5pm. Soooooooo not looking forward to this reconstruction. :/
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah. Thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that there won't be anymore lane closures on the eastbound side of the roadway. Eastbound will always have two lanes of traffic. However, the eastbound entrance ramp to I-10 from downtown Beaumont will be closed for a period of time. This means you will have to access I-10 eastbound using MLK.
We have a good contractor who is moving along very quickly. Our hope is that they will complete this project well ahead of schedule.
Feel free to contact us if you need anything.
Marc S.