Highway workers are gearing up to
make improvements that will keep traffic moving on one of Southeast Texas’ most
important bridges. The Texas Department
of Transportation (TxDOT) says the project will help prepare the Neches River
Bridge (Purple Heart Memorial Bridge) to handle traffic during the upcoming
reconstruction project scheduled later this year.
The project involves repairing sections of the
westbound lanes of the bridge that are prone to developing potholes. Repairing
those areas is vital because the westbound section of the bridge will handle
both east and westbound lanes during the complete reconstruction of the bridge.
Beginning
Friday night at 9 p.m. (June 22) Williams Brothers, the project contractor,
will close the westbound middle and left lanes of the bridge. Work will
continue throughout the weekend ending a.m. Monday. Workers will remove and replace pothole-prone
sections of pavement. TxDOT says reinforcing those areas means less likelihood
of having a lane closure due to a pothole during the reconstruction phase.
TxDOT is warning motorists to drive safely through the work zone and to watch
for workers and stopped vehicles.
The weekend work is a prelude to the much
larger project to replace the bridge. The project is scheduled to begin later
next month. The first five months of the project will involve installing
high-mast lighting. Later this fall,
worker will switch traffic on the bridge to begin the reconstruction
phase.
Marc S.
Is this why Route 10 is gridlocked between Vidor and Beaumont westbound?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post. The closure did have an impact on traffic. The good news is the contractor completed the work well ahead of schedule.
ReplyDeleteMake sure to check out www.drivetexas.org to get lane closures before you head out.
Regards,
Marc S.
There is an electronic message board westbound on I10 right after you cross the state line. The message displayed a generic statement about tow trucks or something.
ReplyDeleteIf Houston Transtar took this area seriously that sign would of displayed some message that there is lane closures expect major delays take TX73.
Speaking about TX73. Could TX73 be upgraded just like 35E and 35W in DFW? TX73 would become 10S and I10 in Beaumont would be 10N . This would be a tremendous longterm value for Jefferson county, Beaumont and Port Arthur and funding should not be a problem for such a project.
Please at the very least during construction use the ITS to alert us of delays in real time.
Thank you
Would it be possible for you to make a FB page for notifications of lane closures etc. on I 10 locally in Jefferson, Orange counties? There are some of us that don't twitter. It would be great to be able to look up and see if traffic is backed up for hours and be able to go around via bridges to avoid it.
ReplyDeleteHi Beth. You must be reading our mind.
ReplyDeleteWe are working with some other entities to have a dedicated FB page for notifications. It's definitely something we believe would help.
Let us know if you have other ideas you believe would help get the word out.
Marc S.
Is there some reason why FM365, US90 or SH105 could not be extended into Orange county to relieve some of this gridlock? SH105 would probably require less work since ships don't go North of I10. Why hasn't this been done? Do you guys only build highways between industrial areas? What about us residents?
ReplyDelete