First, a hearty THANK YOU to those who've asked for an update. It's hard to believe this project hasn't had an update written in well over a month ... but that's exactly what's happened.
We'll blame it on our focus on Fred-Med and on I-10. And I-35. And ... well, an absolute lack of excuses.
Meanwhile, Williams Brothers has continued to develop the overpass bridges over U.S. Highway 281 and the roadway between West Avenue and Highway 281 and between Highway 281 and Jones-Maltsberger. Meanwhile, crews are working on the new entrance and exit ramps along the northbound side of U.S. 281. Once the bridge deck for the overpass is finished, expect to see work on the southbound side as well.
The segment between West Avenue and Jones-Maltsberger is still on track for completion mid-2015.
The segment between Jones-Maltsberger and Wetmore has run into some snags. We previously had looked at mid-October for a targeted completion date. However, we discovered some issues with the road surface near the overpass bridge at Starcrest.
The process to fix it has to begin with determining who is financially responsible for the fix. We have forensic engineers taking a look at things to determine if the issue is caused by the design or if it's caused by the way it was constructed. That will determine who is on the hook for the bill to fix the issue.
Once we figure out who's paying for what, we'll be able to get moving to repair the issue. Until then, the contractor will use their resources on other projects.
We still have the concrete barrier near the city brush dump site to finish, but that will not be done until we're ready to put traffic on the entire stretch of the Parkway from Jones-Maltsberger to Wetmore. That can't happen until the issue at Starcrest is resolved.
So ... when will we be finished with this segment and have the parkway opened for use between Jones-Maltsberger and Wetmore?
Right now we're hoping to have it ready for use by the first of 2015.
