Beating the Bitters confusion....

More than a few phone calls have poured in over the announced closures happening at the intersection of U.S. Highway 281 and Bitters Road as part of the Wurzbach Parkway project. While these closures were described a week ago, let's make sure everyone is clear on what's really happening.

Here's the facts:

• Starting tonight the south-to-north and north-to-south turnarounds on U.S. 281 at Bitters will be closed. These turnarounds will be closed for six (6) months.
• Starting tonight the right-hand through lane of Bitters Road will be closed at U.S. Highway 281. This lane will be closed for six (6) months.
• Through traffic at Bitters will NOT be cut off entirely. Not long-term, that is. Two lanes headed east and one lane headed west will remain.
• Occasionally an additional closure will be required. These additional closures will NOT be long-term and will be announced as they are needed.

Just for grins, here's why we're closing things: we're widening the U.S. 281 overpass at Bitters Road. The expansion isn't huge - it's only enough to allow us to fit one additional lane of traffic. But it means we'll be working on overhead bridge structures. Any time we're working overhead, we don't like to have traffic running under us. Just ... so many bad things can happen. Since safety is our top priority, we just like to leave that stuff alone.

The turnarounds will be closed because we'll be doing the most work there. The new bridge structure will require abutment joints and new "rip-rap" (the concrete slope at the ends of the bridge). Lots of digging and demo work will be going on there, then some construction. With all the equipment and the moving parts, shutting the turnarounds down is simply the only way.

The right through lanes are closed to help bridge crews build the necessary columns and caps. We'll eventually need to have similar shorter-termed closures at the center of the bridge, but this closure lets us get as much as we can accomplish before we move into the middle - making the work in the middle faster.

Again, thru traffic on Bitters is NOT being stopped long-term. However, daily commuters should anticipate a few extra minutes to drive through this. Plan on that extra time, and travel accordingly. We'll get things wrapped up as quickly as we can so we can be out of the way of one another.

Above all, be safe! Remember this work zone is our "office". Can you imagine working in an office where cars were zipping by, within just a few feet of your desk? It can be nerve-racking! Be careful and cautious so we can return home to our families each day. We've got husbands, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives and mothers on that job. We'd like to continue in those capacities, and we have folks depending on our ability to do so as well....