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Tuesday, September 30

Wurzbach Parkway redux

This week is much of the same stuff as last week, as the major work planned around the intersection of Starcrest Drive and Wurzbach Parkway was put off due to the rain last weekend.

That hasn't kept crews with Texas Sterling Construction from doing what they can, however - including some work that surprised folks yesterday by closing some of the access through Starcrest. That work was short-lived, though, and will be wrapped up this weekend.

If it feels like there's a sense of urgency to finish, that feeling would be accurate. This project, which was originally contracted to Ballenger Construction in 2011, was scheduled to be finished about a year ago. Ballenger declared bankruptcy in 2012, defaulting on the project and putting the project in the hands of their bonding company, Liberty Mutual.

Texas Sterling took over the project in the spring of 2013 and needed a few months to sort through what had been done and what hadn't, as well as to repair things that weren't done correctly. They also had the nearly finished segment between Blanco and West Avenue to wrap up, which was done last year.

The reality is we're a mere weeks from having this eastern segment of Wurzbach Parkway finished and in regular use; but a few painstaking things need to yet be complete. One of the biggest tasks is the final surface of asphalt on Starcrest at Wurzbach. Texas Sterling Construction plans to do that work this weekend, firing up equipment around midday and blocking some of the lanes of traffic by 1 p.m.

Traffic should still be able to move through the area, but drivers should plan on the route being sluggish at best.

On the "middle" segment, or the final segment, Williams Brothers is planning to close the main lanes of U.S. Highway 281 at Wurzbach Parkway next week to set bridge deck panels over the highway. Deck panels are flat pieces of concrete that fit together to form the skeleton of the bridge.

Exact dates for the closure are not yet known, but should be posted by Friday.

The final segment is still set to open middle of next year.