Trans-Texas Corridor on Short List for Accelerated Projects

IH-69 added to DOT’s Corridors of the Future short list of projects being tagged for speedy development. Also, projects begin on U.S, 83 in San Antonio and IH-45 in Houston.

IH-69 Makes Short List of Interstate Corridors for U.S. DOT

Interstate 69 from Texas to Michigan – including part of the Trans-Texas Corridor – is included on a short list of interstate corridors being considered for fast track development by federal transportation officials.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Corridors of the Future program – designed to reduce traffic tie-ups on several of the nation’s busiest highways – selected a short list of 14 interstate corridors. Five will be selected later this summer for the Corridors of the Future program, which will accelerate permitting schedules, identify new financing options and promote innovative project delivery methods to accelerate the movement of the projects from the drawing board to completion.

The Department of Transportation is advancing 14 of 38 proposals located on eight major transportation corridors including:  IH-95 between Florida and Maine; IH-15 in southern California and Nevada; IH-80/94 and IH-90 linking Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan; IH-5 in California, Washington and Oregon; IH-70 from Missouri to Ohio; IH-69 from Texas to Michigan; IH-80 in Nevada and California; and IH-10 from California to Florida. 

The proposals currently include various combinations of expanded highway capacity, truck-only lanes, increased freight and passenger rail development, and extensive use of innovative technologies to keep traffic moving and improve overall safety.

The 14 projects were selected based on the potential of each to reduce congestion on the eight corridors of national and regional significance using innovative financing and project delivery techniques. The department will select up to five Corridors of the Future in the summer.

The Corridors of the Future program is one element of DOT’s six-point National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network launched in May 2006.  The overall national congestion initiative is focused on reducing traffic on highways, relieving freight bottlenecks and reducing flight delays. 

If IH-69 is selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation this summer as part of the Corridors of the Future program, the federal department will aggressively support the project to move it “from the drawing board to completion faster than ever before,” according to the announcement.

The Texas segment of IH-69 is being developed as part of the Trans-Texas Corridor, and extends from Northeast Texas to Mexico. The goal of TTC-69 is to increase mobility, safety and economic development opportunities through a multi-use transportation system that includes roads, rail and utilities.

TxDOT will hold hearings later this year about the corridor from the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo to Texarkana to get public input on the environmental process. That effort will dictate if and where TTC-69 is built.

TxDOT is considering private sector proposals to finance and build TTC-69.

U.S. 83 Expansion Started in San Antonio

The Texas Department of Transportation and its contractor, E.E. Hood & Sons, is preparing to move traffic on Getty Street, U.S. 83 in San Antonio, to the west side of the roadway from U.S. 90 north to Leona Street. The work began in February and is scheduled for completion this summer.

Initially, no left turn lane will be available at the U.S. 83/U.S. 90 intersection. A left turn lane will be added after the storm sewer is installed between South Street and North Street and the contractor has placed the hot-mix asphalt pavement. The storm sewer system is estimated to be in place by June.

Crews will maintain one travel lane, 12 ft wide, in each way. There will be a six-foot buffer between the lanes and the curb and a five-ft buffer between the travel lanes and the construction area.

Interstate 45 Construction Starts

The Texas Transportation Commission awarded a contract for the repair of IH-45 from the Harris County line to south of Texas City. The length of the project is 16 mi. on IH-45 in Galveston County. Construction will consist of concrete pavement repair, concrete joint repair and the installation of pipe underdrains.

A significant feature of this project is the construction of the staple-joint type of repair for longitudinal joints that have separated, and the installation of a six-in. perforated pipe underdrain along the edge of the pavement. The perforations in the pipe allow water that would ordinarily be trapped underneath the pavement to enter the pipe and be channeled away.

Main Lane Industries was awarded the $4.5 million contract to make repairs. Completion is expected by February 2008.