The MoPac Improvement Project will add one variable-priced toll, or express, lane in each direction on MoPac between Parmer Lane and Cesar Chavez Street. The cost of the toll will increase or decrease as traffic on the express and main lanes increases and decreases.
The project was set to be substantially complete Dec. 27. But on Dec. 17, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, which is overseeing construction, issued a notice of default against CH2M, citing failure to complete the project “in accordance with the project schedule” and provide resources to substantially complete the project within 180 days of the original completion date.
The notice gives CH2M up to 60 days to respond with a plan outlining how it will complete construction in a timely manner. Steve Pustelnyk, director of community relations for the MoPac project, said the Mobility Authority and CH2M could settle on an agreement in February indicating milestones for construction elements to be completed.CH2M faced several challenges that delayed the schedule, Craig Martell, executive director of special projects for CH2M, previously told Community Impact Newspaper. These included lack of labor, inclement weather, unknown underground utilities and discovery of hard rock, the latter of which the Mobility Authority disputes.
The contractor did hire additional workers in an effort to catch up, but Pustelnyk said that surge in workforce was not sustained. At its peak, the project had between 350 and 400 workers on-site, and that number is now down in the 200 range, he said.
Pustelnyk said the goal of the notice of default is to get the project completed in a reasonable amount of time with the original contractor. The reasonable amount of time is based on the amount of work left to complete and how long that work would take with a reasonable pace and workforce.
He said the goal is to have the project completed by the end of 2016, and the Mobility Authority also wants to open the project in phases.
“Between Memorial Day and Fourth of July, we’re hoping we could get a section open,” Pustelnyk said, adding it would be the northbound section between RM 2222 and Parmer.
Most of the construction is occurring downtown where crews have excavated for the southbound underpass to connect the express lane to Fifth and Cesar Chavez streets. On the northbound side, Pustelnyk said wet weather has delayed paving the permanent section for vehicles to exit to Enfield Road or enter MoPac.
Once that paving is done, traffic on the main lanes will also shift so crews can excavate for the northbound underpass for traffic entering from Sixth and Cesar Chavez streets to the express lane, Pustelnyk said.
North of RM 2222, most of the work is complete on the new express lanes. Expansion of the bridges should be done by March, Pustelnyk said.
Workers are also installing sound walls and completing the shared-use path that will run from the Northern Walnut Creek Trail that is still under construction to Capital of Texas Hwy. Another section of the shared-use path will run from Neils Thompson Drive just north of the MoPac and US 183 interchange to Shoal Creek Boulevard.
