Workers install portions of a sound wall Jan. 14 as part of the MoPac Improvement Project.[/caption]
In December the
MoPac Improvement Project passed the halfway mark on a two-year, $200 million project to add one new tolled lane in either direction from Parmer Lane to Lady Bird Lake.
The project also
involves installing almost seven miles of sound walls between the roadway and adjacent homes as well as building 3.5 miles of a bike and pedestrian path. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, which is managing the project, began construction in December 2013.
Crews have installed most of the cabling that will connect the tolling and dynamic messaging system. They have also been drilling for the wall shafts. In mid-January crews started installing some of the sound walls near 10th Street, and the work will ramp up by March, said Steve Pustelnyk, director of community relations for the project.
“When those start to go up it’s really going to change the character of the project south of [RM] 2222,” he said.
On the northern end of the project crews have started paving the new toll lanes. This is because crews have more room for construction, Pustelnyk said.
“North of [RM] 2222 in the spring will start to look very done from a standpoint of the new lanes,” he said. “You’ll see a lot of the paving work take place and some of the overhead sign structures go up.”
Since the fall the Mobility Authority has addressed issues with the project’s schedule and restriping of lanes. To accommodate construction the main lanes were shifted and repainted. The old stripes were masked with black paint but at times were still visible. Pustelnyk said contractor CH2M Hill has restriped the entire length of the project to address visibility.
“Striping will always be a challenge, but we’re doing what we can to stay on top of it,” Pustelnyk said.
Once the project is completed, Pustelnyk said the lanes will be shifted again and a permeable friction topcoat will be applied. The topcoat is quieter and will reduce the risk of hydroplaning and reduce the amount of dirt and oil running off the roadway into the drainage system or bodies of water, he said.
The schedule took a hit in the fall when CH2M Hill
announced it was about three weeks behind because of weather-related issues and the subcontractor submitting the design late. CH2M Hill
increased the number of workers by 74 percent to more than 400 to account for some of the delays.
Employees from the Mobility Authority and CH2M Hill are reviewing the schedule to measure the actual delay, and Pustelnyk said an update would be available after the Mobility Authority reviews change orders it submitted to CH2M Hill.
Many of the change orders will address technical issues that have arisen, such as rebuilding the support for the on-ramp at RM 2222. Pustelnyk said the Mobility Authority will have to decide whether to give the contractor CH2M Hill additional time to address the change orders.
Other work slated to be underway in early 2015 is construction of the bike and pedestrian path. This path will run from north of Duval Road and connect to the US 183 interchange.
“It wasn’t feasible to do a continuous hike and bike trail the whole way, so what we did is filled in some of the gaps to try and create some connectivity,” Pustelnyk said.
Workers install portions of a sound wall Jan. 14 as part of the MoPac Improvement Project.[/caption]
In December the MoPac Improvement Project passed the halfway mark on a two-year, $200 million project to add one new tolled lane in either direction from Parmer Lane to Lady Bird Lake.
The project also involves installing almost seven miles of sound walls between the roadway and adjacent homes as well as building 3.5 miles of a bike and pedestrian path. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, which is managing the project, began construction in December 2013.
Crews have installed most of the cabling that will connect the tolling and dynamic messaging system. They have also been drilling for the wall shafts. In mid-January crews started installing some of the sound walls near 10th Street, and the work will ramp up by March, said Steve Pustelnyk, director of community relations for the project.
“When those start to go up it’s really going to change the character of the project south of [RM] 2222,” he said.
On the northern end of the project crews have started paving the new toll lanes. This is because crews have more room for construction, Pustelnyk said.
“North of [RM] 2222 in the spring will start to look very done from a standpoint of the new lanes,” he said. “You’ll see a lot of the paving work take place and some of the overhead sign structures go up.”
Since the fall the Mobility Authority has addressed issues with the project’s schedule and restriping of lanes. To accommodate construction the main lanes were shifted and repainted. The old stripes were masked with black paint but at times were still visible. Pustelnyk said contractor CH2M Hill has restriped the entire length of the project to address visibility.
“Striping will always be a challenge, but we’re doing what we can to stay on top of it,” Pustelnyk said.
Once the project is completed, Pustelnyk said the lanes will be shifted again and a permeable friction topcoat will be applied. The topcoat is quieter and will reduce the risk of hydroplaning and reduce the amount of dirt and oil running off the roadway into the drainage system or bodies of water, he said.
The schedule took a hit in the fall when CH2M Hill announced it was about three weeks behind because of weather-related issues and the subcontractor submitting the design late. CH2M Hill increased the number of workers by 74 percent to more than 400 to account for some of the delays.
Employees from the Mobility Authority and CH2M Hill are reviewing the schedule to measure the actual delay, and Pustelnyk said an update would be available after the Mobility Authority reviews change orders it submitted to CH2M Hill.
Many of the change orders will address technical issues that have arisen, such as rebuilding the support for the on-ramp at RM 2222. Pustelnyk said the Mobility Authority will have to decide whether to give the contractor CH2M Hill additional time to address the change orders.
Other work slated to be underway in early 2015 is construction of the bike and pedestrian path. This path will run from north of Duval Road and connect to the US 183 interchange.
“It wasn’t feasible to do a continuous hike and bike trail the whole way, so what we did is filled in some of the gaps to try and create some connectivity,” Pustelnyk said.
