Updated: Aug. 26 at 11:50 a.m. After hoping to open the first section of the MoPac toll project by the end of August, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority announced Aug. 26 that the project still has several weeks of work remaining. “We have several weeks of work left on the northbound north-end section [between RM 2222 and Parmer Lane] if weather cooperates,” said Jeff Dailey, Mobility Authority deputy executive director. The agency had a meeting Aug. 25 with contractor CH2M about the status of the project. Dailey said the agency has seen a renewed commitment from CH2M to complete the project by adding more numbers to its workforce. “We are disappointed that the MoPac Improvement Project is not yet complete and understand how frustrating and disruptive the construction has been on Central Texans,” Dailey said. “The record amount of rainfall has impacted the schedule, but we are working closely with the contractor on a recovery schedule.” Mobility Authority officials said they do not have a new target opening date set because more rainfall is forecast in the coming days. Dailey said the project will also add other elements not in the original plan, including underpasses near downtown, a new waterline and sound walls. “This important project will serve the community well for the next 30 years,” he said. “The RMA undertook this project when no other agency was willing to step up and we stand by the project. Completion of it is right around the corner, but there is no gain without pain.” Original post: Aug. 24 at 8 a.m.
Contractor CH2M is targeting a late August opening for the first section of the MoPac express toll lanes, but recent rains could lead to more delays.
“The goal is to get it done,” said Jeff Dailey, deputy executive director for the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, at a July 27 meeting. “We don’t want to be slipping into September.”
Delays have continued throughout the project, which will add one express toll lane in each direction on MoPac between Parmer Lane and Cesar Chavez Street. CH2M has accrued $20 million in liquidated damages as a result of the project being delayed.
The express lanes were originally slated to open in fall 2015, but that deadline was pushed back to the end of 2016. CH2M had agreed to open the northbound section between RM 2222 and Parmer in June but also missed that date after failing to execute work according to an updated approved work plan and record spring rains, Dailey said.
