What you need to know
The project is the third phase of the Walker Street improvements project, and will focus on the area stretching from Kessler’s Crossing at the UTMB Health facility’s entrance, to FM 646, according to city documents.
The cost of the project, which will total $3.5 million, is mostly funded from the tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, established along Walker Street, project manager Anthony Talluto said in an email. The remainder, about $130,000, is coming from the city’s capital improvement plan.
The details
The work for Phase 3 will include signalizing several intersections, Talluto said in the email, including:
- The northern Kessler’s Crossing intersection
- Victory Lakes Drive
- Town Center Drive
The plan also will try to modify traffic patterns at FM 646, according to city documents. Signals at the FM 646 intersection will be adjusted from two mounted signals in the median to four new signals on the corners.
The intersection’s new layout will also include two dedicated left and through lanes, as well as a dedicated right-turn lane, Talluto said. The median will also be reduced to account for the additional pavement.
One of the left-turn lanes will extend all the way through the Town Center Drive intersection as well to help vehicles avoid blocking the through traffic, Talluto said.
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What else?
Most of the work shouldn’t impact motorists very much, with work on most of the intersections set to include single-lane or partial-lane closures, Talluto said.
However, work at FM 646 could create headaches, he said. Vehicles coming out of the town center or going through FM 646 could experience congestion.
“Hopefully there’s enough travel lanes there that we won’t have to shut anything down, but there will be so much work happening that there will be an impact,” Talluto said. “It’ll be worse before it gets better.”
