The Texas Department of Transportation will begin a $20.73 million construction project on Aquarena Springs Drive in May that officials hope will improve mobility, safety and the aesthetics of the area.

The Loop 82/Aquarena Springs project will construct an overpass across the train tracks on Aquarena Springs near Bobcat Stadium. Construction is expected to take about 2.5 years, TxDOT spokeswoman Kelli Reyna said.

The project is intended to improve mobility in the area, she said. Trains passing through the city on Union Pacific tracks that cross Aquarena Springs can back up traffic, causing congestion and delays for San Marcos drivers. According to TxDOT's most recent estimates, there were about 31,000 daily vehicle trips on Aquarena Springs in 2012.

"Mobility and safety are No. 1 so we don't have [Texas State University] students trying to zoom across [the railroad tracks], because they know that whenever the train comes, it's not a two-minute train," Reyna said. "It could be a 10-minute train."

Reyna said the department is not anticipating any major lane closures except for a one-month period when the road, which normally features a center turn lane as well as two lanes each traveling east and west, will be reduced to one lane in each direction.

"Construction is a pain no matter what," Reyna said. "This particular project is a two-and-a-half year project so we do know that there is nothing we can do as far as certain delays."

The project will include eight lanes at its widest point, with two lanes in each direction on the overpass and two lanes in each direction on access roads adjacent to the elevated roadway.

As part of the project, utilities are being relocated within the project area. The project's contract included a provision to allow for a delayed start in the event right of way acquisition and utility relocation are held up, Reyna said. Much of that work has been completed, but a few parcels of right of way must be acquired before utility relocation can be completed, and this has delayed construction, which originally was expected to begin in December.

Dave Bisett, real estate specialist with Texas State, said he first began having conversations with TxDOT about right of way acquisition in May. The two sides have yet to agree on exact terms, he said. However, the university has signed possession and use agreements, which will allow construction to begin while the two sides negotiate terms of the sale of six parcels TxDOT needs from the university, Bisett said.

The six parcels account for about four acres of right of way, he said.

"We're not adversarial against each other," Bisett said. "It's just, 'How are we going to work all this out?'"

Vance J. Elliott is a San Marcos real estate investor who owns Stadium Plaza, a shopping center on Aquarena Springs Drive within the project area. Elliott and TxDOT have been having discussions about right of way acquisition but have not yet come to an agreement, Elliott said. Earlier in 2014, Elliott hired a team of consultants to handle the acquisition process. Negotiations regarding right of way acquisition are ongoing, he said.