Work continues on the water line replacement project underway on Frank Phillips Boulevard just west of U.S. Highway 75 with more lane closures planned over the next several days, Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said today.
Contract crews will close all lanes of traffic on Frank Phillips Boulevard in the area except the north eastbound lane and the south westbound lane, permitting one lane of traffic for each direction over the next four days. Lane closures will then switch so that repairs can be made to those lanes, Siemers said.
“The contractor on the Frank Phillips 20-inch Water Line project will close the eastbound turn lane and the southerly drive lane, as well as the north westbound lane just west of Highway 75 beginning this morning,” Siemers said. “So they will be working in the south two eastbound lanes and the north westbound lane. This is necessary to replace the pavement that was removed to facilitate construction of the water line crossing Frank Phillips.”
Siemers said the type of concrete that is being used will expedite the repairs so that lanes can reopen as soon as possible.
“They will use high early strength concrete so that they can open up traffic on the lanes in approximately four days,” Siemers said. “They will pour the concrete and let it cure for four days, then switch traffic over to those lanes and start work on the remaining eastbound and westbound lanes. This will speed up the process, but it will restrict traffic to one lane in each direction for the duration.”
All lanes should be reopened in less than three weeks, he said.
“If you factor in the time to prep and pour concrete and then let it cure for the three to four days for each closure, we are looking at a period of around two and a half weeks that there will be some sort of lane closure at this location,” he said. “Of course, the timing of the work could vary based upon weather conditions.”
Motorists are asked to use caution in the area or find alternative routes, if possible.