“It’s been dead tonight,” Lakisha Perkins, a waitress at Las Casas said. “It has never been this slow on the patio.”
Both northbound and southbound lanes of Interstate 35 were closed for construction from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. between Exit 299 and Exit 300 in Temple Monday night into Tuesday morning.
According to Texas Department of Transportation officials, construction is also scheduled to shut down the interstate again overnight today and Wednesday from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m. before reopening Thursday morning.
A beam-setting operation by TxDOT will place a dozen beams, each weighing about 43 to 48 tons, by crane at the interchange of Interstate 35 and Loop 363.
This beam-setting operation is part of a $69 million project that will widen and lower Interstate 35 in this area. TxDOT officials are estimating the project, which began in 2006, to be completed by fall 2009.
Currently, stoplights at the interchange of Interstate 35 and Loop 363 have caused in a continual backup of traffic on the loop.
Ken Roberts, public information officer for TxDOT, said these nights were chosen as they generally have the least amount of traffic for the city. Roberts said Temple police, who are being paid by Zachry Construction Company according to police officials, will assist with traffic control during the operation.
“This is the worst of [traffic], in the early morning the backup will disappear,” John Obr, Belton area engineer for TxDOT said at about 7:30 p.m. Monday evening. “The quicker we get the interstate reopened, the safer it will be.”
According to Sgt. Gary E. Smith of the Temple police, he said he was concerned when he saw people crossing barricades and suggests Temple residents take alternative routes, avoiding the area if possible. Smith and eight other Temple police officers are working overnight Monday night into Tuesday morning to direct traffic and provide protection for workers.
“Drivers think they can cut in, but that is when [traffic problems] start to happen,” Smith said.
According to Obr, the construction was originally slated for Monday and Tuesday night only, but they had to add Wednesday night because an additional night was needed to lay concrete.
“The third night is needed to tie things together,” he said.
Obr, who estimated the interchange project to be about 37 percent complete, watched as cranes were brought to the Loop 363 overpass on Monday evening, preparing for the first beam of the project which was scheduled to be laid at 10:30 p.m. Twenty-seven beams will be laid on thick rubber pads in which workers affixed to the top of 14.5 feet high concrete support beams.
The new bridge beams will be temporarily lower at 14.5 feet than the existing beams testing the new “height protection” system once the interstate opens. Roberts said any truck and load over 14.5 feet would need to exit prior to the interchange.
The height of the support beams will be changed to 16.5 feet prior to the finalized project of a three-level intersection. The lower level is for Interstate 35, the second level will allow for light-controlled traffic and the third level will allow for a constant stream of Loop 363 traffic.
Oscar Lopez, a machinery operator for Zachry Construction Corporation, said setting the beams is the most nerve-racking because they must beat the time schedule.
“Everyone needs to be on cue and on the same page,” Lopez said. “No jacking around.”
Zachry Construction Corporation is from San Antonio; this is the first time the company has worked for the Waco division of TxDOT.
The financial impact on businesses located off Interstate 35 during the three-night diversion is unknown, but another Las Casas waitress Tamera Lane shrugged her shoulders at the thought of the highway being closed for the next two nights.
“I like working Monday, Tuesday and Thursday night because you can usually make good money,” Lane said.
ccarlisle@temple-telegram.com
