• Construction to Begin on 9.5-Mile Gap on I-69E near Corpus Christi

July 26, 2018

The Texas Transportation Commission has awarded a $118 million construction contract that will close a 9.5-mile gap in on the Interstate 69E route in Nueces County west of Corpus Christi. 

The project will include the 4-mile US 77 relief route on the east side of Driscoll, a crossroads town between Corpus Christi and Kingsville.  It will create a continuous 31-mile interstate standard highway from Interstate 37 through Robstown, Driscoll, Bishop and Kingsville. 

The Corpus Christi to Kingsville section includes a 7-mile segment from Bishop to Kingsville completed in 2017 under a $79 million contract and a 3.2-mile segment south of Robstown that will be completed in the coming months under a $43 million contract.

REMOVING FINAL TRAFFIC LIGHTS

When the latest project is completed in about three years it will eliminate the traffic light at FM 665 in Driscoll, one of the two last stoplights on the 151-mile I-69E route between Corpus Christi and Brownsville. 

The other traffic light is at the key trucking intersection of US 77 and SH 285 in Riviera in southern Kleberg County, an intersection that is complicated by the railroad line adjacent to the existing highway lanes.  A 4-mile relief route is required at Riviera and right-of-way acquisition for that project has been underway for more than a year.  The project is considered under development but no schedule has yet been set for funding construction.

At a recent meeting of TxDOT’s I-69 Advisory Committee, Cameron County Commissioner David Garza pointed to the outstanding job the staff of TxDOT’s Corpus Christi District has done in moving I-69 projects forward in Nueces and Kleberg Counties.

Zachry Construction of San Antonio won the contract to build the Driscoll gap project.

The entire I-69E route on US 77 from Corpus Christi to Harlingen in the Lower Rio Grande Valley was the subject of an environmental clearance and schematic design process started in 2008 and concluded in 2012. This clearance allows projects along more than 100 miles to move forward to final design as soon as funding is identified.

The Transportation Commission in July also approved a $4 million contract to resurface 16 miles of I-69E frontage roads in Brownsville.

Other I-69 system highway projects awarded in 2018 include:

-- Upgrade to interstate standard with overpasses on 2 miles of SH 44 at Violet west of Corpus Christi International Airport, $37.9 million

-- Upgrade to interstate standard, including a rail bridge, on 3 miles of US 59 just north of Loop 463 in Victoria County, $28.6 million

-- Base repair and overlay of 21.46 miles of US 281 in Live Oak County, $10.4 million

-- Base repair and overlay of 18 miles of US 281 in Jim Wells County, $10 million

-- Pavement replacement of 17 miles of US 59 in Victoria County, $9.2 million

-- Pavement replacement of 8 miles of US 77 in San Patricio County, $5.7 million

-- Pavement improvements to 12.2 miles of US 59 in Angelina County, $8.3 million

-- Pavement resurfacing to 6.8 miles of US 59 in Panola County, $4.6 million