September 22, 2011

(These two projects are now complete and in service).

June 1, 2011
Two more upgrade projects on the I-69 route in South Texas have been opened to traffic.

ROBSTOWN OVERPASS

Work is now complete on a new 1.8 mile section of US 77 located near the southern edge of Robstown, a city that is part of the greater Corpus Christi metropolitan area in Nueces County.  The $20.2 million construction project was started in 2009 and included construction of a new overpass at FM 892 along with elimination of several crossovers.

The Robstown project provides significant safety improvements both for US 77 traffic and for the local community.   

One additional project – building out one mile of main lanes south of State Highway 44 – will complete I-69 through Robstown and western Corpus Christi.  It will complete a continuous 10.7 mile stretch starting the north side of the Nueces River, running concurrently with Interstate 37 across the river and into Corpus Christi and terminating after passing through Robstown.

BEN BOLT OVERPASS
Ben Bolt is a rural community located on US 281 in Jim Wells County about 7 miles south of Alice.  The community is centered around the Ben Bolt-Pal ito Blanco High School which sits on the west side of the highway.

Final site work is nearing completion on a 1.8 mile long freeway improvement to US 281 though Ben Bolt.  It includes an overpass and access roads at FM 2508 which serves as the community’s main street and provides the only access to the high school.  The $15.6 million project began in November 2009 and was funded by the Texas Department of Transportation as a federal stimulus project.

The project eliminates a set of blinking caution lights at the busy intersection of US 281 and FM 2508 and allows school buses serving all three of the area’s schools the ability to cross under traffic on the highway.

Several years ago leaders on the US 281 route set a goal of eliminating as of the traffic signals on the highway from US 83 in McAllen north to George West and then on northeast to the US 59 connection with Interstate 37 in Live Oak County. The Ben Bolt overpass is one of the projects intended to keep traffic moving at highway speed and eliminate a major safety concern.