Travels and Projects Revisited
April 15, 2008
I’ve been traveling Texas quite a bit the past two weeks, enjoying seeing completed projects that I featured in the pages of Texas Contractor over the past few years, spotting new projects and marveling at the speed of others.
North Texas
On my way up to visit friends near Durant, (yes, Oklahoma) I left Dallas between the towering columns of the High Five Interchange of Hwy. 75 and Loop 635, completed two years ahead of schedule by Zachry Construction Co. In the Allen/ McKinney area, I spotted Mario Sinacola and Rodman Excavating crews leveling sites on the east side of the highway for yet more shopping centers. Approaching Sherman, I recognized the surprisingly still bright stretch of Hwy. 75 rebuilt and widened by Duininck Bros. Construction in 2002-03.
Central Texas
A few days later I headed south along Interstate 35 to meet my national editor, Greg Sitek, and sales rep, Brandon Williamson, for business visits. I jumped onto I-35E at Italy in the midst of W.W. Webber’s widening reconstruction, which almost adjoins the Knife River perpetual pavement and widening project at the I-35E/I-35W juncture just north of Hillsboro. With all the traffic along this route, we’ll all be ecstatic when these are completed.
The I-35 corridor through Temple is being transformed by Zachry Construction. My gut told me not to make my stop there, but I didn’t listen. After I was finally able to get back onto the highway after at least 20 minutes at one intersection and running behind schedule to pick up my boss, Greg Sitek at the Austin airport, I opted for the SH 130 tollway to get me there faster. What a dream of a highway Lone Star Infrastructure (LSI) built. It cost me $4.50 to travel from north of Georgetown to Austin Bergstrom Airport in less than half an hour. Traveling free on I-35 would have taken at least 3 times that long in the mid to late afternoon. It was a convenient bargain for me. But if I were a local commuter, round trips the length of the highway would cost $9 per day and $180 per month, I calculated in my head. That is a big slice out of a paycheck that is already shrinking due to gasoline prices. It’s no wonder that the lanes were almost empty between 4 and 5 p.m. on a workday.
South Central Texas
With business visits over and Greg headed back to Tuscaloosa, the next order of business was the NAWIC (National Association of Women in Construction) Region 7 Forum at Tapatio Springs near Boerne. Leaving Austin headed south on I-35, I was stunned to see the progress on SH 45 Southeast. I tried to remember the last time I had been that way – it couldn’t have been but a few months. But there all around me were a multitude of columns topped with beams rising all in unison. T.J. Lambrecht and Balfour Beatty rock.
On the way, I drove through W.W. Webber’s and McCarthy’s back-to-back projects on I-10 West north of FM 1604. This is a rapidly growing area. If you’re really following along, you will say this is the roundabout way, and yes it is. I visited my cousin in northwest San Antonio before heading to Boerne.
Then headed back home to the north with a stop at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, I drove north on the MOPAC and rejoined I-35 at the SH 45 North/I-35 interchange. This was the overpass where on a windy Saturday in February 2006 I knelt leaning over the barrier to photograph Stomper Demolition hammer down the FM 1325 bridge.
I love traveling Texas' highways and byways, but it sure feels great to be home.
Posted by Liz Moucka on April 15, 2008 | Comments (0)
