By Elsa Maxey
Staffordshire Road, currently under construction in Stafford, is expected to be “substantially completed” by the end of the year, according to City Engineer Charles Russell. He recently told city council that the work from U.S. 90A to Fifth Street would undergo a traffic flow swap, which took effect on Friday last week.
The traffic had been moving both ways on the west side and it was swapped over to the east side of the road to allow construction on the other side. “The last piece of pavement, from First Street to Fifth Street,” he said, would represent the final part of the project.
Russell also said that a Staffordshire Road extension will be reviewed for funding this week by the Texas Transportation Commission. Once the city gets the thumbs up for state funding, he said Stafford would need to alert consulting firms about a request for proposals. That project timeline would call for having plans before December 2012, or the early part of 2013, about three months before the project would be let, that is, advertised for bids.
For the U.S. 90A enhancements, Russell said he spoke to TxDOT this month and he anticipates the roadway to be finished the first quarter of 2012. He said the completion time on the project was suspended because of issues having to do with the bases of the illumination poles. A change order involves their relocation and repair affecting about 12 of the light pole foundations. The city will be installing 20-25 poles on U.S. 90A. They will serve to enhance the city’s appearance, a project on that corridor that started some two years ago transforming the look of the city.
Other current infrastructure improvements in Stafford include the construction underway on Dulles Avenue, also taking place in a portion of Sugar Land. “It seems like the traffic issues have calmed down,” said Russell, but if motorists can avoid the road, it is recommended that they do so.