Drivers are so sick of Interstate 20 traffic, they offer to pay the crews to work faster
Some Aledo and Weatherford-area residents are losing patience with a construction project along Interstate 20, near their homes just west of Fort Worth.
They’re even offering to raise donations to pay the contractor to hurry up and finish — although they’re being tongue-in-cheek about the idea of crowd-funding a highway project.
“I’m sure the comment is tongue-in-cheek, but I also know a lot of us would gladly pay if it would get the job done,” Brad Timms, who lives in the area, said in an email.
The work at I-20 and Mikus Road/Farm Road 5 — about five miles west of the I-20/I-30 split in west Fort Worth — began in January. The area is a common passageway for residents traveling between Aledo, Hudson Oaks, Weatherford and Willow Park.
Because the expansion of the I-20/Mikus Road intersection requires concrete barricades, motorists often must queue up dozens of cars deep to get through the I-20 underpass. Last week, workers with flags guided drivers through the intersection in single file, one direction at a time, forcing motorists at other points of the intersection to wait several minutes longer than normal for their turn to get through.
One woman posted an item on a Facebook community page titled Aledo Traffic, venting her frustration at the time the project is taking. She harkened back to the 2013 construction of the West Seventh Street bridge in downtown Fort Worth, where the project contractor, Sundt Construction of San Antonio, earned nearly a $1 million bonus for finishing the project ahead of schedule.
“How about if we, the motorists, all kicked in a $ or $$ to form a Bonus Fund,” the woman, who identified herself as Elizabeth England Wynne, wrote. “Contractor collects if they finish before ... Easter? Summer 2020? What do you think?”
The project is being overseen by the Texas Department of Transportation, which entered into a contract of approximately $4 million with Jay Mills Contracting Inc.
Workers encountered some unexpected surprises when they started out on the project, and those variables have caused delays, transportation department spokeswoman Shawna Russell said. Portions of the original project had to be redesigned, she said.
“This includes grading issues related to the discovery of old U.S. 80 concrete paving from the 1940s, and water seepage and stability issues associated with retaining wall construction on the west side of Mikus Road,” Russell said.
The work is now on course to be completed in 2020, Russell said. Currently, the contractor is paving the westbound to eastbound turnaround lane, and making other improvements to the east side of the intersection.
“A key goal for this project is to enhance safety and mobility in this growing, now urban area. It is an important component of a larger, long-term effort to manage increasing traffic volumes,” Russell said in an email. “Conversion to one-way frontage roads, the addition of turnaround lanes, and permanent traffic signals are additional improvements that together, allow us to address congestion in this corridor.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 11:10 AM.
