WACO, Texas — The Texas Department of Transportation started a four-year project to improve six miles of I-35 in Waco, according to TxDOT spokesman Ken Roberts.
The project will cost $341 million, almost $100 million more than it took to improve seven miles in Temple in a project slated to completed this year.
The project outline shows plans to add a fourth lane to both directions of I-35 from 11th Street to to North Loop 340. While the My35.org website says the project will widen the highway, TxDOT will actually be removing and replacing the entire stretch, including multiple overpasses and the bridges holding the six center lanes crossing the Brazos River.
The cost of the project itself will be steep, but what sets it apart from Temple's highway improvement is the time it will take to finish.
TxDOT spokesperson Ken Roberts says the department is paying contractor Webber LLC to work on the project 24/7.
"You have more crews out there, you have more work being done in a much shorter period of time," Roberts says. "It's more time efficient. It has less impact on the traveling public."
TxDOT also has a new hotline people can call to find out how the construction will affect the area and events in the city. Call 254-313-WACO(9226) or go to my35.org/waco.
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