HEIDENHEIMER, Texas — An unfinished bridge project is causing concern in the community of Heidenheimer.
It's a road work project on FM 436 in East Bell County, near Heidenheimer Rd and the 190 Bridge. The project has been under construction for nearly two years.
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Months later, no progress has been made.
"It's ridiculous," Heidenheimer home owner Candace Wilcox said. "No project should take this long."
It sounded like a promising project at first.
"They was going to widen the bridge itself because of all the farm equipment coming through was so massive and so wide," Ronnie Wilcox, a concerned driver, said.
Two years later, the project sits at a standstill.
"We drive by this if not daily, every other day," Ronnie Wilcox said. "It's just disappointing. Don't look like it's ever gonna get done."
What is left are conditions that people say are just too dangerous. The Wilcox family showed 6 News why they and many others feel it's not safe.
From exposed rebars to no guardrails, someone could easily get hurt.
"Kids will go out and play from sunlight to dark in the summertime," Candace Wilcox said. "Any place and every place. You let a kid come out and fall on this rebar, they're going to kill themselves. Somebody's gonna get sued big time, even worse than that, a family member is gonna lose their child. Has anybody even thought about that? To me, it's negligence."
Ronnie Wilcox says this is just one of the many unfinished projects in Bell County.
"This is going on at each one of the projects, and it needs to stop," he told 6 News. "It's an endangerment to the public."
There are lots of theories about why it's taken so long, but people in the community just want transparency about what's going on.
"The public doesn't know," Ronnie Wilcox said. "They don't know one thing, and they need to be informed."
6 News reached out to TxDOT about the delay. Jake Smith, a Public Information Officer for TxDOT sent the following statement:
"As stated a few months ago, TxDOT has been working with the contractor’s bonding company to ensure work on this project is completed. A new contractor has been acquired for the project, and they will resume project work on April 1. TxDOT has maintained the project work zone during the lapse of construction work, ensuring the safety of the traveling public. TxDOT appreciates the patience of the community as TxDOT and its contractor work together to complete rail upgrades and culvert replacement/widenings along FM 436. Overall, the project is scheduled to complete by the end of the year, field conditions permitting."
In the meantime, the Wilcox family and many others in the community hope change will be made.
"Even this small of a project should have a set deadline date," Ronnie Wilcox said. "I mean, because otherwise, this could drag on for years and years. Two years is already enough for this project. You probably could get 20 farmers out here and build this bridge in about a week. Now, why can't a construction crew do it in two years? Taxpayers pay a lot of money to get these projects completed. And we'd like them to be completed on a deadline. This is election year. It's gonna affect some people's position when they're running for election, so they need to start doing something about these projects."
6 News will follow this story as it develops.
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