To improve the flow of traffic, the City of San Marcos will begin construction on a new overpass over Aquarena Springs Drive.

The new Loop 82 project will begin early Jan. 2015 and take approximately two and a half years to complete, said Kelli Reyna, TxDOT public information officer. Located at the intersection of IH-35 and Aquarena Springs Drive, the project will construct a bridge over the railroad tracks to alleviate traffic congestion.

The purpose of the proposed project is to increase area mobility and safety by providing a way for traffic to travel along State Highway Loop 82 within the city without the current interruptions caused by numerous train crossings, according to the city’s website.

“Construction-wise, the project cost is $20.7 million,” Reyna said. “We are receiving money from San Marcos, TxDOT and federal dollars from the (Federal) Highway Administration to fund the project.”

During the two-and-a-half-years of construction, the contractors will be putting up message boards to limit the impact of the lengthy project, said Ben Engelhardt, TxDOT south Travis/Hays area engineer.

“The city and TxDOT both have accommodated a lot of events that the university has to try to keep the traffic flowing while the overpass is under construction,” said Juan Guerra, associate vice president of Facilities.

According to the contract with the city, the contractor is supposed to accommodate major events, Guerra said.

“During spring, they are supposed to accommodate commencement—the contractor is supposed to have two lanes of traffic in each direction—and for football games the contractor is supposed to make sure they have four lanes of traffic opened,” Guerra said.

Although traffic will still be allowed to flow through Aquarena during the daytime, bus traffic going up and down Loop 82 is going to be affected during construction because the contractor will have lane restrictions and closures, Guerra said.

“Now we may be down to one lane in each direction during some periods of time, but it’s supposed to stay open the whole duration of the project,” Guerra said.

Engelhardt said TxDOT has been discussing the project with the university because it directly impacts the university students.

As the university receives updates from the construction contractor, students will receive traffic information on a campus bulletin, Guerra said. There will also be information on the Facilities’ construction website telling students about lane closings and changes.

The project will directly impact local businesses surrounding Aquarena Springs Drive in addition to the university.

“It kind of worries me because I know that it is a lot of construction all around, and I know that the business will slow down a lot when the construction is in front of the business,” said Marta Carrillo, owner of Lolita’s Cafe on Aquarena Springs. “We will slow down a little bit.”

This article was written by Taylor Chambless and sourced from https://star.txstate.edu/node/2284