Since demolition of the Bryan Rd. bridge crossing over Expressway 83 on March 7, motorists have had to detour to either Conway Ave. or Shary Rd. to cross the expressway. Although city officials had hoped the contractor could re-open the intersection to north-south traffic sooner, TxDOT project engineer Oscar Cancino says he expects to see them reach that milestone in mid-July to mid-August.

He says that while the overall project is running behind – with 60 percent of the work completed and 80 percent of the allotted time expired – the Bryan Rd. reconnection appears to be on target within the five months time originally allotted. He added that the contractor is expected to submit an updated work schedule that TxDOT will review and work out an agreement on issues such as number of rain delay days and utility delays allowed.

“Overall we’re a little [behind] with the total working days that they have here versus what they say now. But at any time the contractor can accelerate the work. They can bring in more forces and hit their allotted days,” Cancino said.

In his report this week to the Mission Redevelopment Authority Tuesday, the engineer said work on the other end of the project at Trinity Rd. is almost complete. TxDOT has paid Ballenger Construction $14.3 million so far, or 60 percent of the total $23,453,821 project cost.