Long waits on trains crossing Lake Drive (State Highway 93) in Texarkana will soon be a memory according to plans to construct an overpass that were approved by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in September. Work made possible by using Federal stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
“We have been working closely for years with federal, local and railroad officials to get the Lake Drive overpass funded and approved to go over the Union Pacific Railroad. This is a project that we had shovel-ready but did not have available funding for contracting out until the ARRA funding became available,” said Kenny Icenhower, area engineer for TxDOT in Texarkana .
The overpass will be constructed on new location just west of the current roadway so traffic will continue to use the highway while the structure is being built. Several cross streets will be affected by the new overpass, but will be rerouted to connect with the new roadway.
East Texas Bridge, Inc. of Longview was awarded the contract for the project with a low bid of $4.8 million.
Work on the overpass should begin in November of this year and take about two years to complete, Icenhower said.
