TxDOT to host public meetings

The Texas Department of Transportation is conducting State Transportation Involvement Program (STIP) public meetings across the state, and the Laredo District will hold the following STIP public meetings district wide:

• June 1, 4-7 p.m. in Del Rio - TxDOT Laredo District State Transportation Improvement Program 2011-14 Open House-Style Public Meeting at Del Rio Civic Center, Kennedy Room, 1915 Veterans Blvd., Del Rio, Texas 78840

• June 2, 4-7 p.m. in Eagle Pass - TxDOT Laredo District State Transportation Improvement Program 2011-14 Open House-Style Public Meeting at Eagle Pass Center for Trade, 3295 Bob Rogers Drive, Eagle Pass, Texas 78852

• June 3, 4-7 p.m. in Carrizo Springs - TxDOT Laredo District State Transportation Improvement Program 2011-14 Open House-Style Public Meeting at Carrizo Springs Civic Center, 405 7th Street, Carrizo Springs, Texas 78834

• June 7, 2010, 4-7 p.m. in Laredo - TxDOT Laredo District State Transportation Improvement Program 2011-14 Open House-Style Public Meeting at Texas Department of Transportation Laredo District Meeting Room, 1817 Bob Bullock Loop, Laredo, Texas 78043

Water interruption scheduled

SLC Construction, a private contractor hired by the City of Laredo, will temporarily cause traffic inconvenience at the intersection of Bustamante Street and Springfield Avenue on Tuesday, June 1, in order to replace an 8-inch water line.

Water services will not be interrupted between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The contractor will provide a 24-hour notification (through a flier) to each customer/property to be affected.

The replacement of the water line is anticipated to take about eight hours for completion. Progress updates will be made available by the Utilities Department.

Motorists and pedestrians traveling through the area are cautioned to heed all posted traffic control signs and devices to provide safety to all citizens.

DPS troopers vigilant during Memorial Day weekend

All available DPS troopers will be on patrol during the Memorial Day weekend in an effort to keep the traveling public safer.

"Most crashes are needless tragedies that easily could have been avoided; you don’t want your holiday to end with the death of a loved one," said David Baker, assistant director in charge of the Texas Highway Patrol. "This weekend kicks off the summer season, and we are especially concerned about people who recklessly choose to drive drunk."

Troopers, and many law enforcement agencies across the state, will focus on drunk drivers, speeders and seat belt violators during the long holiday weekend.

During the Memorial Day holiday last year, DPS troopers arrested 622 drunk drivers and wrote nearly 8,511 speeding tickets. In addition, 1,937 seat belt and 521 child restraint citations were issued.

"Statistically, your chances of getting a ticket or getting arrested for DWI go up dramatically during holiday periods," said Baker.

DPS troopers are among the many officers across Texas participating in Click It or Ticket, a national campaign aimed at increasing the number of people who use their seat belts correctly. A seat belt dramatically increases the chance of survival in a serious crash.

DPS also is a participant in Operation CARE (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) a nationwide effort by police agencies to reduce fatalities during holidays.

Heavy rains cause road closure

Recent heavy rains have eroded the base of Canal Street, between San Francisco and Gallagher Avenue, making the road unstable for heavy motoring. Therefore, the City of Laredo has closed this section of the street until further notice.

Work on the street will begin soon when it will be reinforced with concrete.

Motorists are urged to find alternate routes, but if traveling in the area, to please drive with extreme caution and observe and obey all traffic control and detour signs for their safety and the safety of the construction crews working on this very important project.

Industrial streets to be closed

Weather permitting, on-going construction on several of Laredo’s industrial street projects will include several closures, starting next week. The City of Laredo contractor will coordinate with area businesses to maintain access. The traveling public should slow down, drive with extreme caution, and observe all safety signs, traffic control devices and flaggers in the work zone area.

Killam Industrial Park

Work will continue on the intersection of Killam and Archer, and Sara and El Gato. El Gato will remain closed at Sara, traffic must be detoured to Whitepoint Road. Traffic on Archer must yield to traffic turning from Killam Avenue. Flaggers will also be used at these intersections during most day time operations.

Beginning Tuesday, June 1, work will begin on Killam between Lamar Road and FM 1472. Traffic will be switched to one lane each direction on Killam.

Inter-America Industrial Park

Work will continue at intersection of Inter-America and FM 1472 entrance for approximately the next two weeks.

On Wednesday, May 26, work will begin on a short section of Pan American road about half a mile west of FM 1472. Traffic will be transition to one side of the roadway.

Tejas Industrial Park

Work will continue on San Mateo Avenue while traffic will be transitioned to one side of the road.

Line replacement to affect traffic on Jefferson Street

SLC Construction, a private contractor hired by the City of Laredo, will temporarily cause traffic inconvenience along Jefferson Street between Santa Ursula Avenue and San Agustin Avenue in order to replace a 20-inch water line. Water services will not be interrupted at this time. The contractor will provide a 24-hour notification (through a flier) to each customer/property affected.

The replacement of the water line is anticipated to take about four weeks for completion. Progress updates will be made available by the Utilities Department.

Motorists and pedestrians traveling through the area are urged to adhere to all posted traffic control signs and devices to provide safety to everyone.

Intersection closed for park addition construction

Rhino Builders will be closing the intersection of Eistetter and Valencia Street on Monday, May 24, starting at 9 a.m. and should be finished by 4 p.m. that same day. This is to facilitate utilities construction work for a restroom facility they are building at Eistetter Park.

Mines Road construction update

On-going construction of the FM 1472 overpass at Interstate 35 will require the following lane closures and detours to begin removing overhang brackets and false decking from FM 1472 northbound direct connector, weather permitting:

• May 17, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. - Complete closure of I-35 Northbound (NB) main lanes.

Detour in effect: All I-35 NB traffic must take Exit 4 (Del Mar Boulevard) to continue along the I-35 NB Frontage Road (San Dario Avenue) to the following I-35 NB entrance ramp.

• May 18-19, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. - Complete closure of I-35 Southbound (SB) main lanes and FM 1472 SB Direct Connector.

Detour in effect: IH 35 SB traffic must take exit 4 to Santa Maria Avenue to I-35 SB Frontage Road to I-35 SB entrance ramp to re-access I-35 main lanes. Southbound traffic on FM 1472 will be directed to Santa Maria Avenue to I-35 SB Frontage Road to re-access I-35 main lanes.

• May 20, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. - Complete closure of Santa Maria Avenue from Del Mar Boulevard to FM 1472.

Detour in effect: All southbound FM 1472 traffic will be directed onto the Southbound Direct Connector to access I-35.

Construction continues on Loop 20

Ongoing construction of the FM 1472 overpass at Interstate 35 will require the following lane closures and detours to begin removing overhang brackets and false decking from FM 1472 northbound direct connector, weather permitting:

-May 15-16, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.: Complete closure of I-35 northbound (NB) main lanes.

Detour in effect: All I-35 NB traffic must take Exit 4 (Del Mar Boulevard) to continue along the I-35 NB Frontage Road (San Dario Avenue) to the following I-35 NB entrance ramp.

-May 17, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.: Complete closure of I-35 Southbound (SB) main lanes and FM 1472 SB Direct Connector.

Detour in effect: IH 35 SB traffic must take exit #4 to Santa Maria Ave. to IH 35 SB Frontage Road to IH 35 SB entrance ramp to re-access IH 35 main lanes. Southbound traffic on FM 1472 will be directed to St. Maria Ave. to IH 35 SB Frontage Road to re-access IH 35 main lanes.

-May 18-19, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.: Complete closure of Santa Maria Avenue from Del Mar Boulevard to FM 1472.

Detour in effect: All southbound FM 1472 traffic will be directed onto the Southbound Direct Connector to access I-35.

Construction for bus bays to commence

Over the next three weeks, Zertuche Construction will be constructing El Metro bus bays at several locations throughout Laredo. While the streets will not be completely closed during the construction, there will be alternate lane closures to allow for construction.

Motorists are urged to find alternate routes, but if traveling in the area, to please drive with extreme caution and observe and obey all traffic control and detour signs for their safety and the safety of the construction crews working on this very important project.

Monday, May 17 through Thursday, May 20

-Bob Bullock Loop 20 and Century City Boulevard

-Bob Bullock Loop 20 and New York Avenue

-Bob Bullock Loop 20 and Milmo Avenue

Monday May 24-Thursday, May 27

-U.S. 83 and Frees Street

- U.S. 83 and Barrios Street

-U.S. 83 and Boulanger Street

-U.S. 83 and Napoleon Street

Monday, May 31 through Thursday, June 3

-U.S. 83 and San Salvador, corner of Santa Clara

-U.S. 83 and San Luis, between Bartlett and Malinche

-U.S. 83 and San Salvador, between Bartlett and Jarvis

Monday, June 7 through Thursday, June 10

- U.S. 83 at Walmart

Law enforcement to enforce booster seat law

Are you ready for the next phase of the new booster seat law? Starting June 1, law enforcement officers may issue citations for violations of the recent changes to the child passenger safety law.

The law requires all children younger than 8 years old (unless already taller than 4'9") to be in the appropriate child safety seat system anywhere the child rides in a passenger vehicle. (A passenger vehicle is defined as a passenger car designed to transport not more than 10 occupants including the driver, a truck, light truck, truck tractor, sport utility vehicle and a passenger van designed to transport not more than 15 occupants including the driver.)

The law also requires that all safety seat systems (safety or booster seats and safety vests) be installed according to the manufacturers' instructions, including age, height, weight requirements and the proper placement in the vehicle. (Some manufacturers prohibit using their products on the front seats of vehicles.)

The law was passed last year during the legislative session and went into effect on Sept. 1. Officers could only issue verbal or written warnings for the first nine months, but now the enforcement phase is in effect.

Fines are $25 to $250 plus court costs…potentially much more than the cost of a safety or booster seat.

New line at Texas 359 Booster Pump Station

Qromex Construction, a private contractor hired by the City of Laredo, will tie a new 16-inch water line onto an existing 16-inch water line in order to install an additional booster pump at the Texas 359 Booster Pump Station Wednesday, May 19. Work is scheduled to take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is not anticipated to affect any customers.

The tie-in is anticipated to take approximately four hours for completion.

Service interruption on Lyon Street

A utilities project on Lyon Street is expected to interrupt water service in the area Wednesday, May 19, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., while construction crews with Resendez Inc. tie a new 8-inch line to an existing water line.

The work will affect all customers who reside along the 3300 and 3400 blocks of Lyon Street, between Concord St. and Ejido Avenue, and those who also reside along the 2700 block of Cardigan Ct.

The tie-in is anticipated to take approximately five hours for completion.

Garza closed for emergency repair

CenterPoint Energy crews have closed the 800 block of Garza Street, to repair a natural gas leak. The closures will be for the remainder of today, Wednesday, May 12.

Contact CenterPoint Energy at (800) 427-7142 for more information.

Regional leaders meet to discuss I-35 improvements

Through this summer, regional leaders are meeting monthly as part of a new citizen-driven planning effort to develop a blueprint of improvements for the Interstate 35 corridor. The San Antonio/Laredo area, which is represented by the I-35 Corridor Segment Committee Four, will meet again on Thursday, May 13, to continue efforts identifying regional needs and potential solutions for the corridor.

Once the segment committee completes its regional blueprint, it will collaborate with the I-35 Corridor Advisory Committee, as well as other I-35 Corridor Segment Committees, to consolidate each regional blueprint into a comprehensive, long-range mobility plan for the entire I-35 corridor. Dubbed, MY 35, this effort will result in a plan that reflects the interests and concerns of citizens for the corridor.

MY 35 calls for a citizens' perspective on I-35 improvements including identifying corridor needs, conducting public outreach efforts, collaborating with the public and local stakeholders, and creating regional transportation blueprints. The MY 35 effort, which will be overseen by the I-35 Corridor Advisory Committee and the four segment committees, will be blueprint will be given to TxDOT to guide future corridor development.

All Corridor Segment Committee meetings are open to the public, and a complete listing of corridor advisory committees, members and meetings is available online by visiting www.keeptexasmoving.com.

The I-35 Corridor Segment Committee Four is scheduled to meet at the TxDOT - Transguide Operations Center, 3500 NW Loop 410 in San Antonio, from 9 a.m. to noon, Thursday, May 13.