I-69 in TX

[vdeane]

This used to be an informative thread.

Perhaps the Road Related Illustrations forum would be a better venue for some of these posts.

[The Road Warrior]

This used to be an informative thread.

Speaking of, any updates on the bypasses of Corrigan and Diboll, as well as the Hungerford/Whartdon and northern Lufkin improvements?

It looks like Google Maps has updated its Street View imagery at the Corrigan and Diboll bypass areas where they intersect the major roads, so you can actually see the construction and get a feel for what the interchanges will look like. The Diboll bypass in particular seems to be majority done, with only the connections to the existing US-59 left to be finished. Corrigan is plodding away; land is cleared, and they seem to be moving quickly. I do wonder what will be next project they undertake once the bypasses are done.

[jgb191]

I'd say keep the control city for I-69 South as is -- Victoria.  One you get to Victoria, then use 'Corpus Christi' and (optionally) 'Brownsville' for I-69E; and use 'Laredo' and (optionally) 'McAllen' for I-69W.

[TheBox]

This used to be an informative thread.

Speaking of, any updates on the bypasses of Corrigan and Diboll, as well as the Hungerford/Whartdon and northern Lufkin improvements?

It looks like Google Maps has updated its Street View imagery at the Corrigan and Diboll bypass areas where they intersect the major roads, so you can actually see the construction and get a feel for what the interchanges will look like. The Diboll bypass in particular seems to be majority done, with only the connections to the existing US-59 left to be finished. Corrigan is plodding away; land is cleared, and they seem to be moving quickly. I do wonder what will be next project they undertake once the bypasses are done.

From a recent Google Maps street view of the northeast Lufkin loop/bypass new frontage roads 2 months ago, and they are done. The also expanded the bridge where the new frontage roads U-Turn at the end.

[Stephane Dumas]

This used to be an informative thread.

Speaking of, any updates on the bypasses of Corrigan and Diboll, as well as the Hungerford/Whartdon and northern Lufkin improvements?

It looks like Google Maps has updated its Street View imagery at the Corrigan and Diboll bypass areas where they intersect the major roads, so you can actually see the construction and get a feel for what the interchanges will look like. The Diboll bypass in particular seems to be majority done, with only the connections to the existing US-59 left to be finished. Corrigan is plodding away; land is cleared, and they seem to be moving quickly. I do wonder what will be next project they undertake once the bypasses are done.

My guess it would be bypass at Moscow but I wonder if they'll bypass Leggett or simply upgrade the current gap as I-69?

[MaxConcrete]

I do wonder what will be next project they undertake once the bypasses are done.

I looked at the TxDOT letting schedule and there are no planned contracts through August 2028 between Houston and Texarkana. There are eight large contracts totaling an estimated $1.54 billion south of Houston. So all the action is on the south half in the next four years.

[Bobby5280]

I guess they must be prioritizing filling in the gap between Houston and Corpus Christi.

[jgb191]

I guess they must be prioritizing filling in the gap between Houston and Corpus Christi.

Here's hoping that true.  At this point, Refugio is the town that needs alleviating the most, especially during the peak travel period of the holiday season; a bypass would create the need for even more businesses along the new route around the town.  Even Woodsboro with its at-grade crossing presents a dangerous collision hazard with the intersection with FM-136.  And as others mentioned before, upgrading the farm road between Refugio and Portland to a four-lane divided route would expedite the drive to Corpus Christi.

[TheStranger]

I guess they must be prioritizing filling in the gap between Houston and Corpus Christi.

Here's hoping that true.  At this point, Refugio is the town that needs alleviating the most, especially during the peak travel period of the holiday season; a bypass would create the need for even more businesses along the new route around the town.  Even Woodsboro with its at-grade crossing presents a dangerous collision hazard with the intersection with FM-136.  And as others mentioned before, upgrading the farm road between Refugio and Portland to a four-lane divided route would expedite the drive to Corpus Christi.

Was doing a little googling and saw the various news articles and TxDOT pages on where a Refugio bypass alignment might end up being built.

Here's an official route study document from 2019, in which an east bypass of town was seen as the most viable path:
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/crp/us77-woodsboro-refugio/2019-relief-route-study-report.pdf

The east alignment was also mentioned in a 2022 post on a different thread: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?msg=2753592
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/crp/us77-woodsboro-refugio/050318-east-route.pdf

Have there been any updates in that area since then?

[sprjus4]

I guess they must be prioritizing filling in the gap between Houston and Corpus Christi.

Here's hoping that true.  At this point, Refugio is the town that needs alleviating the most, especially during the peak travel period of the holiday season; a bypass would create the need for even more businesses along the new route around the town.  Even Woodsboro with its at-grade crossing presents a dangerous collision hazard with the intersection with FM-136.  And as others mentioned before, upgrading the farm road between Refugio and Portland to a four-lane divided route would expedite the drive to Corpus Christi.

Was doing a little googling and saw the various news articles and TxDOT pages on where a Refugio bypass alignment might end up being built.

Here's an official route study document from 2019, in which an east bypass of town was seen as the most viable path:
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/crp/us77-woodsboro-refugio/2019-relief-route-study-report.pdf

The east alignment was also mentioned in a 2022 post on a different thread: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?msg=2753592
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/crp/us77-woodsboro-refugio/050318-east-route.pdf

Have there been any updates in that area since then?

https://www.txdot.gov/projects/hearings-meetings/corpus-christi/2023/102523.html

A public meeting was held in October 2023 with more detailed schematics, including a four lane US-183 connector on the north side of town. The eastern route is the preferred alternative.

A presentation attached to that site shows construction beginning in 2028.

[sprjus4]

I guess they must be prioritizing filling in the gap between Houston and Corpus Christi.

Here's hoping that true.  At this point, Refugio is the town that needs alleviating the most, especially during the peak travel period of the holiday season; a bypass would create the need for even more businesses along the new route around the town.  Even Woodsboro with its at-grade crossing presents a dangerous collision hazard with the intersection with FM-136.  And as others mentioned before, upgrading the farm road between Refugio and Portland to a four-lane divided route would expedite the drive to Corpus Christi.

I'm not sure what it was, but when I drove through there this past summer, they were doing miles of construction (lane shift, barriers, etc.)

Are they adding passing lanes by chance? This was south of Refugio on FM 136.

[NE2]

Are they adding passing lanes by chance? This was south of Refugio on FM 136.

You mean US 183?

[sprjus4]

Are they adding passing lanes by chance? This was south of Refugio on FM 136.

You mean US 183?

No, south of Refugio. US-183 starts on the north side.

But I see it's actually FM-2678 I meant. It doesn't turn into FM 136 until a bit further south of where the construction was.

[MaxConcrete]

A presentation attached to that site shows construction beginning in 2028.

According to the most up-to-date schedule on the TxDOT web site, the Riviera bypass is estimated at $178.6 million and scheduled to receive bids in July 2025, which is only 7 months in the future.

[NE2]

Are they adding passing lanes by chance? This was south of Refugio on FM 136.

You mean US 183?

No, south of Refugio. US-183 starts on the north side.

But I see it's actually FM-2678 I meant. It doesn't turn into FM 136 until a bit further south of where the construction was.

Read the description. US 183 still has a proposed extension down that way.

[Bobby5280]

According to the most up-to-date schedule on the TxDOT web site, the Riviera bypass is estimated at $178.6 million and scheduled to receive bids in July 2025, which is only 7 months in the future.

The latest Google Street View imagery shows construction on US-77 extending from the South end of Kingsville to the Northern outskirts of Riviera. Some of this work is visible in overhead imagery as well.

As for Refugio, nothing new is happening there so far (there is new 11/21/2024 Google Earth imagery for that locale).

My guess is much of the Interstate upgrade work along US-59 will proceed in linear fashion. As current projects in Hungerford and Wharton get finished the construction will move Southwest to Pierce and El Campo (and on and on from there toward Victoria). Those highway segments are among the easiest to upgrade since not much new ROW has to be purchased. A lot of the work is replacing aging main lanes, cutting off driveway access and improving on/off ramp designs.

As badly as Refugio needs a new bypass I worry it may be put off to near last. It would be interesting to see if there are any pending projects in Odem and Sinton (not far from the I-37/I-69E split).

[yakra]

Read the description. US 183 still has a proposed extension down that way.

Though interestingly TX29 is somewhere completely different now.

[MaxConcrete]

As badly as Refugio needs a new bypass I worry it may be put off to near last. It would be interesting to see if there are any pending projects in Odem and Sinton (not far from the I-37/I-69E split).

I agree, it seems like the Refugio bypass is always being deferred. It seem to remember it was poised to proceed to construction around 20 years ago, but of course it did not proceed.

The locals probably want the bypass to be deferred, and since there's plenty of other work to be done, TxDOT is willing to advance other projects ahead of Refugio.

[Thegeet]

Anyone have a clue of when they will work on Jackson County?

[MaxConcrete]

Anyone have a clue of when they will work on Jackson County?

See the TxDOT schedule.

December 2026: $483 million project in Wharton County
February 2028: $291 million project in Victoria County

There's nothing listed for I-69 in Jackson County, so that means fiscal year 2029 or later for projects.

[jgb191]

I saw on our local news about construction plans to upgrade US-77 bypass around Sinton, and sure enough I see that on TXDOT's website:

https://www.txdot.gov/projects/projects-studies/corpus-christi/us77-sinton-improvement-project.html
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/crp/us-77-sinton/100521-project-layout.pdf
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/crp/us-77-sinton/100521-factsheet.pdf

With the addition of continuous access/frontage roads all along the bypass, looks like even Sinton won't escape construction of I-69E.  I suspect high-mast lights lined up linearly along the bypass will come with the upgrade.  With the intersection with the newer bypass around US-181, I really hope planners find a way to separate the grade between Loop 89 and the access roads of US-77/I-69E.....the present at-grade intersection presents a life-threatening collision hazard with drivers on the 89 speeding through at high-speeds.  It makes me really nervous when I drive through there.

[sprjus4]

I saw on our local news about construction plans to upgrade US-77 bypass around Sinton, and sure enough I see that on TXDOT's website:

https://www.txdot.gov/projects/projects-studies/corpus-christi/us77-sinton-improvement-project.html
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/crp/us-77-sinton/100521-project-layout.pdf
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/crp/us-77-sinton/100521-factsheet.pdf

With the addition of continuous access/frontage roads all along the bypass, looks like even Sinton won't escape construction of I-69E.  I suspect high-mast lights lined up linearly along the bypass will come with the upgrade.  With the intersection with the newer bypass around US-181, I really hope planners find a way to separate the grade between Loop 89 and the access roads of US-77/I-69E.....the present at-grade intersection presents a life-threatening collision hazard with drivers on the 89 speeding through at high-speeds.  It makes me really nervous when I drive through there.

Yeah, that is a dumb setup currently. You have the Loop 89 / US-181 Sinton bypass as a 75 mph divided highway, with several interchanges in that area, then this random at-grade crossroads with the US-77 ramps. A very dangerous intersection.

[chays]

According to TXDOT, the completion of the Diboll bypass will bein in "Winter 2025". Does that mean this winter (24/25) or next winter (25/26)? Does anyone know if this relief route is opening soon? Google maps has some linework drawn but it doesn't appear routable.

[Bobby5280]

Judging by the 10/2024 overhead imagery in Google Earth it looks like the Diboll Bypass is pretty far along. It looks like it would be completed well before December 2025. But I doubt the project is going to be done before Spring 2025.

[MaxConcrete]

Bids were opened today for upgrading 6.75 miles of US 281 (I-69C) to freeway with frontage roads north Edinburg.

The plans show 2x2 main lines with a center barrier and continuous frontage roads. Curves are smoothed with new alignments and right-of-way acquisition at the curve points. The winning bid is by a contractor I'm not familiar with, and is surprisingly low.

Unfortunately TxDOT has retired the long-used web pages to report bid results, and the new format is much more difficult to extract for pasting into a page for display. So I may not be posting results regularly in the future.

PROJECT NAME: US 281 HIDALGO (FUTURE I-69)
FROM: 0.273 MI S OF SH 186
TO: 0.023 MI N OF FM 490

Code Select Expand

Txdot Engineer's Estimate     191,485,571.75
IOC COMPANY LLC               164,929,773.20
ANDERSON COLUMBIA CO., INC.   181,608,228.73
POSILLICO CIVIL, INC.         185,605,602.28
PULICE CONSTRUCTION, INC.     208,782,086.48
JAMES CONSTRUCTION GROUP, LLC 217,743,743.82