Whats Up With Bibb Street

[Rick]

what you guys think of bibb street you think the political people are getting money under the table for every project cause they sure taking there time to finish the street what almost a year and they still need the other side they need to start working at night and get this done soon

[tabby]

Damn Right,

This people should learn what San Antonians do... they work 24/7... I seen most of the roads worked on at nights, could be for the traffic and that the sun is not that hot... and it would be better for the construction workers. Poor men there are all dark from the sun and prolly sick too... I wish someone did something about it.

Was a good Point Rick!

[mena]

How is Bibb coming along? Is it still a mess to get to walmart?

[BlueCollar]

Bibb street is coming along fine. The construction was scheduled to be finished by this November but due to the unusual rainy summer we had, it was moved back for early 2004. For the past few weeks crews have been working nights and weekends.
Other factors that contributed to the delay were water lines, phone lines, power lines and sewer lines that had to be re-located. All these were done one at time, and by different entities. They too, were delayed because of the rains. In addition, they couldnt block off the entire street, for obvious reasons, and that too is time consuming.
Its frustrating because I go thru there every day, But, this city is way overdue for an infrastracture make-over and its a small price to pay, in the long run.

[eagle4ever]

THAT AND THE FACT THAT THEY STARTED CONSTRUCTING ALL OVER TOWN AT THE SAME TIME. I DONT KNOW IF IT WAS BECAUSE OF THE CONTRACT TIMING LIMITS OR WHAT. BUT I REMEMBER,, BIBB, MONROE, EL INDIO HWY, DEL RIO BLVD, CEYLON , MAIN ST BEING SERVICED ALL AT THE SAME TIME. LETS BLAME THE CITY PLANNER; BLUE HERNANDEZ FOR THAT MESS :lol:

[BlueCollar]

:lol: , we have city planners?
You right though. These projects had to be started by a certain deadline or the city and county would loose the money granted by the state.

[throthrem]

It is looking like they are really starting to get some work done now however. Hopefully, they will not stop before completion.

[Rene]

Im glad they are hurrying up their asses. It really is about time they put the money to use. Wonder if the work on the streets, courthouse, and so forth will affect the Next Elections, as in if the Candidates are gonna try to get credit for something they had nothing to do with.

[holguinh]

[COLOR=blue][SIZE=7][FONT=Courier]
So folks,
I'm fixing to go back to EP this spring and am wondering if the work on Bibb st has advance since I was there in Dec. or hopefully completed? What is the deal? B)
I was only there for vacations but the few times I had to go to the mall or wal-mart it would take me at least 10 minutes through a 1/4 mile section. If they were going to be that slow the city should of had the traffic light set-up differently, like allowing only one way at a time instead of having the people turing in either direction slowing traffic because they can't turn. Oh and how about throwing some dirt in those huge holes on the main wal-mart entrance. My opinion is that if they new that wal-mart was going to built as well as the other businesses on b street they should of done all this before or like someone else said, work during the night when traffic is not too heavy. It's been proven possible to do in other cities. :P :lol:

[mena]

I'd like to know too.

[BlueCollar]

I drove through there last Sunday. Its like 95 completed. I guess all they're lacking is just some touch ups here and there. Not that I drive through there alot but traffic is too slow on all of bibb street.

[mena]

Thanks for the update. I should have an easier time driving to wal-mart and the mall when I go down for Easter weekend. :)

[HEBclient]

[FONT=Geneva][B][SIZE=1][COLOR=blue]Well it's May and going into June and Bibb Street is still a mess. <_< I drive thru there all the time and find no one working on it. I know for a fact that the street was not constructed very well cause during the last down-pour we had, a section of the street caved in. :o The cave-in happened on the Bibb entrance to The Dollar Store. Who knows when the project will be finished. What i do know is, that having lived in Las Vegas. Mega Casinos have been built faster than the construction of 1/4mile road in Eagle Pass. How sad. :(

[eagle4ever]

Ur right HEBclient.. maybe the ep workers r just a tad bit 'slow' . who knows..but i still say its because they started projects all over town instead of starting and finishing one at a time.

[BlueCollar]

It's not the ep workers. The job was contracted out but the contractor did hire some local help.

[eagle4ever]

bluey,, yeah,, thats what i meant,,
but bottomline here is, the job is not getting done .. well it is but at a turtles pace

[BlueCollar]

yeah I know what you mean. The busiest street in town and no one is in a rush to open it up. SAD

[HEBclient]

I agree Blue, "The busiest street in town and no one is in a rush to open it". I for one feel as if the construction company and or city planners think very little of the citizens of this community. To allow the long delays, frustrating commuters waiting in long lines attributed to the unfinished street that was promised to be completed at the end of last year. At one point they even said that it would be finished (again) by no later than february. Go figure.

[scooby]

Does anyone think positive? Think about how great it will be when it is all done!!!!!!!!!

[mena]

Any idea when?

[scooby]

Sorry, but I am not sure when, soon I hope.

[mena]

I think people are just get fed up with the amount of time it has taken to expand the streets. It would be understandable if they were building a "high five" http://dallashighfive.org/ :D How long has this project gone on, anyway?

[JorgedeTexas]

I thought I added a reply to this section. I heard that Bibb st has to be redone because the contractors did not follow what the city wanted. The problem has also been that the city has hired basically the same contractor to do all major street projects instead of getting different contractors to do the job., maybe their could be payoffs? I heard that at one time the contractor left its job of I believe either main street or ceylon street to go work on a private airstrip on some Sillicon Valley richman's ranch instead of working for the city.

[mena]

I think you did post this before. Unless it was in another life and I remember reading it. :) Is it maybe written somewhere else?

[throthrem]

The "construction" on Bibb Street is disconcerting to say the least, but I keep trying to compare it with the commute times I endured while living in San Antonio. Occasionally that allows me to maintain my sanity while driving back from Blockbuster. ;)

[HEBclient]

The News Gram Thurs. July 22, 2004

TRAFFIC CONGESTION AGAIN-BIBB DRIVE!
A meeting was held by City of Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster, Councilwoman Mary Jane Salgado and Texas Department of Transportation Del Rio Area Engineer John Tashi to inform the community of the future construction work that will be done on Bibb Drive to correct the cave-in problems that occurred during the last heavy rains in Maverick County.
Mr. tashi said that upon completion of forensic studies conducted in recent months to determine the cause of heaving (rising effect) to the asphalt surface on FM 375 (Bibb Street), it has been determined that high concentrations of sulfate greater than 8,000 parts per million at depths greater than 3 feet are responsible. These high concentrations of sulfate reacted with the roadway time in a negative fashion and caused heaving to the asphalt surface.
Mr. tashi explained that this rare event had not been foreseen, primarily because it had never occurred in Maverick County. The increased rainfalls in recent months were the main contributing factor in this event.
In order to minimize the effect of the reaction and to prevent further such incidents from occurring, TxDOT will cut off any irrigation systems in the area and will place water tight seals on underground pipes to be certain that no water rises to the surface to make the sulfates react negatively. TxDOT will also conduct soil testing on all future projects.
Price Construction, Inc. will continue with the re-construction repairs of Bibb Street. Mr. Tashi could not say when the repairs would start nor how long before the public could have full use of a constructed main avenue. What he did emphasize is that the the land needs to dry completely so they can start the repairs.
Diana Chavarria, representing Mall de las Aguilas questioned whether they had to stop watering their grass. She stated that the Mall had spent thousands of dollars to landscape their property and hot weather continues to scorch the grass and plants.
Mr. Tashi said that they were in the planning stage as to how they are going to accomplish "drying" the land so as to start the construction repairs. He also mentioned that even though TxDOT is not asking anyone to do anything at this time, it would be helpful if the local businesses adjacent to Bibb Street would stop their sprinkler systems to allow the land to dry.
On behalf of TxDOT, through a TxDOT public release, Rosa Trevino, Director of Operations said, "We apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused the travelling public. We will work diligently to correct the situation and continue testing to prevent such incidents from re-occurring."
What all this means is that the people in Eagle Pass and surrounding communities that shop in Eagle Pass will again be confronted with congestion of traffic in the main business development area of our community. This is a $4 million reconstruction project that is paid 80% with Federal money and 20 % State of Texas funds. As to who is going to pay for the repairs since it is a major expensive hazardous problem, Mr. Tashi said that Price Construction and TxDOT would be sharing with the costs to be incurred.

[Rene]

That is a very expensive project... yuck!

[throthrem]

I realize that I have absolutely no engineering experience, but is $4 million a large amount to repave a relatively short section of street?