Trucks with bridge beams affect traffic March 20-24

Next week on Monday through Friday, concrete bridge beams will be delivered at the Southwest Bypass bridge site in southwest Georgetown. Delivery of 120 precast bridge beams in convoys of six trucks at a time will lead to brief road closures on SH 29/University Avenue and on Leander Road at their intersections with I-35. Traffic on the main lanes of I-35 should not be affected. The beam delivery schedule is weather-dependent.

On March 20-22 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, there will be closures of approximately five minutes in duration on University Avenue at the I-35 intersection. During each closure, Georgetown police will stop traffic on University Avenue to allow for the passage of six trucks carrying 120-foot-long bridge beams. After clearing the intersection, trucks will travel west on University Avenue and then turn south on D.B. Wood Road to reach the bridge site.

On March 23-24 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day, police will close Leander Road at the intersection with I-35 for brief periods to allow groups of six trucks with beams to pass through the intersection. These trucks will travel west on Leander Road and turn north at the Southwest Bypass right-of-way, which is about 600 feet west of Riverview Drive.

Once at the bridge site, each beam will be lifted from the transport truck with two cranes and lowered into place on bridge supports. The steel-reinforced concrete beams are for bridges over the South San Gabriel River and an unnamed tributary that are part of the Southwest Bypass project.

Due to the intermittent closures on SH 29 and Leander Road, drivers should expect traffic delays. Prior to moving through the SH 29 and Leander Road intersections, the trucks will be staging along the I-35 northbound frontage roads in Georgetown.

Southwest Bypass is a new north-south arterial that will connect with D.B Wood Road and Leander Road. The construction contract for the Southwest Bypass has a completion date in late 2018, however the contractor is ahead of schedule.