TEMPLE, TX — The City of Temple and TxDOT have announced that the bulk of the I-35 construction in Temple is complete.
To celebrate, the city is set to host a ribbon cutting on the 57th Street bridge at 9 a.m. on Thursday. This is to not only to thank TxDOT for their hard work, but also to the traveling public who have been patient for the work to complete.
Construction on I-35 in Temple started in 2014 with some expected set backs coming from weather or material delays. Overall, it was only a few months where they couldn't work on construction. Although, TxDOT spear headed the operation, it couldn't have been done without everyone's help and support.
"Us, the city, the community, state representatives all of that has worked to ensure that we've been able to complete this project as quickly and as efficiently as we could," said Ken Roberts, Public information Officer for the Waco District.
Even though construction may have caused headaches, TxDOT worked well with getting information out efficiently.
"TxDOT did an excellent job at informing about the project updates along the way so if we did receive any information or any questions from residents we were able to answer them pretty well," said Erin Smith, Temple Assistant City Manager.
TxDOT predicts the roads shouldn't need a big reconstruction like this again for another 30 to 50 years. The new roads consist of four lanes going in each direction with a concrete median between for safer travel.
Although the ribbon cutting is Thursday, there is still some cosmetic work to be done around the area.
