Contract awarded to upgrade portion of Texas 80 into ‘Super 2’

The Texas Transportation Commission has awarded maintenance and improvement contracts totaling nearly $955 million to several projects in Gonzales, Colorado, DeWitt, Fayette and Victoria counties, including a portion of the money needed to convert Texas 80 into a “Super 2” highway.

The grand total the commission awarded in contracts at their Jan. 17 meeting for the Yoakum District of the Texas Department of Transportation is $954,911,661.02. Projects that were let for bids are ones that are included in the district’s Unified Transportation Plan (UTP).

Hunter Industries of San Marcos received the $39,193,544.65 contract to widen the roadway and add lanes on Texas 80 from the intersection with US 90-A in Belmont to 1.23 miles north of FM 1682 in Leesville for a total of 18.033 miles. That amount was $18,773,655.65 more than the $20,419,889 TxDOT had earmarked for the project in the 2024 UTP, which broke down the full project to revamp Texas 80 from the Guadalupe County line to just north of Nixon into a Super 2 into three parts.

A Super 2 Highway is a two-lane rural highway in which a periodic passing lane has been added to allow faster vehicles to pass. The passing lane typically alternates from one direction of travel to the other within a section of roadway, which allows periodic passing opportunities in both directions in a safe manner. The transitions at the beginning and end of the passing lane allow sufficient room for the diverging and merging traffic.

The UTP also calls for $26,769,745 to upgrade Texas 80 from the Guadalupe County line to US 90A in Belmont and $31,229,156 to upgrade Texas 80 from 1.23 miles north of FM 1682 to the intersection with FM 1681. Those projects have not been let yet.

Funding for Texas 80 was included in the plan due to its connectivity to Interstate 10, a vital corridor which connects San Antonio to Houston. The southern part of the highway also sees a great deal of energy sector traffic because of natural gas extraction in the Eagle Ford Shale, one of the largest natural gas fields in the country.

Other projects let last month by the Texas Transportation Commission in the Yoakum District include:

Colorado County

Gibson & Associates Inc. of Balch Springs was awarded the $8,899,649.39 contract for bridge maintenance on Texas 71 from US 90 UP RR eastbound and westbound for a total of 1.022 miles.

DeWitt County

Acme Bridge Company Inc. of New Braunfels received the $3,648,033.01 contract for bridge replacement at Sandies Creek to STR #AA01-66-001 (Westhoff-Cheapside).

Fayette County

Hunter Industries of San Marcos won the contract to widen road and add lanes with a bid of $112,692,655.90 on US 77 from Texas 71 to 0.56 miles north of County Road 156 for a total of 12.328 miles.

Victoria County

Hunter Industries of San Marcos won the $1,666,764.20 contract to install illumination on US 59 at SP 91. Hunter Industries also was awarded a $11,515,798.33 contract for surfacing/road restoration on US 77 from Spur 91 to Refugio County line for a total of 12.593 miles.