Better Roads Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/393925
Better Roads October 2014 17 S tate Highway 249, also known as the Tomball Parkway, is one of the primary freeways serv- ing the city of Tomball in Harris County, Texas. Running north and south, it is located in Commissioner R. Jack Cagle's Precinct 4. The six-lane highway (three in each direction) is used by thousands of Texans to commute to work and other destinations in the Houston metropolitan area. As the freeway heads north, it ends abruptly and commuters exit from the main lanes to a two-lane exit ramp to the front- age road with traffi c signals. This has resulted in traffi c delays to the traveling public throughout the years. Also, the explosive growth in and around the city in recent years has increased the conges- tion, especially during rush hours. With the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) facing a shortage of funds, the Harris County Toll Road Au- thority (HCTRA) took a big step last year to solve this issue. The agency decided to build three toll lanes in each direc- tion along the existing SH 249 corridor and hired HCTRA hired Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc. (LAN), a plan- ning, engineering and program management fi rm head- quartered in Houston, to provide construction management services for a critical portion of the project. The project includes 1.1 miles of six main lanes (three lanes in each direction), a 17-span bridge, two ramp toll plazas for entrance and exit ramps, and two detention ponds. Williams Brothers Construction Co., Inc. serves as the con- tractor. Target milestones With HCTRA funding the project primarily through rev- enue bonds, a critical goal is to complete the construction as early as possible so the agency can start generating toll revenue. To achieve this goal, HCTRA has set the contractor two hard milestones, with disincentives for not completing the project on time. The fi rst milestone, MS-1, requires the completion of the two ramp toll plazas by Jan.15, 2015, from the time the project begins construction. The damages for not complet- ing the ramp toll plazas on time are $2,500 per calendar day. The second milestone, MS-2, requires the substantial completion of the main lanes and the bridge in 450 calen- dar days, with $15,000 damages per calendar day. There are no incentives to the contractor for early completion of the work. "I have never worked on a project where the contractor is charged seven days a week, regardless of weather, holidays and weekends," says Henry Quiroga, P.E., LANs resident engineer. "Usually, the contractor is charged fi ve or six days a week that counts off of set milestones. In this project, every day counts from 450 to zero."