Paving project causes morning commute delays on Mopac

If you happened to be driving northbound on Mopac Monday (4/24) morning you may have been stuck in some serious traffic. Traffic was down to one lane because of a construction project that was supposed to done at 6 a.m. before rush hour but they were 45 minutes late wrapping up.

FOX  7 reached out to the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority to find out what happened. Steve J. Pustelnyk is the Director of Community Relations and said there was a minor issue with paving that led to the delay.

Pustelnyk added this is only the third time they are aware of with the Mopac Improvement Project that the contractor did not pick up a lane closure by the time required.

But the headache for commuters was not minor. With similar paving work scheduled again, Pustelnyk said "There is no reason to anticipate that there will be issues again in the morning. All closures should be picked up by 6 a.m."

With a project that should've been done now two years ago, it brings up the question of when it will be done altogether.

Back in March officials with CTRMA were told work should be done by the end of summer. Fast forward to now to the end of April, Pustelnyk said they still do not have an official completion date.

However, the contractor is saying additional sections of the express lanes should be ready to open sometime this summer.