Name: Next stretch of I-45 rebuild will cost $225 million, make freeway 8 lanes
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Next stretch of I-45 rebuild will cost $225 million, make freeway 8 lanes

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The long-running joke that TxDOT never stopped building Interstate 45 will live on a few more years as state officials this week issued construction contracts to widen the freeway toward Galveston Island.Wednesday in Austin, Texas Department of Transportation officials opened bids to widen the freeway north and south of the Texas City Wye, in La Marque. Houston-based Williams Brothers Construction was the apparent low bidder at $225.8 million. Williams Brothers also is the contractor on nearly $400 million worth of construction north of the Texas City Wye, where crews are rebuilding the freeway and widening it to four main lanes and two frontage road lanes in each direction.When widened all the way to 61st Street in Galveston, the freeway rebuild and expansion south from Houston will cost TxDOT more than $900 million.RISING WATER, RISING COSTS:The next phases will put most of the freeway in Galveston County into a work zone, likely to last for five or six years. Officials are working to make sure all that construction does not complicate commuters and beach-goers more than required, TxDOT spokesman Danny Perez said.“We always work to not have folks driving into multiple closures,” Perez said.Though drivers may want a break from work zones that have dotted I-45 from the Sam Houston Tollway to Galveston for roughly a decade, Perez said officials believe pressing ahead is needed to get to work completed rather than waiting for one project to finish before starting another.“Staggering the projects is not a good way to move forward,” he said. “It may sound like a good idea but we stand the chance of losing funds if we don’t proceed.”dug.begley@chron.com

The long-running joke that TxDOT never stopped building Interstate 45 will live on a few more years as state officials this week issued construction contracts to widen the freeway toward Galveston Island.Wednesday in Austin, Texas Department of Transportation officials opened bids to widen the freeway north and south of the Texas City Wye, in La Marque. Houston-based Williams Brothers Construction was the apparent low bidder at $225.8 million. Williams Brothers also is the contractor on nearly $400 million worth of construction north of the Texas City Wye, where crews are rebuilding the...

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Next stretch of I-45 rebuild will cost $225 million, make freeway 8 lanes

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