I-35 construction should be substantially completed before  Thanksgiving

All of the mainlanes for I-35 through Salado should be open no later than Thanksgiving, according to Mayor Skip Blancett, who has met almost weekly with James Construction representatives.

“Will everything be perfect?” Blancett said Oct. 20 during his report to Salado aldermen. “No, not yet. But all road lanes should be open and traffic should be on the permanent lanes.”

Blancett said that this should include the one-way access roads through Salado and the entrance and exit ramps being completed.

“They are running wide open, working 24 hours per day to get it done the week before Thanksgiving,” he added.

After the expansion is “substantially completed,” there will be work remaining: “Another 30 days to clean up and finish,” the Mayor said.

Bringing the date for the final removal of the ubiquitous orange barrels to near the end of December.

James Construction began work on the expansion of I-35 through Salado with a great deal of fanfare for its June 2012 groundbreaking on the rubble of the former Super 8 motel and restaurant on the west side of I-35.

The project was slated by Texas Department of Transportation for three years, due to complete April 1, 2015, according to TXDOT Project Tracker. Spring 2015 came and went, as did Spring 2016 and Summer 2016.

The project is now at 138.91 percent of the time allowed. If it is completed by year’s end, it will exceed 150 percent of the time allowed.

No sooner than the I-35 construction cleans up construction will begin on the Salado sewer system. According to timeline, bids will be sent out and selected in October and November with construction to begin as early as December.

The timeline allots 11 months for the construction of the collection system, with the Main Street collection system and low pressure force mains slated for construction January through September 2017. The Church Street lines will be constructed December 2016 through August 2017. The West Village collection system will be constructed March through June 2016.

The construction of the wastewater treatment plant is scheduled for December 2016 through September 2017.

The village plans on three months to connect septic systems and transfer sewer services with the plant going online in January 2018.

The village has all of its permits for the construction of the collection system and wastewater treatment plants.