CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A $9 million maintenance project on the JFK Causeway is set to begin today.
The Texas Department of Transportation says Phase 1 will kick off tonight as contractors will begin setting barriers on the bridge.
By Tuesday, traffic will be shifted to the two outside lanes on the bridge.
That will be in effect until June 1, 2022, and it will temporarily reopen during the Beach to Bay Marathon on May 21.
During Phase 2, all four lanes will be open from June 1 through Nov. 30 during hurricane season in case of evacuation.
Then, in the final phase traffic will return to two lane closures from December 2022 through the completion of the project in the spring of 2023.
People who live in the area say they hope construction is completed on time.
"The salt water, the sea air, the hurricanes, the storm all has an affect on our roadways here and if it does need an update or repair then it needs to happen, hopefully in a timely manner so it doesn't affect the small business like the piers or the bait stands because we know everyone took a hit during COVID," said Michael Reyes.
Once the maintenance project is completed, officials say you'll be able to see a difference in all parts of the bridge.
Right now, anglers who drive over the bridge say they are concerned about possible traffic backups.
"Anything that happens on the island as far as construction its going to affect people," local resident Daniel Kennard said. "People might just start taking the ferry and coming to the island because that's a lot of down time. You're going to lose a lot of time going to and from the island."
TXDOT advises drivers to take the best alternate routes like State Highway 361 from Port Aransas and Park Road 22.
For a look at the wait time at the Port Aransas route click here.
