Work repaving a segment of U.S. Highway 67/West Seventh Street in Texarkana, Texas, is expected to be completed this week.
The "mill and inlay" process used to replace the asphalt pavement, as well as painting new stripes on the street, could be finished by Tuesday or Wednesday, said a spokesman for the contractor doing the work.
East Texas Bridge Inc. of Longview, Texas, won the contract for the project with a low bid of $761,772.
Crews have been grinding, or milling, the old asphalt road and removing it, then replacing it with fresh asphalt. The process is different from another often used, which heats and reuses the old asphalt, East Texas Bridge Vice President Richard Townsend said. The company is not replacing or repairing the roadbed beneath the asphalt.
A 1.6-mile section of the street, from the Arkansas state line to Apple Street, is getting the new surface under a contract Texas Department of Transportation approved in December.
Workers will also restripe traffic lanes between Milam Street and Texas Boulevard, reducing the number of lanes from three to two. The finished roadway will have two 12-foot traffic lanes with 9-foot shoulders on each side.
Accidents on the sides of the street prompted the lane reduction and addition of shoulders, TxDOT spokesman Marcus Sandifer said. Traffic volume on the street has reduced significantly in recent years, so removing one lane is not expected to cause slowdowns or congestion.