AUSTIN -- In what looks like a graveyard sits the promise of progress.
“The whole situation makes me really sad,” said retired high school teacher Frances Allen.
She’s had a front-row seat to the MoPac mess. The 83-year-old spearheaded the push to add a sound wall decades ago.
“I thought it would improve our standard of living, not have traffic be so noisy," she said. "You could still have a backyard barbecue.”
Twenty-eight years later, she's still waiting for the wall behind her home to be finished.
“What was that that went by,” she questions as a siren speeds past.
“It's very frustrating,” even for the executive director of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authoritiy Mike Heiligenstein.
PHOTOS: MoPac Improvement Project still needs improvement
“This would be an example of what we found where these panels were sliding over the top of these and catching and inch or two of the tongue,” he said pointing to cracks along the bottom panels of the wall. “It was the worst thing that ever happened to me in my career. But how do you compensate for a contractor that looked like it had its bona fides and everything was legitimate? And turns into something that has seven or eight project managers?"
New construction underway
A project that should have been complete two years ago is now undergoing new construction.
“Almost all of these [wall panels] had to be inspected and I would guess only 20 percent of them were good,” he said.
Cracks along the MoPac wall are now being replaced with new panels. A project plagued by problems and a contractor that has gone through two restructurings in two years.
“There is no contractor anymore,” said Heiligenstein. “That company was sold.”
That company is footing the bill for the fix. The city avoided a costly legal battle by reaching an agreement.
“We're really trying to do something different here, create a more aesthetically pleasing corridor and I think we've done that, we've just got to get it finished,” he said.
Wall isn't blocking noise
The teacher in Allen tries to find confidence in all the construction, but the concrete wall behind her home is barely taller than her wood fence.
“I would think there are a number of lessons in all of this,” she said. “They assured me that the rules read 10 feet from the roadway and this is 10 feet from the roadway, but there's a four-foot dropoff and they didn't account for that.”
Allen is pleased the concrete wall provides more security from cars that come flying past her backyard, especially based on the history of living there.
“I had someone burn down the fence one time. I had somebody run through it one time,” Allen said. “It’s not called a safety wall. They'll tell you it’s called a sound wall. Are you having trouble hearing?”
She doesn't hear much relief.
“It's not very quiet,” she said.
A frustratingly long construction project that Allen fears is failing the people she hoped to help.
“They really hit me in the heart hard because I had worked so hard on it. It’s a great disappointment, great disappointment,” she said.
New work on MoPac ahead
A new contractor has also been hired to add walls in certain sections of MoPac. That additional work is expected to cost about $4.6 million.
“The MoPac Project’s original contract price was $139 million and we added $36 million, so it's right at $170 million or $175 million, including the extra work we are doing,” said Heiligenstein.
According to the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, the miscellaneous improvements work includes:
- New sound wall construction
- Additional caps and rails on existing sound walls
- Concrete riprap repair near RM 2222 and Shoal Creek Boulevard
- Fence extensions, removals and replacements located behind existing noise barriers throughout the project
Lessons learned
The CTRMA said it has learned some lessons including that the lowest bid isn’t necessarily the best bid.
The winning MoPac bid was about $69 million less than the second bid. As a result of this project, the CTRMA chose the second highest bid for the 183 South project, a bid that was $125 million more than the cheapest bid. However, Heiligenstein said that contract is currently on time and on budget.