AUSTIN (KXAN) – Driving Austin roads is a long trip down memory lane for Michael Reyes, who was “born and raised” here.
Reyes has witnessed the changes over time on roads like East Ben White Boulevard.
“I remember when it was just lanes and stoplights,” Reyes said.
He’s a true local long accustomed to change, congestion and construction. But when it comes to the signs, flashing arrow and construction barrels set up on the East Ben White Boulevard frontage road in southeast Austin, Reyes said he can’t wrap his head around what’s going on.
For almost half a mile on the frontage road and ending just before the intersection with Burleson, barrels are blocking the right lane.
“It’s just been sitting here for forever,” he said.
It’s causing congestion, he said, and disrupting his drive to work.
When KXAN Investigator Mike Rush asked how long the lane closure had been there, Reyes responded, “I’m thinking it’s over a year because it seems like this happened last summer.”
According to the Texas Department of Transportation, the lane has actually been closed longer, since fall 2022. And Reyes says he’s never seen anyone doing any kind of work.
“I drive this every day, Monday through Friday,” he said.
Reyes reached out to TxDOT a few months ago to find out what was happening and how much longer it would take.
“They had no answers yet on what was going on,” he said of the correspondence TxDOT sent him in February.
The response stated TxDOT was working out details of the project, causing delay, and it’s in the process of being resolved but offered no timeline of how long it would take.
“I would just like to see something happen,” Reyes said.
When KXAN Investigates reached out to TxDOT to find out the reason for the closure, TxDOT Spokesman Brad Wheelis said the lane is not safe to travel because of damage.
“Safety is the top priority for TxDOT,” Wheelis said.
He explained, “In September of 2022, we discovered a small hole in the pavement of the roadway.”
Not a typical pothole, he said, but something indicating a larger problem below the pavement.
“Upon inspection, it looks like water has breached the drainage pipes there and has washed out a lot of the soil behind the retaining wall,” he said.
All this is happening at a tunnel, or drainage outfall, which is directly underneath the right lane.
Wheelis said work hasn’t started because TxDOT’s original plan involved accessing private property to make repairs.
When that process dragged on, he said the agency came up with a new plan that does not involve private property.
He said with a contractor on board, construction should start in mid-July, meaning the end of the road for the mystery that’s stumped Reyes for so long.
“I finally got somebody to actually kind of give me details on what was going on,” Reyes said.
TxDOT said the repair project should take about six months at a cost of around $2 million.