The road construction project along West 7th Street in Fort Worth has been held up again, causing drivers plenty of frustration.
Its completion date has been pushed to October, following an extension of work near the railroad at Montgomery Plaza, according to the city’s Transportation & Public Works Department (TPW), per WFAA.
Raul Lopez, a TPW engineering manager, stated that there have been several delays and setbacks since the project started more than a year ago.
“We ask for patience, and we also ask for drivers to slow down,” he said.
Local motorist Betty Price told WFAA that the situation keeps getting worse.
“I have totally rerouted my trip to this place,” she said.
For her part, nearby resident Taylor Ballard stated, “It’s chaos. Honestly, it’s chaos. It’s stopping up traffic, and it’s making everything backed up.”
Fortunately, it appears there has not been a slump in business outside the seasonal downturn, according to Matthew Stevens, an employee of an establishment near the construction.
Stevens works for the company that owns the pub and restaurant Social House, located in the Crockett Row complex on West 7th Street. Still, he admitted the project has been taking longer than expected.
Lopez stated that the City did not tie any incentives to a specific completion date. The original plan was for the project to be finished by January, but completion was pushed to April, then July, and then the end of August.
He added that the main problem with the project, the planning of which commenced in 2017, is dealing with a water line. This water line runs the span of the entire project from University Drive to West 7th Bridge.
After completion, the roughly one-mile road will have concrete separating the bike and median lanes. However, city crews still need to build the bike lane, resurface the road, and then paint it.
“We appreciate the patience,” Lopez stated. “We are nearing the completion. We understand the frustration.”