MIDLAND, Texas — The Texas Department of Transportation said a "major milestone toward completion" of the Midkiff and Cotton Flat bridges will be seen in mid-January.
According to a press release, cranes will be moving into the Midkiff site first for a lifting operation on Thursday, Jan. 11, Saturday, Jan. 13 and Monday, Jan. 15. TxDOT said the east and west bound left main lanes will be closed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on those specific days.
"Everything is moving according to pace or we’ve been expediting as much as we can because we know that it’s causing some traffic issues along the way so we’re trying to do as much as we can to mitigate that," Maryann Cedillo, public information officer for Odessa TxDOT District, said. "We wanted to make sure once we did this project we’re able to get it down in an efficient manner and then once we have it done it’s going to be a lot safer for I-20 to run over the top versus underneath."
The beam lift operation at Cotton Flat starts the morning of Monday, Jan. 15 and finishes overnight Saturday, Jan. 20 through the early morning of Sunday, Jan. 21.
Daytime traffic is not expected to be impacted at the Cotton Flat site from Jan. 15 through Jan. 20. During the overnight beam lift on Jan. 20, the westbound left lane will close Saturday night at 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on Sunday morning.
"Watch for updates on roadside message boards, and TxDOT Odessa’s social media sites," TxDOT said in a press release. "Be alert for temporary frontage road and main lane closures in these work zones. Plan your routes and expect significant delays or use an alternate route."
According to a media release sent to NewsWest 9, James Construction was awarded the Midkiff bridge project with a bid of $36.3 million. FNF Construction was granted the Cotton Flat bridge project after a bid of $68.5 million was made.
Traffic is expected to be running under the Midkiff bridge by this Spring and the Midkiff bridge should be completed by the Fall of this year. Cotton Flat bridge is expected to be completed by Spring 2025.