Westpark Tollway not completed, not progressing

02:34 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 5, 2004

By Jeremy Desel / 11 News

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Houstonians are pretty used to highway construction projects slowing them down, but this one might leave them steamed as well.

The Westpark Tollway has plenty of work left to be done before drivers can use it fully.

The problem is that lately, nobody has seen any construction at the Westpark Tollway and the Beltway.

A popular thought around the location is, as one frustrated driver says, "I'm sitting here in this traffic and it sure would be nice if the interconnect was done so I could get where I'm going a lot quicker."

Thousands of drivers head in this direction each day.

"It is pretty bad. I don't know what they are doing over here but it look pretty ugly," says another driver, waiting in traffic.

The wheels aren't the only things stopped on this $54 million project. The tractors are stopped, and there is not a worker in sight.

At issue are the direct connecting ramps from Beltway 8 to the Westpark Tollway. They are tantalizingly close to completion. The signs are up, but there is nowhere to go, and now the company that is supposed to be finishing the job is gone. There is no one on the job.

The Harris County Toll Road Authority says that Jones Contractors quit late last week before mediation about contract issues.

The company says it suspended work after the county walked out of the mediation. It also says the Toll Road Authority didn't pay them for more than $275,000 worth of work that had been completed.

The company also says the project is already delayed more than a year, due to various problems.

Initially, the Toll Road Authority had hoped to have the direct connect on-ramps open early next year. But if mediation is not an option, they'll have to start over from scratch -- with a new contractor.

In that case, a new contractor would not likely begin work again until January at the earliest.

Jones Contractors say they want to finish the job, but they won't work for free. So as of now, there is no new completion date in sight.