Ready, set, dig!

Lined up STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER Construction workers walk past stacks of brand-new water lines on Beach Access Road 1A near 11th Street on Monday, Feb. 6. The lines will be installed as part of the big, long-anticipated 11th Street project that began on Friday, Feb. 3. Work has begun on the multi- million- dollar 11t Street project, the biggest single chunk of street and utilities improvements tackled in years in Port Aransas.

Work began on Friday, Feb. 3, when heavy equipment started clearing vegetation from the edges of Beach Ac- cess Road 1A between State Hwy. 361 and 11th Street, where new utility lines will be buried as part of the project.

New water and gas lines will be put in the ground for the next couple of months, said Rick Snyder, a supervisor with Island Construction, the firm that the city hired to do the work. New pavement will come later.

Workers began handing out notices to nearby residents Monday, Feb. 6, alerting them that construction was beginning.

The overall project will stretch throughout the length of 11th Street, nearly two miles, but the first phase will take place on the part of the street that lies between Beach Access Road 1A and Royal Palm Lane.

Over the next week or so, new water lines will go in along Beach Access Road 1A, tying an 11th Street water line with one that runs along State Hwy. 361, Snyder said. At the same time, workers will be putting in a new gas line along 11th Street, not far from Beach Access Road 1A, he said.

Snyder said he doesn’t ex- pect current construction to keep area residents from getting on and off their property except possibly for a maximum of perhaps 15 minutes at a time, and residents will get warnings ahead of time when that is planned.

Folks with questions should call Island Construction at (361) 749-6336, Snyder said.

Voters in May last year approved a $6.4 million bond issue to finance a complete rehabilitation of 11th Street.

The project will stretch from Beach Access Road 1A to Avenue G. The entire bumpy, two-lane road will be ripped out and replaced with a wider one that will include a center turn lane.

A sidewalk will extend down one side of the new 11th Street, and a hike-and-bike trail will run down the other. Underground drainage will be installed throughout the length of the project.

Island Construction is bound by contract to finish the work within 20 months.

(Watch the South Jetty’s Web site, www.portasouthjetty.com for updates on the project.)

Questions? Comments? Contact Dan Parker at (361) 749- 5131 or dan@portasouthjetty.com.