Laredo Street Bridge to close for four months

The South Laredo Street Bridge at Alazan Creek, located just south of downtown and west of Interstate 35 South, is scheduled to close for four months beginning Monday, June 6.

The closure, from the I-35 frontage road to Apache Street, is part of a $2.1 million replacement of the bridge. Traffic will be detoured to other streets until the bridge re-opens in October 2011.

This project is part of the City's 2007-2012 Bond Program Citywide Bridge Replacement Program. The program is replacing City-owned bridge structures rated as deficient, due to compromised structural integrity, insufficient drainage capacity, or inadequate traffic provisions, or a combination.

The South Laredo Street Bridge was selected to improve the deficient structural integrity of the existing bridge, particularly in the lower support structures of the bridge.

The bridge cannot be constructed in phases and will be closed during construction to ensure public safety. Full closure of the bridge has been contractually limited to 120 calendar days (four months) in order to expedite re-opening of the bridge.

South Laredo Street is traveled frequently by freight trucks that access the nearby produce businesses. City staff will work with the produce businesses that utilize the bridge daily to keep them informed of the closure and to provide alternate travel routes.