Is There Any Downside To Postponing Spur Reconstruction?
Yes. TxDOT will have to revise its plan and probably reapply for federal funding. It may or may not have to pay its contractor a penalty for canceling the current Spur contract. Spur reconstruction will include extending the existing Southwest Freeway HOV lane all the way downtown; currently this lane ends at Shepherd. The HOV extension can still be built, but later than currently planned. These impacts are trivial compared with protecting neighborhoods from unmanageable construction traffic with direct consequential costs amounting to tens of millions of dollars that will be borne by residents and local businesses under TxDOT’s current Spur plan.
