Jefferson Avenue Widening Construction Expected In Early, Mid-2022

Dirt will not start moving on the Jefferson Avenue widening project until 2022.

T-DOT spokesperson Jennifer Flynn said the department is still in the property acquisition phase and bids are expected to open in late-summer or fall. Flynn said that once a contract is awarded, utilities must be relocated. That could take six months.

“It just depends on how many utilities are out there, I would say there would be several,” Flynn said. “So I would say sometime, early to mid-2022.”

Flynn said she did not know the exact percentage of right of way left to be acquired, but the project development manager indicated it was a small portion of the 103 parcels needed. In December T-DOT indicated construction could begin in Summer 2021.

“Even after it’s let to contract and the contractor begins work, you probably wouldn’t see a lot of work that you would really notice,” Flynn said. “A lot of actual roadwork until some time in 2022.”

Flynn said that utility companies would handle moving their individual utilities first. She said the contractor will follow that up with more right of way clearing.

“You’ve got above ground utilities, below ground utilities,” Flynn said. “Each utility has by law, a certain amount of time to relocate their facilities, to move them off the right of way and get them out of the way of the future road expansion.”

The Jefferson Avenue widening project is for a 2.2 miles of roadway. Jefferson Avenue will get five lanes, adding two lanes in each direction and a continuous center lane.