CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Concerns are rising over the reasons behind the work stoppage on a portion of the new Harbor Bridge Project.
The work on the center span of the cable stayed bridge was stopped a couple of weeks ago over safety concerns, but none of those concerns were described by the Texas Department of Transportation.
TxDOT stated their engineers had safety concerns over design flaws in the cable stayed central portion of the new bridge. Work is continuing on the approaches, but leaders want to know more about those design flaws.
3NEWS spoke to state representative Todd Hunter who said that he wanted more information about the order to halt the work.
"The taxpayers, the Coastal Bend, the media, everybody in our area needs to know what's going on. If you believe in transparency, here's an example; get information out. Public safety is extremely important," Hunter said.
Hunter added that he along with state senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa and state representative Abel Herrero, released a statement Tuesday due to multiple calls regarding the work stoppage. Hunter said TxDOT has assured the group that no additional local funds will be required for the delay and that he has made plans to be kept informed by state officials.
"I also have requested the state agency involved, to give the local delegation a status update every two weeks. Then we can provide the ratepayers, the taxpayers, Coastal Bend residents and businesses, everybody the status," Hunter said. "The key here is transparency is the best policy and if public safety or the delay is involved, we need to know the specifics."
TxDOT has assured the delegation that they will keep them informed. 3NEWS reached out to TxDOT and received this statement.
Per our recent statement, conversations between the Texas Department of Transportation and the developer, Flatiron/Dragados, LLC, continue regarding the safety concerns associated with the cable-stayed bridge design, which is currently under review by an independent third party. We will continue to keep everyone informed on significant updates.
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