Construction begins today for the realignment of Market Street underneath IH-37, and as the city begins to make way for expansion of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, parts of Market Street need to be repositioned.
The first phase is a permanent closure of the contraflow lane from the northbound feeder road onto Commerce Street. The road will be converted into a pedestrian walkway and bike lanes.
"It will no longer be available for traffic. Instead the cars will be diverted through the intersection where they can go east, west, or north, where they can get to get ont0 37 again," said Melissa Sparks, a spokeswoman for Capital Improvement.
That closure takes effect today, but in September Market Street, which is a main artery onto 37, will be closed in order to make it more parallel with Commerce Street.
Market Street will be closed to traffic from Bowie to 37 and south Bowie to Cesar Chavez will also be closed to work on utilities.
The entire project will cost about $37 million and the construction is estimated to take about 11 months.
