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Abrams Road will be under construction for the next several months, according to Dallas Public Works and Water Utility workers.

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Public Works was in the middle of a street pavement on Abrams when it was discovered that Water Utilities needed to replace a water pipe along the same stretch of Abrams. Michael Warren from Dallas Water Utilities says the pipe replacement could take the next two to three months, after which the street will need to be repaved by Public Works, who already has a contract to pave the street. The work is an extension of the construction that began months ago, so the street will be down to two lanes for a bit longer.

It seems that as soon as one section of Abrams road gets fixed, another section is torn apart. East Dallas is locked into a Sisyphean battle to keep water pipes working, gas lines sealed and roads smooth.

West of Abrams on Matilda, the section between Mockingbird and Ross is also under construction, with bond projects transforming the street that used to be a trolley line (you used to be able to see where the tracks were before the construction).  What was four lanes will become three with a center turn lane, two car lanes and bike lanes added in each direction.

Johnny Sudbury of Dallas Public Works emphasized that the timelines of these projects are difficult to predict because the streets are inspected as they work and decisions are made on the spot about what needs to be replaced. Throw in weather delays and any deadline should be considered hopeful. The Matilda project has been under construction for about a month, and Sudbury hopes they will be done within six weeks.

On the other side of the lake, City Councilman Mark Clayton reports that the construction on the Lakeland bridge near Ferguson was stopped when the crews discovered AT&T fiber optic lines serving the adjacent neighborhood under the bridge. AT&T had to complete new lines, and bridge construction will pick back up after they finish.