State ready to close 59 crossover
TxDOT project aimed at ending 'safety concern' of highway crossing
By BENJAMIN C. SHARP bensharp@journal-spectator.com

The state transportation department will set the timeline today on a project that will close a Wharton U.S. 59 crossover where serious car accidents have occurred.

Texas Department of Transportation officials are scheduled to meet today with project contractor Silva Contracting Co. of Richmond to finalize details of the $692,000 project.

"We just got work authorization this past week and are holding the pre-construction meeting tomorrow (Wednesday)," TxDOT Area Engineer Mark Wooldridge said.

The project includes opening up the frontage road in front of Nan Ya Plastics and J-M Manufacturing to the public and placing a traffic signal where the roadway intersects with FM 102. The road directly across - running in front of Whataburger - will be realigned to better match the new frontage road. Traffic signals will be placed there as well. Wooldridge said current traffic patterns have increased enough to warrant the traffic devices.Once that phase of the project is completed, "we'll take out the crossover that Nan Ya and J-M use up on 59," Wooldridge said.

That crossover is currently used by 18-wheelers that exit J-M and Nan Ya and are trying to get into the southbound lanes of U.S. 59. Law enforcement officials believe a semi truck was attempting to do just that on Sept. 25 when a Nissan Morano plowed into the truck's trailer.

Accident investigators said the trailer was blocking the northbound lanes of traffic.

The Morano - driven by French nationals Masseguin Victor Roland and Jacqueline F. Allain - struck the rear left quarter of the trailer. The car spun around once and veered into the median. Pieces of the car were reportedly found scattered over 50 feet away.

TxDOT was already in the planning stages of shutting down the crossover when the fatal accident occurred.

"It's been a safety concern," Wooldridge said.

He added TxDOT ran a check with the Department of Public Safety and found no reported accidents at the crossover. However, the most recent records available are from 2002.

"The problem is the 2003 records haven't been entered yet, the 2004 are incomplete and the 2005 statistics haven't been reconciled," Wooldridge said earlier.

The crossover project is expected to take three months to complete, provided everything go as planned.

"It is weather dependent," Wooldridge said.