CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A major road reconstruction project on Alameda Street is facing delays and a price increase, sparking concerns from city leaders, local businesses, and residents.
The project, originally expected to cost $15 million, is now nearing $17 million after engineers decided to change the pavement design due to premature cracking. The change will also push back the expected completion date past November 2025, and could be even longer.
The reconstruction, which spans from Louisiana Avenue to Texan Trail, originally used Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement. However, after the first concrete pour in July 2024, inspectors noticed mid-panel cracking, a sign that the pavement might not hold up long-term.
“Once the contractors started placing this pavement, we had some mid-panel cracking,” Jeff Edmonds, Director of Engineering Services, said.
To prevent further issues, the city opted to switch to Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement—a design that includes steel reinforcement to improve durability and reduce future maintenance.
The sudden need for a redesign raised questions from city officials about whether the issue could have been caught earlier.
“What could have been done or how could that have been caught prior to where we are today," Mayor Paulette Guajardo questioned, during a March city council meeting.
But the concerns didn't stop there with Mayor Guajardo. District 5 Councilman Gil Hernandez also questioned the oversight of the project.
“I can’t imagine why we would have done that or allowed that to go through several phases of design and into construction without realizing that it was probably not suitable," Hernandez stated.
According to Edmonds, city inspectors were on site daily throughout the construction process and while the original pavement design was widely used in similar projects, the cracking prompted an immediate reassessment.
The delays and ongoing construction are frustrating businesses along Alameda, including My Preschool and Child Development Center, where access issues have made daily operations difficult.
“I’ve had to delay opening a few times just due to the construction workers, working hard, but also blocking the way for us to be able to enter in,” Nikole White, the preschool’s directorm said. “We don’t have a back entrance, so it does make it a little hard and then they're going take longer?”
Several nearby residents, who declined to appear on camera, also voiced concerns about how the extended timeline could impact other city road projects and their daily commutes.
With an additional $1.5 million added to the contract, taxpayers may wonder where the extra funding is coming from. City leaders said the additional costs will be covered by savings from other bond projects, meaning there won’t be new taxes or fees tied to the project.
Despite the frustration from residents and business owners, engineers maintain that fixing the issue now is the best long-term solution.
“The construction needs to be done much better, with much more attention to detail, to avoid having those problems,” Edmonds said.
Originally set to be completed by fall 2025, the project is now expected to wrap up by late November 2025. Until then, drivers and business owners along Alameda will have to navigate two more months of roadwork.
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