No Relief In Sight For Pellicano Construction Nightmare

Show of hands, who else is frustrated with the Pellicano construction nightmare that has been going on for YEARS!!??

If you raised your hand then just know that you are not alone! I moved to the Eastlake area about a year ago but even before I started living on that side of town I had to travel to my sister’s house she also lives around there and I always dreaded the traffic on Pellicano but I reminded myself that soon it would be completed and traffic would be a thing of the past.

I JINXED IT!! Traffic has only gotten worse since I moved to the area and from the looks of it, it isn’t going to be getting better anytime soon. *Cries in Spanish*

Courtesy: Iris Lopez

Recently I posted about how much I despised Pellicano traffic because a regular 15-minute trip to pick up my son from school turns into a 30 to 45-minute trip because there is only one lane open to Pellicano traffic and if you get caught behind an 18-wheeler FORGET IT! Bumper-to-bumper traffic for at least 30 minutes.

I wasn’t alone in feeling frustrated by this never-ending construction:

"Pellicano, Lee Trevino, Zaragoza. Why not finish one project then move to the next."

“My wife's Tia lives off of Pellicano. It's a freaking disaster."

"One thing is for certain, the people working on city wide construction projects are in no hurry to finish. They work on the roads for one month, then take 3 months off. The Loop 375 widening is in suspended animation & has been for months."

So what’s the deal?

Well, the local TV News station KFOX decided to do some investigating and asked for some answers but the answers were definitely not what I wanted to hear!

According to the report, the contractor in charge of the Pellicano widening project, J.A.R., was having issues with meeting deadlines. The project was supposed to be completed in July of 2022 but when the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, which oversees the project, noticed the deadline issues, they were forced to file a default claim.

“They claimed a wrongful default and through several letters asked for a meeting with us to discuss the claim and the wrongful default that they were arguing, we eventually said sure, we’ll have a meeting here are some dates,” Telles told KFOX.

Before CRRMA was able to resolve the wrongful default claim, J.A.R. filed for BANKRUPTCY!!!

Long story short, the Pellicano Widening Project now has no end date because now both companies will have to deal with multiple court dates to resolve the issue.

Could It Get Any Worse?

Actually, yes it can. It’s not only the Pellicano widening project that is going to be impacted by this bankruptcy claim. Five other TxDOT projects will also be impacted and they include:

Rehabilitation of an existing roadway on Mesa.
Construction of raised medians in Montana.
Rehabilitation of existing roadway on the Border Highway.
Installation of a concrete barrier on I-10 near the University of Texas at El Paso.
Reconstruction of an existing roadway in Anthony, Texas.

What Do We Do, Iris?!

Scream and cry while you’re stuck in traffic. Just kidding. Kind of.

Seriously though, after reading this news I realized I was going to have to find a way to deal with this frustration because it won’t be gone anytime soon. Here are a few things I’ve done to try and deal with this issue that doesn’t involve

Leave your house even EARLIER than you would before.
Listen to a calming podcast so you can calm down when you’re about to yell because you’re stuck in traffic.
Listen to heavy metal music so you can let out your frustration by screaming the songs in your car.
Call that person you’ve been meaning to call but never have time to call back but now you do cause you’re gonna be in traffic for at least 30 minutes.
Ask someone else to pick up your child from school because you just can’t even!!!!

Take a few alternate routes:

Eastlake to get the freeway
Paseo Del Este to get Joe Battle and jump on the freeway
Mission Ridge Relief. (Assuming that they won’t push that construction even more than they already have.) However, whenever that construction clears up, I think it will help a little bit with the Pellicano construction.

Whatever you choose, just make sure it works for you and doesn’t involve you getting into a screaming match with other drivers. Breathe. And know that, I feel you!