WINNIE — As the director of the Ben J. Rogers Regional Visitor's Center, Kathi Hughes has seen the effects of IH-10 construction (and lack thereof) both help and hurt business.
"If its backed up and people are looking for an oasis to stop we'll get more, if they're finally through and they've eaten lunch they may pass us on by, it kind of depends on the traffic," says Hughes.
Wednesday and Thursday, as they proceed with the I-10 widening and reconstruction project, Hughes will face similar circumstances. Starting Wednesday night, a construction crew wil be placing girder beams on the Brush Island bridge.
According to Greg Fountain, the Jefferson County Emergency Management Coordinator, eastbound traffic will be detoured to SH 73 to Eastbound on SH 124 to Northbound on FM 365, then back to Eastbound IH-10. Thursday, Westbound traffic will follow a reverse pattern from South on FM 365 to Westbound on SH 124 to Westbound on SH 73 and back to Westbound IH-10.
They plan to work through the night from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. to cause a minimal delay in traffic, but they caution those passing through to be prepared for delays.
With an event this weekend celebrating National Tour and Travel Week, Hughes is worried the traffic may affect attendance. While they're doing their best to work with the upcoming delays, she says it really all just depends on the traffic.
However, she realizes the delays are a necessary sacrifice to improve I-10 and prevent future closures.
"We just have a lot of visitors that say they enjoy going down our Texas highways," says Hughes, "we take a lot of pride in them, so i just think this will be a little bump in the road to get where we need to be."
She hopes despite possible delays, people will come out to the Visitor's Center to help them celebrate this Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon.
TxDot asks for patience overnight Wednesday and Thursday if you run into detours. They plan to have the roads back in order Friday morning.