The current construction at the Hopkins-Guadalupe intersection is set to enhance downtown accessibility in San Marcos by the end of May.
The project will include lane improvements like the restriping of lanes and parking spaces and laying asphalt on Hopkins Street from the Fredericksburg-Hopkins intersection to the LBJ Drive-Hopkins intersection.
The construction began on March 11 with a deadline for completion on May 28, but Senior Project Engineer for the city of San Marcos Rohit Vij estimates it could be finished by the end of April or early May.
“It’s not going to be a long duration of construction,” Vij said. “There might be disturbances to businesses though.”
There will be intermittent lane closures throughout the two months of construction and parking across from the courthouse on Hopkins Street between Guadalupe Street, and LBJ Street will close temporarily according to Vij.
The improvements will also modify the curb ramps on the north corners of the Guadalupe-Hopkins intersection to be compliant with the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and more accessible to the handicapped parking spaces.
Debby Butler, manager of the LBJ Museum on Guadalupe Street, said she had received complaints from customers about the lack of handicapped parking spaces.
“I think the [ADA compliance] is going to be great,” Butler said. “A lot of our clients are older and they come in with canes and wheelchairs, plus we have younger people with babies in carriages.”
The city will add pedestrian buttons and poles for pedestrian crossing on the corners of Guadalupe Street and Hopkins Street. There will also be an additional lane for left turns from Hopkins Street onto Guadalupe Street.
According to Vij, the city will try to decrease traffic congestion by opening the traffic lanes in the evening or when daytime construction activities are completed.
“There will be some impact to the businesses, but there won’t be any intersection closures,” Vij said. “Traffic will be congested a little bit because we have to do the construction, but we are hoping to minimize it.”
Jake Reco, cook at Jax Burgers Fries and Shakes on Hopkins Street, said the construction combined with Spring Break has slowed down business, but the street improvements could help business in the future.
“It could drive up more customers since the roads and ramps will be more accessible,” Reco said. “If it looks better, more people will come by.”
These street improvements are a part of the city of San Marcos’ Capital Improvement Program (CIP), which is a ten-year program that adds new projects every three years. Its goal is for the city to have ongoing developments for the next decade that will improve infrastructure and facilities.
According to Vij, the construction is a small portion of a larger project of street improvements of Hopkins Street from Moore Street to Guadalupe Street, but that project was delayed after the CIP was implemented due to funding issues. Its design will most likely be completed in 2026-27, and it’ll be a project up for contract bond in 2028.
Vij said the current Hopkins-Guadalupe construction project was pushed ahead of the Moore Street improvements to coordinate with the Texas Department of Transportation, which is planning a maintenance and construction project on a right of way division on Hopkins Street from Guadalupe Street to I-35 in May.
“We thought it was a good opportunity for us to just have that intersection improvements done at the same time,” Vij said. “[This project] will improve traffic operations as well as pedestrian crossings, and safety of pedestrians is also why we moved it up.”
For more information on road closures in San Marcos visit the city’s website.
