Contractor to be fined for Texas 114 lane closures

BY JAY BOARD

GRAPEVINE -- NorthGate Constructors, the contractor overseeing construction of the DFW Connector, faces a state fine for a downed television utility line that prompted officials to close Texas 114 on Wednesday morning.
Texas Department of Transportation officials will determine the amount of the fine this week, department spokesman Tony Hartzel said.
"We are definitely evaluating that situation," he said. "It's just a matter of assessing the amount of time" each of the four main lanes and four frontage road lanes were closed.
NorthGate's contract with the Transportation Department stipulates a fine of $8,300 per lane per hour for any construction-related closures that occur between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on a weekday.
"This has been the first incident of this kind since we began construction in February 2010," NorthGate spokeswoman Kristen Schropp wrote in an e-mail. "With an increased focus on utilities in the coming months, we hope that it will also be the last incident of this kind."
On Wednesday, the busy highway was closed at about 8 a.m., minutes after a driver reported the downed line, Grapevine police spokesman Lt. Todd Dearing said. A NorthGate excavator accidentally snagged the line, a bundle of coaxial cables, that hung across Texas 114.
Police closed the highway but opened a few lanes a short time later.
Authorities shut all lanes for a second time at about 9:20 a.m. in both directions on Texas 114 and its service roads between Ira E. Woods Avenue and Wall Street so crews could repair the line, Dearing said.
All lanes were reopened about 10:45 a.m.
NorthGate "immediately" distributed information about the closures to the news media and on its Twitter page and in e-mail blasts and text messages to those in its database. It also notified officials with state transportation, Grapevine, Southlake and Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine, Schropp said.