Students returning to campus in the fall may be surprised to see certain well-known and collectively despised features missing from Guadalupe Street.
Guadalupe has become notorious among UT students for its visible cracks in the road and bump-inducing potholes, but the Austin Public Works Department is hoping to change that reputation. The Department is currently working to repair Guadalupe and North Lamar Boulevard from 2nd Street to Koenig Lane. The construction project involves removing the existing asphalt and subgrade material and replacing it with new pavement.
Alexandria Bruton, senior public information specialist for the Department, said one of the biggest goals of the project is to make the driving experience smoother and more enjoyable for anyone who has to drive or cycle down “the Drag,” Guadalupe’s common name around the UT campus.
“If you’ve ever driven down the Drag specifically, you know that it was a pretty bumpy ride,” Bruton said. “It got to a point to where it just couldn’t sustain the traffic
it received.”
The pavement on the outside bus lanes of Guadalupe and North Lamar was failing due to the large amount of bus traffic, according to the Public Works Department website.
Bruton said that with the pavement deteriorating at such a fast rate, repairs needed to be completed immediately.
The repairs are taking place in phases and will last until the fall. The first phase involved repairs to Guadalupe and Lavaca Streets from 2nd to 18th Streets and was completed in June. The repairs took about two weeks to complete and have caught the attention of many students who frequently travel down Guadalupe.
Government senior Carly Allen said she thought the construction happened overnight because of how quickly the changes were made to Guadalupe and Lavaca.
“I take Guad often to get to work,” Allen said. “It seemed like one day the roads were horrible, and the next day they weren’t. It definitely makes for a much more
enjoyable commute.”
Construction crews are currently working on repairs to North Lamar, which began at the beginning of July. The daytime repairs began where Guadalupe merges with North Lamar and end at Koenig Lane.
Repairs to Guadalupe’s bus lanes also started in the beginning of July. This phase of the project involves repairs on Guadalupe from Martin Luther King Boulevard to 29th Street. The road will remain open to traffic, but drivers should expect delays, according to the Public Works Department website.
Nutrition junior Reena Patel said she appreciates that the city recognized the roads were an issue and finally did something about them. Patel said she hated driving down Guadalupe in the past because her car is small, so she could feel every bump.
“The roads have been bad for a long time,” Patel said. “I used to actively avoid driving down Guad because of how terrible they were. It’s going to be a lot more convenient being able to drive down Guad again, even if it did take a long time for something to be done.”
Repairs to North Guadalupe Street are expected to begin in August and will begin at 29th Street and end at Lamar.
