The same springs under South Jefferson that caused the Highway Commission problems when the street and railroad overpass were first built in 1931s required the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) to rebuild the roadbed in March, 2007.
By then, South Jefferson Street had greatly increased in importance as one of Mt. Pleasant's busiest thoroughfares and now carried an estimated 10,000 cars per day. The road project was expected to cost $1.4 million and was scheduled to be completed by August, in just five months.
Downtown business owners were concerned that their business would be injured by a lack of traffic to the downtown business district, so the Mount Pleasant/Titus County Chamber of Commerce erected several red on white 4' x 8' plywood signs directing shoppers along alternate routes to the square.
In an interview with the Mt. Pleasant Daily Tribune, Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Pat Adams said, "We are very concerned about the businesses that will be affected by a five-month road closure. Those are small, individually owned businesses and they don't have anything to fall back on other than their customers."
South Jefferson was closed at the intersections of Highway 49 and Arizona Street on Sunday, March 11, 2007, and work began the next day. However, as happened with the original construction, unforeseen water problems dealt the reconstruction of this important traffic artery its own misery.
Everything started off well enough with the job, and for the first six weeks things were right on schedule. Then the spring rains began to fall, and as the old saying goes, "when it rains, it pours." This time, the largest water problems were above ground. Spring thunderstorms fell on Mount Pleasant for several weeks at time, dropping over 30 inches of rain in a three month period.
Progress ground to a standstill. Not only did construction have to be halted during the rains, but the dirt had to dry for several days after the rains before it became stable enough to start work again. About the time the dirt would be dry enough to work, another large rainstorm would come and the clock had to be started over. Two weeks of lost work time turned into 80 working days, and a five month project became a nine month project.
While the street was closed, traffic congestion was terrible due to the increased traffic that now depended on South Jefferson. Even though TXDOT placed lighted and non-lighted signs as far back as Chester Street on South Jefferson warning motorists that the street was closed ahead and a detour would be necessary, travelers waited until the last minute to merge into the left lane. Traffic lined up South Jefferson for blocks behind the traffic lights at Highway 49.
In addition to the unexpected rains, as in 1931 workers found much more water below the ground than they had expected while working on storm sewers. Sub-surface drainage was again redesigned and improved.
As weather permitted, a new concrete roadway was laid and the railroad overpass was repainted dark blue. As part of the highway improvement project, the Texas Department of Transportation improved drainage adjacent to the South Jefferson/Highway 49/Ferguson Road intersection. They widened Town Branch's channel and lined the banks with paving stones to prevent erosion. They installed new larger concrete culverts to handle storm water flow in the area.
To beautify South Jefferson, TXDOT replaced existing traffic islands along the South Jefferson intersection to the railroad overpass with much more attractive islands with light concrete borders and red paving stones in the center.
Weeks piled on top of one another, and it was clear from the piles of unopened pavers lining Jefferson Avenue that the August deadline could not be met. For safety, the opening was delayed a short time so that workers could finish laying the paving stones without having traffic pass immediately adjacent to them as they worked.
As work progressed, and even though South Jefferson was closed much longer than planned, Mount Pleasant Downtown Business Association president Linda Norris said that business owners couldn't complain.
"People seem to be getting around," she said in an interview with Ashley Tompkins of the Mt. Pleasant Daily Tribune. "I don't know if the foot traffic has been as high, some of the places downtown have said it's been slower, but it's really been good. We've still had a lot of people come downtown. We haven't lost a lot of business that I know of."
She attributed the downtown businesses' continued success to the signs erected by the Chamber of Commerce that redirected traffic to downtown.
"I think the signs were real helpful," Chamber Executive Vice-President Pat Adams said. The feedback from our businesses is that it's been very helpful in helping folks get downtown, so we're real happy we did it."
The weather finally cooperated, and TXDOT was able to finish the job. South Jefferson was reopened to traffic on Wednesday afternoon, November 7, 2007 and should continue to serve as one of Mt. Pleasant's main traffic arteries for many years.
